Techniques for Optimizing Warehouse Layouts

These 2 metrics impact your warehouse efficiency the most. Number of touches and the time between tasks. These are fundamental questions I ask when evaluating automation: 𝟭. Will this reduce the number of times product is touched? 𝟮. Will this reduce the amount of time between touches? This helped me recently show a brand how to remove 4 touches and several hours of dwell time from their inbounding process. Which also freed up thousands of square feet in their receiving area previously used for staging. 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱: Each item was received at the dock then manually sorted by many workers into cages suitable for order picking lifts. When a cart was filled it was moved to a staging area. It took between 30 minutes and an hour for a lift driver to retrieve the cart then drive down the aisle to put away locations. When the pick shelving needed replenishment another order picker would drive down the same aisle , retrieve master cartons, then take them to the carton flow area. Another worker would then remove the cartons from the mixed pallet replenishing the correct carton flow slot. This was 5 touches: sort, stage, put-away, retrieve, replenish And their product sat in a dwell state for 2-3 hours. 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱: The worker in receiving scans the carton and places it onto a shelf that has been brought to them by a mobile robot...then taken away by the mobile robot. That was 1 touch and 0 dwell time. Product is now live inventory and ready to be ordered. No replenishment necessary. This change saved an average of 5 minutes per master carton. Their smaller-sized operation uses 1,000 master cartons per day. This equates to 5000 minutes per day saved or roughly 10 people. How much is your legacy inbounding process costing you? ===== 📩Send me a message or schedule a meeting in the “featured” section of my profile to find a solution that is right for you. I supply automation technology for fulfillment operations like yours. I am your “easy” button. ♻️Repost if you found this useful.♻️

Warehouse product slotting is crucial for efficient operations! Leveraging your WMS for this task can streamline processes and enhance productivity. Here's why: - Your WMS efficiently manages all locations, their positions, and storage types. - It tracks movements from inbound to picking, ensuring optimal inventory management. - With insights on product types and storage categories (like ABC storage), your WMS enhances allocation accuracy. - Directing tasks to operators based on real-time changes improves workflow. - Heat maps generated by the WMS aid in decision-making and optimization. Ensure your WMS is equipped to handle these functions or consider add-ons for enhanced capabilities. Let automation drive picking and reserve location management, with manual intervention reserved for promotions. Time to maximize your WMS potential for seamless warehouse operations!