With a mechanical sortation concept, each sortation/pack station is designed with at least three sortation sections:

• Number 1 sortation section for the batch 1 SKUs.

• While a sort/pack employee is handling batch 1 SKUs, a number 2 sortation section is designed for the second batch.

• If there is a problem with one sortation/pack activity, the number 3 sortation section is designed to provide a third sortation location.

With a manual sortation concept that has totes travel on a transport conveyor, prior to a sortation station is a queue tote conveyor lane. When loose SKUs are transported on a belt conveyor travel path from the pick area to the sortation area, each sortation location has a chute or belt conveyor travel path. To assure a constant sortation activity, there are one or two extra sortation lanes, which allow the sortation activity to continue if there is a problem in a sortation lane.

The mechanical sortation concepts are flap sorter, gull wing, Bombay drop, SBIR or moving belt, Nova sort, and tilt tray. After CO picked and labeled SKU symbology is read by a scanner device, a mechanical sortation device transfers each labeled SKU from a sortation conveyor travel path into a CO sortation location. Mechanical sort concepts are reviewed later in this chapter.