Order Picking & Fulfillment | Warehousing Insights | Material Handling Systems - Part 2
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Order Fulfillment is the First Line of a Great Customer Experience

January 15, 2019

order fulfillment operation using a hand scanner

Your most important customer satisfaction function is probably your warehouse and order fulfillment operations. Order fulfillment impacts the things customers care about most:

  • Did I get the right product?
  • Did I get it on time?
  • Did I get the right quantity?
  • Was my shipment damaged?

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Ways to Increase Order Picking Speed

December 4, 2018

order picking shelves in a warehouse
Years ago, direct-to-customer fulfillment was a niche business, dominated by catalog companies. Most distribution was mostly retail-oriented, with pallets of items shipping to store locations rather than to millions of front porches. Sometimes, retail brands would allow customers to order at stores and have their purchases shipped directly to their homes, but it wasn’t nearly as common. Today, speed from placement to shipment has become critical. Let’s dive into some ways you can improve this crucial warehouse metric.

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A Warehouse Manager’s Guide to Safe Product Flow

July 12, 2018

incline conveyor loading in a warehouse

One of the best things about warehouse automation the way it helps your labor force become more flexible.

With the right automation strategy, you can add new people without long training curves. This allows you to expand, hire temporary workers as needed and juggle shifts. When it comes to safety, though, there are behaviors you must account for, no matter how much conveyor or how many robots are at work to simplify the work. Let’s break down the ways you can work to keep people safe near conveyors.

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Why Your Order Pickers Should be More Like Fast Food Workers

March 22, 2018

food worker doing multiple tasks
Order picking operations in today’s rapid, ecommerce-driven market are faced with increasing demand and customer expectations on one side, and a fluid labor pool on the other. This isn’t dissimilar to the labor challenges experienced by fast food companies. What can you do to cope with this?

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The Top Causes of Inventory Inaccuracy

October 31, 2017

Stock counting in a warehouse

Inventory issues cut to the core of any warehousing or order fulfillment operation. When your processes are set up right, you’ll have more accurate inventory. Experts estimate that every .5% of inventory inaccuracy costs the equivalent of a full time employee in these various types of waste. The time it takes to track down, repair, correct, and re-do may make this a low estimate, depending on the situation.

What are some of the root causes of inaccurate inventory?

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Flow Storage and Inventory Slotting

October 26, 2017

carton flow loads in a distribution center

What’s the optimal storage concept for your operation?

The ideal storage equipment for a given product can vary based on load, picking method, throughput, shipping issues and many other factors. Usually it involves a blend of shelving, racks, cabinets, and other means of organizing product in a given footprint. One of the questions that comes to mind is the line where a product or group of them is best slotted into shelving and bins, or if that product is best suited for carton flow solutions. Let’s examine the factors.

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Peak Season Preparation for 3PLs

August 24, 2017

3PL order fulfillment

Winter is always coming.

While you might not be battling an army of zombie warriors, the seasonal surge in orders and fulfillment poised to engulf your 3PL warehouse can feel like a never-ending battle. Preparing for this fulfillment onslaught should be the goal for any efficient 3PL, so you can be ready for the inevitable increase in all facets of your business. By efficiently handling the high volumes of orders that flow through your warehouse during peak season, you’ll enjoy the spoils of higher production, correct shipments and overall customer/client satisfaction.

To enhance the preparation, you need to analyze each segment of your process and pick those that seem to be the biggest torment.

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Hiring and Developing Outstanding Order Pickers

October 12, 2016

order picker working on flow rack system

Order fulfillment operations come in all sizes, shapes and types, including a basket of challenges that diversity creates. One of the most difficult challenges in this industry is developing order picking talent. It’s competitive these days, as you know, for distribution facilities and e-commerce fulfillment centers. One of the best ways to enhance those operations is to develop your labor force more fully. What can you do?

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Goods-to-Picker Methods and Alternatives

October 29, 2015

as rs system

The long path from person to product

In a distribution or warehousing operation, the most common working concept is “person-to-goods” order picking, which simply means that order pickers move to storage locations, often pushing or pulling carts and reading orders off the paper. These pickers spend significant amounts of time walking between storage, and are then expected to decipher an order picking sheet. These operations spend lots of money and time and resources on those steps. Picking paths and storage locations evolve as inventory profiles change — and not always for the better.

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10 Ways to Improve Order Picking Productivity

March 31, 2015

warehouse order picking

Like the Paul Simon song goes, there are 50 ways to pick an order—except in reality there are far more.

With such a variety of methods, processes, technologies and equipment options out there, it can be challenging to determine the best ways to improve order processing efficiency and productivity. In this article, LIDD’s Charles Fallon discusses 10 ways for distribution center managers to boost their order picking crew’s performance.
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