KNAPP installs pocket sorter technology in ASOS’ Berlin DC

KNAPP is supporting leading online fashion destination, ASOS with the introduction of pocket sorter technology in its Berlin distribution centre. This is the second time ASOS has commissioned KNAPP and its German subsidiary Dürkopp Fördertechnik, following a successful installation in its UK distribution centre in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

The heart of KNAPP’s e-commerce solution is an OSR Shuttle, which provides both the flexibility required by the frequently changing article range and error-free picking at the Pick-it-Easy stations. KNAPP covers the task of sorting by using transport pockets combined with a hanging goods system. Perfect for ASOS’s product range, each pocket has space for all the items that would fit into a shopping bag.

Matrix sortation

The pocket sorter system is special thanks to its unique sorting algorithm that sorts the randomly picked items into an exact sequence. Flat-packed and hanging goods are consolidated and grouped together at one of 200 pack stations in the precise sequence needed for dispatch.

“At the pack stations, we only provide the items that belong to one individual customer order for picking from the pockets. The next order then arrives once the previous pack order has been completed. The streamlining of all processes results in a reduction in costs as well as an optimized transit time, both crucial to e-commerce businesses,” adds Heimo Robosch, Executive Vice President of KNAPP AG, on the advantages of the solution.

Growth in fashion and lifestyle

The e-commerce boom is paying off for KNAPP – online commerce is showing extremely strong growth across all sectors, making up more than 70 percent in certain sectors. KNAPP is also recording very strong growth in fashion and lifestyle. In collaboration with its German subsidiary Dürkopp Fördertechnik, KNAPP is concentrating on solutions that make tremendously high throughput and strict sequences possible.