HILLIARD, Ohio (December 22, 2022) — VARGO^®, a leading provider of material-handling systems integration, warehouse execution software and equipment solutions for major fulfillment and distribution centers, has completed work for a leading plus-size apparel retailer, to increase capacity and reduce order cycle times at its 1.1 million-square-foot facility in West Jefferson, Ohio.

VARGO^® installed its exclusive COFE^® warehouse execution software (WES) which will interface with the operation’s existing warehouse management system to enable waveless order fulfillment. VARGO^® will also retrofit the current item sortation systems with VARGO^® Speedpack matching stations to increase capacity, reduce order cycle times and re-control the e-commerce-specific conveyor system.

The conversion took place in two phases with the first phase consisting of both software and hardware modifications that re-control half of the system and will yield the same capacity as the current operations. During the second phase, VARGO^® retrofitted the remainder of the operation which will double the overall capacity.

“Not only will our solution double our client’s capacity,” said Art Eldred, VARGO^®’s vice president & growth officer, “VARGO^® will also implement picking from our COFE^® software which will yield very significant increases in picking efficiency by leveraging an extensive picking feature set for e-commerce. We are very excited to watch the growth with the use of our system.”

This system facilitates the fulfillment process and flows through the brand’s existing MHE with software and MHE modifications that are set to double its e-commerce throughput. Re-control of the e-commerce-specific conveyer directs inbound cartons, empty totes and processed totes. This impacts existing equipment including the inbound sorter and conveyer, pick module conveyor and right-angle transfers, routing sorters and conveyors and a brand-new takeaway conveyor to the ship sorter. A new spiral was installed that will facilitate a more real-time flow by eliminating a since removed tote buffer.

VARGO^® began the retrofit project in May and concluded the project in early July 2022.