Boost Warehouse Picking Efficiency: Proven Strategies for Faster, More Accurate Order Fulfillment

Every warehouse manager knows how important efficient order picking is. Order picking is a complex process with varying dynamics that continually change by the day, hour and minute. No matter how efficient and productive a warehouse manager tries to be, you know there’s always room for improvement.

It’s no warehouse industry secret that order picking is the most labor-intensive part of every warehouse operation. Over and over, statistics show the picking process accounts for about 55% of your warehouse labor burden. Under-performance in your picking method results in diminished customer service, high overhead costs and a weakening in your supply chain. Naturally, improving your order picking methodology will boost your bottom line.

Supply chain managers like you strive to achieve an optimum throughput performance. That’s especially important in high-volume warehouses with short order-pick windows. On the one hand, you’ll hear advice that investing in high-technology systems will improve warehouse picking speed. Other sources confirm that the most efficient warehouse picking strategy lies in making sensible investments in straightforward, sturdy and conventional material handling equipment.

 

What Leads to Warehouse Picking Inefficiency?

Discussing warehouse picking best practices always brings up the question, “What leads to warehouse picking inefficiency?” To understand inefficiency reasons, the first thing is analyzing a precise efficient warehouse picking process definition. Order picking is essentially the process of sourcing and retrieving stored products to fulfill a specific customer request or order. That’s easy to say, but much harder to efficiently achieve.

There are many reasons why your order picking can be inefficient. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to improve your warehouse picking efficiency. The first thing is to step away from a 500-foot overview of your warehouse picking operations and adopt a 5,000-foot vantage point. You need to examine your entire throughput system thoroughly so that you’ll clearly see what order picking strategies work and where you can improve warehouse picking.

One of the biggest reasons why warehouses have order picking inefficiency is they have the wrong picking model. The original pick model you had a few years ago might not suit your current business needs. Like so many warehouses, you’ve likely upped your product volume while trying to shorten your picking and delivery time. Possibly, it’s time to revisit your model. Let’s look at the conventional warehouse order picking models so you can compare your business model with other systems:

• Piece picking: The picker-to-part method is the most common order picking model. It’s a simple process where your order picker travels from rack to rack retrieving products from container bins and boxes to fill a customer order. However, it’s a time-consuming model and the most inefficient system out there.
• Part-to-picker: This can be the most efficient model. It’s where your picker remains stationary and lets the ordered products automatically be delivered to them. There’s a drawback to the part-to-picker process, though. Fully automated systems can be prohibitively expensive to implement.
• Zone picking: Using picking zones is an excellent compromise. This model’s strategy is grouping or slotting high-demand products in specific storage zones and positioning pickers in those set zones. Zoning reduces picker travel time. Wasted travel time is the most inefficient part of order picking.
• Batch picking: Orders picked in similar product batches effectively reduce travel time. Having a high-demand and dense SKU concentration in one small area significantly cuts down on picker movement. Many items picked in a batch get delivered to the throughput tail end in one container with industrial hand carts or pallets moved on appliance hand trucks.
• Wave picking: This is a combination of piece, zone and batch order picking. Here, order pickers move as a wave through high and low-demand storage areas and fill an entire order in one sweep. Wave picking lets large volume orders fill faster than the other models, but they require larger material handling equipment such as electric pallet trucks and full power pallet stackers.

If your warehouse is typical of most American facilities, you’ll have a limit on automation. High-tech systems have a long return on investment for most warehouses, so these careful managers make the most in efficiency from manual order picking methods. Manual order picking efficiency depends on three factors:

• Warehouse design and layout
• Picking arrangements like racking, shelving and product identification
• Investment in quality and efficient order picking equipment

Not having the right material handling equipment leads to warehouse picking inefficiency. You can improve warehouse picking methods with wise choices in simple small investments such as industrial hand carts and hand trucks. You can also benefit by receiving other tips for improving warehouse picking efficiency.

Tips for Improving Warehouse Picking Efficiency

It’s fair to say no two warehouses are alike, but it’s also fair to say many warehouses face similar challenges. Probably the biggest problem you’d like a practical solution for is how to improve your pick rate. There’s no magic potion or bullet for picking improvement. It’s more like a series of small steps you can implement for success.

