Excess Walking Makes “Zombies” of Order Pickers

Studies indicate that order pickers spend too much time walking – according to many studies, distribution center employees routinely spend more than  half their day walking, not picking orders, packing orders, or replenishing stock. They’re going from point to point, burning man hours getting where they need to be, not working. And that’s the average — for really poorly designed operations, it’s worse.

As they tire, workers pick slower, pick less accurately, and work more dangerously — almost a zombie like situation! Every bad thing that can happen in a warehouse operation is amplified, the more time employees spend walking.  

Check out our most recent Info-graphic, “Walking is the Walking Death of Order Picking Productivity”  for more information on ways you can combat this issue. 

More information:

• Ways to reduce needless walking
• When it comes to order picking, don’t walk the walk
• Gravity flow vs. shelving 

Tags: ergonomics, lean warehousing, order fulfillment

Scott Stone Cisco-Eagle's Director of Marketing. He has over 25 years of experience in the industry.