Case Study: Random House achieves 50% faster order turnaround with Honeywell Intelligrated's IntelliSort TT tilt-tray system

Order Fulfillment Sortation System Is a Great Story for Publisher

Random House, the world’s largest English‑language trade book publisher, faced a fulfillment bottleneck as its third‑party distribution business expanded: a manual split‑case picking area in its 1.3 million sq. ft. Westminster DC caused low throughput, slow order turnaround and high labor costs. To address this, Random House partnered with Honeywell Intelligrated and selected Honeywell’s IntelliSort TT tilt‑tray system to automate sortation and preserve split‑case picking flexibility.

Honeywell engineered a customized IntelliSort TT single‑tray tilt‑tray sorter with double‑level chutes, extensive prototyping to protect books, and a compact mezzanine fit (250 double‑level chutes/500 destinations, 12 induction stations). The Honeywell solution boosted throughput and speed—Random House reports overall throughput up 40–50% and order turnaround improving by as much as 50%—while reducing labor costs, increasing safety and enabling next‑day shipping for orders received by 2 p.m.

Random House

Vince Annoreno

Vice President of Distribution