Order picking is an economy of scale. There’s a proven formula that many warehouse managers use. That’s called the 80/20 rule where 20% of their inventory accounts for 80% of their normal product picking. Reducing cycle time and increasing picking efficiency drastically improves when you focus on your streamlining steps involved in managing your inventory’s 20% of high-demand products.

No matter if you use a piece, part, zone, batch or wave order pick model, you’re going to see big efficiency improvements when you identify your top 20% and assemble it in an area where it’s easy to access and fast to handle. This 80/20 rule could be the best tip we at Cherry’s Industrial Equipment can give you. However, there are more gems we’ve uncovered, and we’d like to pass them on to you as well:

1. Assess Your Order Profiles

It’s helpful to look at your order picking process as a profile group. An effective order pick supports customer requests and product activity in three categories. The first profile is your order mix. You need to understand your high and low volume mix, and make the best use of material handling equipment. Simple things like proper pallets, containers and bins make an enormous efficiency difference.

Secondly, you need to profile your order size. Again, you must have the right equipment to handle whatever order size you’ll encounter. By profiling your typical order size, you’ll be able to identify the right handling equipment and have it on hand. The third thing you should profile is order lines. This identifies how to streamline your picking strategy with the most efficient use of single or multiple picking line profiles.

2. Reduce Your Travel Time

Considering that over 50% of your labor time is order picking, it makes complete sense to minimize your workers’ travel time. Having your high-volume stock located close to your throughput end is vital to reducing travel time. But, there’s more you can do for travel efficiency. Consider arranging your warehouse layout to allow picking from both sides of your racks. You can stock slow-moving products deep inside your racks with the high-volume items at the front edges.

Picking multiple orders on a single trip significantly cuts down on travel time as well. So does investing in material handling equipment that speeds travel time, takes a burden off workers and lets them work safely without fear of accidents.

3. Devise Efficient Processes

You can make a real order picking breakthrough by devising efficiency processes. Every warehouse facility should have clear and concise written standard operating procedures (SOPs). Having your order picking process spelled out in a point-by-point list communicates proper procedures to your warehouse pickers. With detailed SOPs, your pickers know the process. Nothing gets left to guesswork.

There’s another benefit to devising efficient process through your SOPs, too. Drafting SOPs forces you to focus on your picking process from both the 500 and 5,000-foot views. There’s no question you’ll increase your order picking rate by identifying proper processes.

4. Implement Slotting in Your Warehouse Racks

Anyone who has spent time in the warehouse industry knows the term “slotting.” That’s grouping similar inventory products together in a communal place. Smart slotting stores items in groups of similar size, seasonal demand, throughput velocity or other factors. This way, inventory pickers source slotted items in high-demand quickly and with minimal travel time.

Motion and time experiments observe that the right rack slotting reduces picking errors as well as improves picking time. Slotting is a highly effective enhancement you can make to increase your picking efficiency.

5. Maximize Material Storage at Efficient Levels

This is another great order picking efficiency tip. All experienced warehouse managers know how important it is to maximize warehouse space. They know that true storage space is cubic feet, not square feet of warehouse flooring. Good managers make the best use of vertical storage and get their products stored on racks loaded with merchandise secured on pallets. But, some don’t realize that vertical storage can be inefficient. It’s how you stack your racks that matter.

There’s a “golden zone” for efficient warehouse storage. That’s the easy-to-reach area between a picker’s knees and their shoulders where there’s minimal ergonomic effort. High-throughput products slotted in the golden zone increase picking speed while reducing worker discomfort. It’s well known that comfortable pickers are efficient pickers.

6. Create Hot Zones in Your Warehouse

Hot zones, or hit zones as some in the warehouse industry may call them, are dedicated spaces where fast-moving products should be stored. This extends the 80/20 rule and lets it be flexible according to your peak demand items and customer request times. Seasonal items that fit weather patterns or specific holidays are prime examples of what to store in your hot zone.

Like other high-priority products, hot zone items should be set in locations requiring minimal travel time. They should also sit in low congestion areas where material handling equipment like carts, dollies and pallet trucks don’t collide.

