Warehouse management encompasses a wide range of inbound and outbound processes dedicated to efficiently moving and controlling inventory. While businesses frequently prioritize outbound operations to boost customer satisfaction and minimize operational inefficiencies and costs, order picking stands out as a vital component within this scope. This process involves all the steps required to physically gather the items stored in the warehouse to complete a customer order.
As eCommerce grows, the need for efficient picking strategies has become critical to ensure timely and accurate order fulfillment. Whether you’re managing a small warehouse or a large distribution center, finding ways to pick faster can directly impact your bottom line. This blog talks about the significance of order picking, and the strategies you need to adopt to ensure quick order picking for timely customer fulfilment. Lastly, this blog throws light on the role of a mobile warehouse management solution (WMS) in catalyzing the order fulfilment process.
Overview:
Significance of Order Picking
Smart businesses optimize order picking because it’s the most labor-intensive and costly task in the warehouse, typically making up more than half of your operational expenses.
Improving order picking speeds up getting the right products to your customers and reduces associated costs. Typically, you or your team follow a pick list, move around the warehouse to retrieve items, locate them on shelves, pick them, and verify order accuracy with paperwork before shipping.
Traveling is the most time-consuming part of order picking, taking up 55% of your time on average, followed by paperwork and other tasks (20%), searching (15%), and picking (10%), according to Georgia Tech Supply Chain and Logistics Institute research. To improve efficiency, focus on reducing unnecessary travel.
To achieve top-notch order picking, you need to know exactly where your products are, how many are available, and how many you need—so you’re not picking each order individually. Strategically place items to enable fast picking and quick shipping.
Having understood what order picking is and its significance in the overall efficiency of your warehouse operations, let’s delve into some of the different order picking methods adopted in a warehouse.
Different Warehouse Picking Methods
You can adopt various methods depending on your warehouse size, inventory layout, and order volume. Here are some common picking methods:
- Piece Picking: The most straightforward method, where a picker retrieves one order at a time. While simple, it’s not always the most efficient for large volumes.
- Batch Picking: In this method, pickers collect items for multiple orders simultaneously, reducing travel time and increasing efficiency.
- Zone Picking: The warehouse is divided into zones, and each picker is responsible for a specific zone. Orders are compiled as they pass through each zone, making it efficient for large warehouses.
- Wave Picking: This method combines batch and zone picking, where pickers work in waves, focusing on a specific set of orders in a particular zone, then moving on to the next.
Choosing the right method for your warehouse is essential and often requires a combination of these strategies tailored to your specific needs.
15 Tips to Improve your Picking Efficiency in your Warehouse
Optimizing your order picking process is not just about speed; it’s about accuracy, productivity, and ultimately, customer satisfaction. Efficient picking reduces errors, minimizes returns, and lowers operational costs. In an era where customers expect next-day or even same-day delivery, the ability to pick orders quickly and accurately can be a significant competitive advantage.
While warehouse picking is a labor-intensive and a costly process, however, there are few tips and best practices that you can adopt to accelerate your picking process. This way, you speed up your customer deliveries, apart from freeing up your warehouse personnel to focus more on other critical tasks.
Here are the top 15 tips to help hasten the picking process in your warehouse:
- Optimize warehouse layout
- Execute the right picking methods
- Strategize slotting strategies
- Eliminate mixing multiples SKUs
- Pick using horizontal carousels
- Foster cycle counting process
- Measure fill rate
- Maximize hit density
- Leverage automation
- Adopt digital technologies
- Employ key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Implement automation for internal goods transportation
- Eliminate paper-based processes
- Foster cooperation
- Train your staff
A brief overview of each strategy is as follows:
1. Optimize Warehouse Layout
The first step to faster order picking is optimizing your warehouse layout to enhance operational efficiency. Divide the space into logical zones that allow operators or robots to move quickly and efficiently. Ensure that the layout aligns with your company’s logistics plan by incorporating clearly defined receiving, storage, and dispatch zones.
