FST Logistics Improves Picking Accuracy with Color-Coded Beam Labels

Founded in 1991, FST Logistics has grown into a leading full-service 3PL and e-commerce fulfillment company, specializing in temperature-controlled warehousing for food and grocery clients. The company operates six facilities in Ohio and Indiana with 1.4 million square feet of space.

The Challenge: Ensuring Accurate Inventory Management in Its New Warehouse

FST recently opened its largest warehouse yet, in Columbus, Ohio, featuring a 32-foot high ceiling and six-tier double-deep racking.

“The new facility gave us the opportunity to experiment with and streamline some of our processes,” said Dan Ferris, FST’s manager of information technology services.

“One area of focus for us was product picking and packing,” Ferris said. Because the new facility used a person-down picking operation with reach trucks, Ferris wanted to improve the way rack bay locations were labeled.

“We knew it would help to improve some of our operational efficiencies and minimize pick/pack errors,” he said.

The Solution: Color-Coded Rack Labeling System

One of Ferris’ areas of responsibilities is warehouse labeling. This includes ensuring that labels are designed and implemented to work effectively with the company’s WMS software.

“We worked with ID Label to design a color-coded labeling system to help our warehouse associates more easily identify rack tiers from their reach trucks,” he said.

The solution included multicolor horizontal totem labels, each containing six barcodes. Each color on the label correlated to one of the six rack levels throughout the facility. As an additional layer of quality control, Ferris added small strips of Beam Renew™—ID Label’s innovative rack cover-up solution—to each rack level.

“ID Label custom-manufactured Beam Renew rolls to match the colors of our totem labels,” Ferris said. “They serve as a visual cue for our reach-truck operators. It makes it easier for them to confirm that they’re picking pallets from the correct bay location.”

FST worked with ID Label to design a color-coded labeling system to help its warehouse associates more easily identify rack tiers from their reach trucks.

Implementing Across Facilities

Ferris says the initial roll-out in the new Columbus facility has been well received. He’s expanding the multicolor labeling system to FST’s additional warehouse facilities in the months ahead.

As part of the project, Ferris is working with ID Label to improve FST’s approach to LPN/pallet labeling. The goals are to improve picking accuracy and reduce the time required for monthly inventory cycle counts.

“Our workers appreciate the fact that we’re focused on process improvement and streamlining steps,” he said. “And I appreciate working with a partner like ID Label that provides out-of-the-box thinking and customized products to fit my needs.”

The ID Label Advantage

ID Label manufactures extremely durable warehouse rack and bin location labels. Our materials have been tested and used in warehouse operations around the globe.

We also provide warehouse signage and turnkey nationwide installation services to provide a complete solution to our many clients who rely on us for all their warehousing needs.