Pick Effectively To Get Pricked Minimally
A day in life of a warehouse involves labor intensive and system dependant activities. I have earlier written on multiple dimensions of inbound logistics, putaway and detailed receiving. Put-away is getting material and putting it in the storage areas of the warehouse. It accounts for 15% of the total costs as many a research have spelled but picking is exactly the opposite and it costs more than 3 times of putaway.
Picking, from a definition standpoint, is the act of physically getting pieces for an order for shipping. It could be possibly done utilizing transaction instructions, Pick lists etc. Picking, while being cost intensive, tends to get the most attention out of all the warehouse processes. It is primarily the nature of distribution and fulfillment that you generally have more outbound transactions than inbound transactions. There is more often than not more number of pickers than there are receivers and the labor associated with the outbound transactions is likely a big piece of the total warehouse labor budget. Another reason for the high level of importance placed on order picking operations is its direct connection to customer satisfaction. And remember customer is the King. The ability to quickly and accurately process customer orders has become an essential part of doing business.
There are many kinds of picking, piece picking being one of them. Per definition Piece picking, also known as broken case picking or pick/pack operations, describes systems where individual items are picked. Piece pick operations usually have a large sku base, small quantities per pick, and short cycle times. Piece picking, always a distribution center challenge, is a growing issue for many organizations that have the need to pick for individual stores at retail. Many retailers have most of the picking as piece picking and may not be indulging in any case or pallet picking at all. Hence maintaining high levels of piece pick accuracy while achieving equally high levels of productivity is imperative and a tough challenge too. That has driven many organizations to evaluate or adopt such technologies as pick-to-light and voice technology to semi-automate the piece picking process. There could be other unorthodox approaches too.
There are many a WMS available that show both the current pick as well as what picks are ahead to each picker. These systems enable the picker to perform the "hands free picking" as with voice, pick to light etc. A strategically placed scanner enables a smooth flow from the forward pick locations wherein the picker can validate the UPC number for the pick and then into the cartons destined for each store or customer. After being sealed, a carton is placed on a conveyor close to the picking aisle. If the wrong product is scanned for a particular carton, systems can provide a notification of the incorrect operation. Picking will resume only when the correct item is scanned.
Some other warehouses that do not use sophisticated WMS can still leverage on unorthodox picking methods to achieve efficiencies. The essence is to identify the pain points of the picking process. Systems act as enabler and positive catalyst to facilitate the end objective. Once business identifies the problem areas, there will always be that right system to choose.
