The solution is designed to speed up all processing steps, starting with the inspection, repair or cleaning of goods through to repackaging or disposal and restocking. At the same time, it minimizes the processing cycles from goods receipt to the resale-ready product and ensures that items are usually ready for dispatch again within 24 hours.

The subsystem consists of several workstations that are connected to each other via a conveyor and sorter network. The material flow is managed via the Dematic iQ software. The returns handling subsystem also has interfaces to other storage and picking systems such as the Dematic Multishuttle, Autostore or Garment on Hanger. The transition to the bag sorting system is also seamless. As hanging and flat-packed goods, flat-packed items and cartons can be stored, sorted and buffered here, it is particularly suitable for e-commerce.

The solution consists of functional workstations for the areas of customer credit notes, goods exchange, inspection, repair and packaging as well as transfer to buffer or long-term storage. Pre-defined workflows are executed at each of these units.

Once the returned goods have arrived, they are first transported in containers via conveyor belts to the relevant workstation. There, the employees then carry out the individual work steps. "In this way, the returns handling subsystem optimizes productivity and also increases sales, as the items are back online more quickly, usually within 24 hours," explains Mike Khodl, Vice President of Solution Management at Dematic. "Customer satisfaction is also significantly increased, as a credit note or refund is issued immediately after the goods arrive." Between 13,500 and 200,000 items can be processed daily via the returns handling subsystem.

The solution can be easily integrated into existing Dematic systems; for example, returned items can be automatically transferred to the pocket sorting system via a belt conveyor. Returns can also be transferred to the Dematic Multishuttle, AutoStore or automated small parts warehouse (AKL) via roller conveyors. An Auto Bagger can also take over the automatic packing of the goods. For hanging garments only, the work station is designed so that the garments are hung on roller racks and transferred to the Dematic Garment on Hanger (GOH) automatic hanging garment storage system, for example. The Dematic iQ Warehouse Execution Software (WES) is responsible for controlling and optimizing the material flow. The warehouse management system communicates with a WMS or ERP via a host interface and manages the workflows for the returns handling subsystem.

The modular structure of the subsystem and its scalability offer further advantages. These allow the user to reconfigure the layout and change software parameters in order to revise workflows. In addition, the processing capacity can be expanded. as