In the early years of business, it’s typical for stock-focussed businesses to begin their fulfilment operations on a small scale with a reasonable sized SKU base and one or two pickers. As business starts to build, operations must adapt to cope with an increase in orders, inventory and pick paths. Similarly, that also means adapting to increased travel time and increased labour costs for pickers.
The rise of ecommerce and the ever-increasing expectations of customers has only exacerbated the pressure for businesses using what are now considered to be ‘old’ methods of working. When orders start to stack up, the warehouse operations still relying on manual methods are invariably entering into a chain of redundant and repetitive processes just to complete a single order.
The reality of paper picking
Whilst a picker taking several tickets at once might seem like a ‘batch pick’, the reality is something else. What’s really happening is a multi-order pick, and randomly grouping multiple pick tickets in a single trip is more likely to slow throughput.
‘Actual’ batch picking groups orders into a logical pick set, which is based on what the orders have in common, such as SKU location or order size. Batch picking – with the aid of a WMS – reduces touch requirements, shortens the pick path, reduces travel time, improves pick accuracy, and optimises labour efficiency.
What can alternative picking methods provide your operation?
Whether you’re still operating with a traditional paper-picking system, or navigating multiple systems, implementing pairing the right technology has the power to:
- Improve productivity & profitability
- Improve stock visibility
- Improve picker accessibility
- Boost pick rates and accuracy
Pairing your stock control system with handheld technology
Whatever your warehouse is in the business of picking, you need to keep track of every item’s movement. And in the modern ecommerce environment, old methods of working are almost guaranteed to take time, money and resource from your operation. Real-time responsiveness is required. That’s where handheld technology can help.
- Streamlined stock takes
In a manually managed warehouse, stock takes are a lengthy and laborious process to say the least. Paper must be passed around. Processes must be checked and re-checked repeatedly. Certain parts of a warehouse must have their order operations disrupted. All to confirm that earlier record-keeping was accurate, while simultaneously using the same manual processes to do this.
Using a mobile WMS via a HHT makes this entire process radically faster. The act of scanning transfers all the data you could possibly need into the system in a single moment. No more writing out names upon codes upon serial numbers. You could even make stock takes more regular, using the HHTs to perform partial checks throughout the year, rather than a smaller number of substantial and highly disruptive takes at other times.
- Rapid stock and pick face replenishment
In a manually managed warehouse, as stock is depleted from a main picking bin, staff end up travelling further or additional work is required to pick available stock, leading to significantly reduced picking speeds. For this to be included as part of a manual everyday warehouse situation would require a great deal of complex monitoring from both picking staff, warehouse supervisors, and staff with access to overall stock tracking data. This last may well be taken from records that cannot be completely relied upon, thanks to the multiplicity of manual error.
In a warehouse using mobile WMS delivered via HHT, stock and pick face replenishment become an integrated part of overall warehouse operation. Replenishments are wirelessly synced to a user’s device and pickers are guided firstly to pick the required stock by best route before replenishing into relevant bins.
- Advanced picking accuracy
In a manually managed warehouse, picking is a notoriously inexact science. Manual error is inevitable in a process so overloaded by touchpoints. At every stage staff have the potential to be tired, distracted, unengaged, or otherwise sub-optimal in their attentiveness. This can lead to any number of errors, ranging from the small-scale slower item delivery to the missing or even mistaken packages.
With a scanner on hand, the potential for errors falls away. Pickers are not being asked to read reams of paper whilst completing data entry and standing on their feet for hours upon hours every day. The databases and detailed information kept in the barcodes handles all that sort of issue for you. Even if you do make a mistake, it can be detected quickly and rectified smoothly. Allowing for you to move much closer to a warehouse that operates 100% of its picking exactly the way it should.
Discover more ways to save time, resource and money in your warehouse in our latest guide.
Jon Roberts, Sales Director at OrderWise
jon.roberts@orderwise.co.uk
