Picking warehouse process best practices

Juniper_Innovations_warehouse_managementSome of the best ways to control supply chain costs and improve logistics quality levels are to improve manual picking tasks in warehouses.  Here are 5 areas to look for.

1. Plan your warehouse layout

Keep up to date with stock volume and throughput figures to help you understand how best to layout your warehouse using Pareto analysis.  For example considering which stock items are best placed nearest the despatch dock, sizing locations correctly and deciding stock placement based on warehouse physical layout and picking strategies e.g. from block storage to Just-In-Time or pick-by-line.

Of course it helps if your warehouse management system has the reporting and graphical displays to help you with this work to save you the time and trouble of working out all the calculations and to help you execute both simple or complex picking patterns.

2. Implement the best picking strategies

Planning stock moves can be a daily or weekly event, depending on the number of new products being introduced, old ones being run down and demand and supply patterns fluctuating due to seasonality, promotions, fashions, lead times and so forth.  As a result many companies look to us for advice and help on how to best manage on-going operational changes and how to also combine them with planned stock moves based on ABC analysis .  Of course a good warehouse system helps however when implementing planned moves consider:

  • The operational impact of stock replenishment to the new locations i.e. based on where the current reserve stock is located
  • Minimising picking disruption when running down stock in an existing location ready to move stock to a new one
  • Length of time and associated costs it will take to perform all the moves versus the operational and financial benefits

The key point however is determine the best stock locations and picking strategies and put them into practice.

3. Study your picking processes

If you want to become a better warehouse then get better at picking!  Consider for example what processes your warehouse pickers are asked to do other than just picking, then determine whether these processes are necessary, can be completed at other times or by other personnel to share the work or benefit from warehouse system support.  Examples can include:

  • Notifying damages
  • Reporting and recording damages for line management
  • Checking picked goods
  • Counting stock
  • Clearing waste form aisles
  • Moving stock between locations
  • Waiting due to aisle congestion or warehouse bottlenecks
  • Searching for fork lift drivers to move replenishment stock
  • Locating hand pallet trucks and moving stock to picking locations
  • Reporting or fixing system or mechanical problems
  • Constantly repairing damaged (or semi-damaged) barcode scanners
  • Logging onto terminals to re-prioritise work
  • Completing packing activities or value added services
  • Marshalling picked stock
  • Loading picked stock to vehicles
  • Attend meetings and briefings

4. Review your picking hardware

If you’re still using paper based pick lists consider the benefits for your company of using technology.  For example real time updates can be achieved with:

  • Radio frequency barcode scanners to scan picked product, locations, receive picking tasks and confirm how the task was completed or postponed
  • Voice systems to receive and confirm picking tasks, enabling hands free picking and focused concentration through using headsets
  • RFID to show stock movements into and out of locations and shipping containers

5. Count your stock

Accurate inventory records is not just for the accountants and finance personnel.  Running out of stock in the pick face slows down picking, increases back-picking and stock searching to reduce productivity further and worse still can mean product is not despatched.  Your warehouse processes and systems must be flexible enough to allow you to have the right counting strategies in place in order to reduce and hopefully eliminate these scenarios.

Innovation helps drive businesses forward.  How you use these techniques can make significant cost improvements in your business, in some cases by 20% or more.