Order picking is usually the most demanding warehouse process
October 21st, 2008 at 09:48am Under Employment
The most demanding process of warehouse management is normally order picking. Of the transactions involved in fulfillment and distribution, outbound transactions are mostly greater and labour intensive than inbound ones. So greater labour costs need to be allocated for the outbound transactions. Also related to order picking process is customer satisfaction which increases the importance of this area. The speed and accuracy of processing order is an extremely important part of business.
The order picking process can be carried out in numerous ways
There are many differences and it is important to choose the best method for your company’s operations. The factors to decide the best order picking method for your company should be based on the number of transactions, the number of picks for each order, number of orders, quantity of items for each pick, product being handled, number of picks for each SKU, number of SKUs. Plus some other factors, for instance, private labeling, and whether you are picking pieces, cases, or pallets. If a variety of products and orders are handled, then all order picking methods may be needed.
To measure productivity, you must rely on the order pick rate. Piece pick operations usually measure the pick rate in terms of line items picked per hour while case pick operations will probably measure in cases per hour and line items per hour. When concerning pallet pick operations it is actually best to look at the number of total pallets processed per hour. Because the amount of time spent physically removing the actual product from a location is usually fixed without regard to the picking method used, productivity gains can be found by reducing the time spent on travel. Another aspect of time which must be monitored for an efficient operation is cycle time.
No matter what type of operation you run, accuracy will be an important objective. Nearly every decision made in configuring a warehouse will have an impact on accuracy. From the design of product labeling to the product numbering scheme, packaging, and even the design of picking documents, accuracy should be a main goal. The location numbering scheme, storage equipment, lighting conditions, and picking method used also affect accuracy. Technologies which improve picking accuracy include pick-to-light systems, bar code scanners and counting scales. After considering the design aspect of an order picking operation, employee conditioning, tracking accuracy, and maintaining accountability all lead to higher levels of accuracy. Using these three objectives as a guideline, order picking methods can be selected as they best fit your warehouse operation.
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