GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Dematic Corp. yesterday announced a partnership agreement with OPEX Corp., allowing it to act as an integrator of the Sure Sort small-item sorting system. The agreement expands Dematic’s existing omnichannel order-fulfillment offering and provides customers with more options for bringing productivity and efficiency to item order consolidation, said the company.
Dematic is a leading supplier of integrated automated technology, software, and services to optimize supply chains. The company, which moved its headquarters to Atlanta in April, employs more than 7,000 logistics professionals and has engineering centers and manufacturing facilities located around the world. Dematic is a member of KION Group, and it has has implemented more than 6,000 integrated systems for a customer base that includes companies of all sizes in a variety of market sectors.
Moorestown, N.J.-based OPEX has provided warehouse automation technologies, document-imaging platforms, and high-speed mailroom automation since 1973. Its customer list includes fulfillment operations, distribution centers, financial services, healthcare, government, utilities, service bureaus, insurance, and educational institutions.
Dematic adds SureSort to offerings
Dematic said it plans to apply and implement Sure Sort as a subsystem within an overall Dematic system, while OPEX will gain access to more markets, stated the companies. The agreement covers systems implemented by Dematic in North America.
“The partnership between OPEX and Dematic leverages both companies’ industry expertise and positions Sure Sort in front of existing Dematic customers and prospective customers,” stated Jeff Hedges, president of OPEX Warehouse Automation. “The labor shortage continues to impact warehouse and distribution center operations, and Sure Sort removes the need for additional operators and manually operated putwalls. Sure Sort offers an increased number of sort locations without taking up valuable space inside the warehouse.”
Sure Sort is a robotic small-item sorter that functions as an automated order-consolidation method for batch picked items in e-commerce order-fulfillment and retail store replenishment applications. The companies said it can maximize efficiency and accuracy during the order-consolidation process while minimizing order-processing time, labor required, and the amount of floor space needed in the distribution center.
Dematic will be an integrator for OPEX’s Sure Sort order-fulfillment system. Source: OPEX
The Dematic iQ Optimize Warehouse Execution System (WES) manages all functional areas of the order-fulfillment system, including small-item piece picking and Sure Sort. This combination of WES software and Sure Sort automation enables all the operational flexibility necessary to support the high expectations of omnichannel distribution, claimed the companies. With Sure Sort, the company said it can better provide a holistic, integrated system that harmonizes information and material flow from receiving to shipping.
“The Dematic suite of modular and standardized solutions is comprehensive — adding Sure Sort to the mix enables users to obtain the ideal small-item piece picking solution,” said Mike Khodl, vice president of global solutions at Dematic. “The ability to design and implement a wide variety of pre-engineered, standardized system configurations is critical to effectively accommodate the growing demands of omnichannel distribution in this age of acceleration.”
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