Getting order picking right
The foundations of accurate order picking begin with a warehouse management system and end with an improved bottom line.
By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large — Modern Materials Handling.
Successful order fulfillment sounds easy: You deliver the right quantity of the right product at the right price to the right place at the right time.
It doesn’t get more basic than that. Yet far too many warehouses and DCs are still 60 to 70% accurate in their order picking because they’re running their operations with paper-based picking systems, says Craig Welch, senior application engineer for Daifuku America Corp.
That’s true despite that fact that order picking errors can ruin the bottom line. “I worked with one customer who was being fined $50 by Wal-Mart for every pallet with an error,” says Welch. “That was more than the product on the pallet was worth.” That company was in the red before factoring in the costs of reverse logistics, double handling and the potential loss of a customer.
How can a company turn a positive into a negative? Welch says there are at least six best practices that can improve order picking accuracy from 70% to 96% or more.
Foundations of Accurate Order Picking
WMS is fundamental: “A warehouse management system (WMS) is the starting point,” says Welch. “Even if you still do paper-based picking, a WMS is going to give you more accurate inventory.”
Automatic identification: Wireless bar code scanning, voice technology or pick-to-light technologies can build on the productivity and accuracy improvements generated by a WMS. They also drive accountability, says Welch. “It’s not just automatically collecting data that leads to improvements,” says Welch. “We’ve found that employees who know they are being tracked by the system are as much as 25% more productive.”
Receiving counts: With a WMS and data collection systems in place, the next step is to develop processes that drive accuracy at the receiving dock. “Accurate order picking begins with competent receives who understand the part numbers and product descriptions of what they’re receiving and make sure they get put away where they’re supposed to go,” says Welch.
Adding automation: Automated materials handling systems, like conveyors, sortation systems and automated palletizers use photo eyes, RFID readers, camera-based imaging systems and automated bar code readers to add another layer of confirmation before an order is picked.
Scales: WMS systems can collect size and weight information of every product stored in a DC. An automatic scale at the end of a picking line can flag a carton that weighs too much or too little based on the weight of the products associated with an order.
Cycle count: Even with a WMS in place, it’s still important to cycle count the quantity of product at a storage location or pick face, says Welch. “That’s where you find out if a product was misidentified coming into the system; if someone took out the wrong quantity; or if damaged or out-of-date product was removed from the storage location by not from the system,” says Welch.