Next, select an appropriate warehouse flow. For smaller buildings, a U-shaped flow, with receiving and dispatch docks on the same side, is ideal. An I-shaped flow, where goods move in a straight line from receiving to dispatch, suits high-volume operations and enhances security. An L-shaped flow, with inbound and outbound docks at perpendicular angles, is excellent for businesses focused on cross-docking.
Organize your products within the chosen flow based on how quickly they move—fast, medium, and slow-moving zones. Position the fastest-moving items nearest to the fulfillment areas for quick access, and group items that are often purchased together to simplify the picking process.
2. Execute the Right Picking Methods
To boost order picking efficiency, implement tailored strategies that align with your facility’s needs. In manual operations, batch picking allows simultaneous picking for multiple orders, while zone picking assigns operators to specific areas. The ideal approach depends on factors like inventory volume, turnover rates, warehouse layout, and staffing. No single method suits all; instead, adapt strategies to optimize throughput and streamline the picking process.
3. Strategize Slotting Strategies
Regularly reassess your slotting strategy, which involves optimizing stock placement across your facility to meet shifting product demand. This practice ensures that stock placement is continuously optimized to align with evolving product demand patterns, enhancing operational efficiency and responsiveness. By periodically analyzing sales trends, inventory turnover, and market fluctuations, you can adjust storage locations to maximize picking speed and accuracy, thereby improving overall warehouse performance and customer satisfaction.
4. Eliminate Mixing Multiples SKUs
Avoid storing multiple SKUs in the same bin locations. Many warehouses still use bin locations that hold up to ten different SKUs on a single shelf level, forcing employees to sift through various items to find the correct one. This practice increases picking time and the risk of errors. Instead, assign unique bins for each SKU to streamline the picking process, reduce search time, and improve overall accuracy and efficiency in your warehouse operations.
5. Pick Using Horizontal Carousels
Opt for horizontal carousels over vertical lifts for picking. Research consistently shows that picking from horizontal carousels is more cost-effective than using vertical lifts. However, to maximize warehouse space, it’s essential to utilize vertical storage as well. Store high-velocity items at floor level for quick access, while placing slower-moving items in vertical storage. This strategy balances cost efficiency with optimal space utilization, ensuring both rapid picking and effective use of available storage.
6. Foster Cycle Counting Process
Cycle counting is vital for enhancing the accuracy of order picking. This method involves regularly verifying a subset of inventory to ensure stock records match physical counts. By consistently performing cycle counts, you maintain accurate inventory data, which directly impacts the precision of order picking. Regular checks help identify and correct discrepancies early, preventing errors and ensuring that orders are fulfilled correctly. This proactive approach not only streamlines picking operations but also boosts overall efficiency and customer satisfaction.
7. Measure Fill rate
Track fill rate by both individual line items and total orders to assess how well items shipped each day align with the total items ordered. This metric helps evaluate if warehouse operations are effectively meeting customer demand. Calculating the fill rate daily provides timely insights into performance, allowing you to promptly address any issues with inventory accuracy or order fulfillment. Monitoring this metric regularly ensures that you maintain high service levels and improve overall operational efficiency.
8. Maximize Hit Density
Enhance hit density by concentrating picks within smaller areas, reducing the distance between items to boost the number of picks per location. This approach increases productivity by streamlining picking processes and minimizing travel time. Additionally, strategically organizing high-demand items in easily accessible locations and optimizing layout for efficient workflows further improves hit density. By refining these practices, you can significantly elevate overall warehouse efficiency and order fulfillment speed.
9. Leverage Automation
Integrate conveyor belts to streamline the movement of goods across different zones within the warehouse, reducing manual transport time. Implement Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) to efficiently manage the storage and retrieval of items, particularly in high-density storage areas where space optimization is critical. Deploy robots for repetitive tasks such as sorting, stacking, and transporting goods, which not only accelerates the process but also minimizes human error. This allows your workforce to concentrate on more complex picking tasks, such as handling fragile or custom orders, ensuring precision and enhancing overall productivity.
