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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Tags: Automation, productivity, labor
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
OSHA requires safety training in manufacturing, warehousing and forklift environments to help prevent accidents and injuries, and you should absolutely train your staff. However, all the training in the world may not prevent the worst types of accidents. People make poor choices from time to time, get distracted and are not aware of conditions in their environment, or are just plain fool-hardy. How to limit such circumstances is probably the next step in your safety program plan. Cisco-Eagle has spent the past few years building up a safety arsenal to aid you in that concern.
Tags: motion detector, forklift safety, safety mirrors, Safety & Ergonomics, weld screen, sensors, safety training, hazmat, dock safety, pallet rack protection, spill containment, floor tape, lockout/tagout
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
In the past year I’ve toured manufacturing facilities that have office space right on the plant floor. Those offices had been added as the company grew and needed more supervisors or engineers on the floor. They were using modular offices, of course. Later, I was fortunate to attend a training session on modular offices done by one of our suppliers, and it was amazing the forethought and engineering that goes into these modular buildings.
Tags: modular office, building, construction, adding room
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Carton flow expedites pick operations by making stock accessible in an easily replenished first-in/first-out pattern. Gravity flow racks can reduce labor costs up to 75% in pick operations compared to static storage picking by delivering cartons and split case goods to the pick aisle rather pickers pulling from the static pallet rack storage. It is a commonly used storage/picking method in many operations, but there are many options and types of flow storage available. Which fits your need best?
Tags: gravity carton flow, roller track, skate wheel bed flow, pick shelving, mobile tilt shelving, rail flow
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
Most operations maintain at least some numbers on the most critical aspects of the business. For order picking operations, you might track number of orders picked per day, hours per pick, cost-per-pick, on-time rates — and error rates. The question is this: how accurate are those numbers? For instance, if your system reports 50 order picking errors a week, does that represent half your errors? All of them? Most of them? It’s can be difficult to understand.
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
