Carton flow
Encyclopedia
Carton flow is a form of shelving that uses a gravity feed
Gravity feed
Gravity feed is the use of earth's gravity to move something from one place to another. It is a simple means of moving a liquid without the use of a pump. A common application is the supply of fuel to an internal combustion engine by placing the fuel tank above the engine, e.g. in motorcycles,...

 rear load design. Each unit consists of one or more inclined runways.
Merchandise is loaded in the rear of each runway. As an item is
removed from the front, the item directly behind it slides forward in
place of the previous.

Put simply, the main advantage of carton flow rack over static rack or shelving systems is that merchandise remains better organized and easier to find/pick. With carton flow rack, the product is automatically rotated on a first in first out basis. Merchandise is stocked in the rear of the carton flow rack and moves toward the picking station in front on an inclined shelf equipped with specially designed roller track. When a carton is removed from the picking station, the next one in line rolls to the front. Carton flow always keeps items within reach. Inventory is easier to monitor and control since products are fully visible at all times.

Restocking and picking typically offer the greatest opportunity for improving efficiency within order picking operations. With carton flow rack systems labor savings of up to 75% can be realized almost immediately. Because items are picked from the front and stocked from the rear, both functions can be performed without interference and with minimized travel.

In a static storage system such as standard shelving
Shelving
In surgery, the shelving is the fascia between the inguinal ligaments and above the pubic symphysis. It is the natural extension of the transversalis fascia...

, the stockers and pickers are often doing a lot of unnecessary travel.

History

Lansing Peter Shield, President of Grand Union Co.
Grand Union (stores)
Grand Union is a supermarket chain operated by C&S Wholesale Grocers of Brattleboro, Vermont. Originally based in Elmwood Park, New Jersey , the company operated mostly in the northeastern United States but at times its reach extended into the Midwest, Southeast, and the Caribbean...

, applied for patents
for the original gravity-feed rear load design using Unistrut and Nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...

 strips in 1945 (later approved in 1948). The unit consisted of several inclined runways. The device was driven by gravity. A stockman would place merchandise in the rear of each runway and, as a shopper selected an item, the item behind it would slide forward in place of the previous one

Grand Union formed a company called Food-O-Mat to sell the carton flow system, and made Gardner Hinckley the President. Gauer Metal Products, Inc manufactured the carton flow units for Grand Union/Food-O-Mat
When Lansing Shield died of a heart attack, Thomas Butler was
appointed the new president. Butler had no interest in continuing to
use carton flow units in Grand Union Supermarkets so Food-O-Mat
went off on its own to sell the product with Gauer Metal Products, Inc as its manufacturer.

Carton flow today

The carton flow design has gone through countless changes over the years, and has now evolved to full shelving units like Engineered Products Selectrak and Traytrak, Gauer Flo-Rak or Unex Span Track Systems. These units consist of polyethylene
Polyethylene
Polyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons...

 or aluminum roller runways and can be both stand alone racks or can be installed into pallet rack. Conveyor systems are sometimes used as an alternate option to carton flow shelving. These systems, although a viable alternative, are not adjustable and are difficult if the users' product lines change.
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