10. Adopt Digital Technologies
Adopt specialized software like a WMS to enhance order picking accuracy and efficiency. A WMS intelligently distributes products across storage locations based on pre-set rules, reducing errors. It also integrates with workstations and RF scanners to guide operators through tasks, providing optimal pick paths and minimizing mistakes. Additionally, WMS can track real-time inventory levels, ensuring accurate stock management and improving overall warehouse productivity. Above all, ensure that the WMS integrates with your in-house ERP system so all departments, including purchasing and customer service, can access and utilize the same data.
11. Employ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Enhance order picking efficiency by utilizing key performance indicators (KPIs) to track and optimize your operations. Monitor KPIs such as picking accuracy to ensure orders are fulfilled correctly, the percentage of orders shipped on time to gauge operational efficiency, inventory turnover rates to manage stock levels, and backorder rates to address supply chain issues. Additionally, track metrics like average pick time per order and order cycle time to further refine processes and improve overall warehouse performance.
12. Implement Automation for Internal Goods Transportation
Implementing automation for internal goods transportation enhances efficiency by delivering products directly to the operators. This approach, such as the goods-to-person strategy, eliminates the need for operators to move around, allowing them to pick items at their workstations and significantly reducing operation times. Additionally, equip your facility with Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) or Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) that use machine learning to autonomously transport stock, further optimizing warehouse operations.
13. Eliminate Paper-based Processes
Ensure accurate documentation for each order, as verifying paperwork takes up considerable warehouse selector’s time. Simplify this by adopting a mobile WMS that eliminates the need for paper documents, automates the tracking process, and integrates real-time inventory data. By doing so, you enhance accuracy, streamline operations, and significantly reduce the time spent on manual paperwork.
14. Foster Cooperation
A high-quality dashboard or control center is essential for tracking overall warehouse performance and motivating teams. Focus on showcasing individual achievements alongside team results. Highlight statistics of top performers and offer incentives for outstanding productivity and safety. By recognizing and rewarding individual contributions, you encourage a culture of excellence and drive continuous improvement throughout the warehouse, ultimately boosting both morale and efficiency.
15. Train Your Staff
Provide your staff with comprehensive training on the latest trends in order picking methods, ensuring they understand not just the techniques but also the reasoning behind them. Introduce them to best practices specific to your warehouse, such as optimizing pick paths, using technology like RF scanners or voice-picking systems, and implementing lean principles to reduce waste. Familiarize your team with the exact processes you’ll be introducing, such as automated picking systems or new layout strategies, to enhance both operational efficiency and order fulfillment accuracy.
Role of a Mobile WMS in Optimizing Your Order Picking Process
As outlined in few of our best practices, a mobile WMS is a game-changer for modern warehouses. It enables real-time data access and communication, ensuring that pickers always know where to go and what to pick. By integrating a mobile WMS with your in-house ERP and transport management systems (TMS), you can automate and streamline the entire order fulfillment process, reducing errors and speeding up operations. Moreover, your warehouse staff can access up to date ERP data and process transactions on the go. Additionally, mobile WMS allows for better workforce management, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently during peak times.
In the above context, Propel Apps, a leading digital transformation partner has developed a mobile WMS that optimizes your picking efficiency and streamlines your complex supply chain processes. This solution seamlessly integrates with your ERP system (SAP or Oracle) and third-party applications like TMS, optimizing supply chain operations while boosting user adoption and reducing warehouse personnel training time. To know more about this solution, schedule a call with us for a free demo.
Final Thoughts
Enhancing warehouse picking efficiency is crucial in today’s competitive order fulfillment landscape. Implementing optimal picking methods, integrating advanced technologies, and consistently refining your processes can dramatically elevate your warehouse’s performance. Focus on not just increasing speed but also improving accuracy and precision in order fulfillment. Utilizing tools such as automated systems and data-driven insights will help you streamline operations, reduce errors, and meet customer demands more effectively. The ultimate aim is to pick smarter, ensuring every order is processed accurately and delivered on time, thereby maximizing efficiency and customer satisfaction.