7. Use the A-B-C SKU Strategy

A smart order picking efficiency strategy is using the A-B-C approach. This involves identifying your demand and throughput time for each SKU product. For example, you label fast-moving, high-demand items as A-priority SKU items. Mid-demand products get a B-priority SKU designation. For low demand and slow-moving goods, give their SKU a C-priority.

Now that you’ve made your high, medium and low-priority SKU groups, organize their locations in your warehouse, so each group has its designated spot. A-priorities should be the most accessible and take the least time to reach. B-priorities should be mid-warehouse locations. C-priority SKU items can sit by themselves in the furthest distance from your throughput tail section.

8. Examine and Assess Your Warehouse Layout

Congested and crowded warehouse conditions are terribly inefficient. So are layouts with too much space between racks, aisles that extend beyond what’s necessary to pass through and ineffective staging areas for equipment. Your warehouse layout is a key factor in order picking efficiency.

Take some time to evaluate your material handling equipment and ensure there’s just enough room for it to pass, turn and load without conflicting with racks and other order pickers. The right size and ratings for your material handling components make every difference to effective order picking. Your warehouse layout and equipment should complement each other, not conflict.

9. Replenish (Replens) Your Inventory Constantly

Having your order pickers arrive at a slot only to find it empty is not efficient by any means. Yet, it happens all the time in many disorganized warehouses. Countless hours get wasted by order pickers standing about waiting for bin filling or pallet replacement. “Replens” is a common warehouse term for stock replenishment. Sharp operators constantly watch for low inventory levels. They make sure to “replens” products before they run out.

Some large-volume warehouse managers run extra crews on night shift who dedicate their time solely to stock replenishment. That way the “replens” staff don’t conflict with the daytime order pickers and create unnecessary inefficiencies.

10. Touch Products Only Once

Handling products multiple times is a waste of time and energy. It’s also one of the most inefficient flaws in warehouse order picking. You can reduce product handling with proper planning and smart investments in material handling equipment. In a perfect warehouse setting, your picked products should move once from the shelf to the packing room.

You can achieve once-only product touching by planning your order sequence, your picking route, your product placement on the transport equipment and how you move the goods out to their destination. Using the right sized equipment in the right place is a key factor in one-touch handling.

11. Empower Your Order Pickers

Nobody knows more about your product handling efficiency than your order pickers. They’re the ones on the floor level, and they know what’s working and what isn’t. Unfortunately, some warehouse operators fail to tap into the best source they have when it comes to recommending efficiency tips. If workers feel empowered to step forward, they’ll be happy to offer efficiency advice.

These order pickers will also let you know what equipment they need to make their picking job perfect. They’ll also point out what equipment lets them work safely as well as efficiently. Remember, a safe picker is a productive picker.

12. Invest in Efficient Order Picking Equipment

There is no question you’ll vastly improve your order picking efficiency with the right material handling equipment. With quality equipment like hand trucks, dollies and carts from Cherry’s Material Handling, you’ll save time in order picking.

You’ll also work safer. That leads to less downtime from accidents. Containers and bins from Cherry’s also increase your order picking efficiency. You’ll have everything in its dedicated spot whether that’s a hot zone A-priority or slotted away with a C-SKU. Don’t overlook how important moving heavy products is for picking efficiency. You’ll up your efficiency game with Cherry’s mobile lift tables and container tilters.

Warehouse Equipment for Maximizing Picking Efficiency

Cherry’s Material Handling is your one-stop-shop for efficient order picking. We supply a wide selection of ergonomically-designed material handling tools that make it easier, faster and safer for your order pickers to select and move products in your warehouse. Here are some of Cherry’s core products that are safely designed to improve your order picking efficiency and save you money in the long run:

• Industrial storage containers and bins: Our industrial bin and storage container selection represent the best quality you’ll find in warehouse equipment. Cherry’s containers and product bins let your store, pick and transport items efficiently and without damage. Choose from our line of agricultural, bulk storage, fixed wall, meat containers and parts bins. We also offer shelf, stack-n-nest and custom-built bins. Regardless of your product size, you’re sure to find a Cherry’s bin or container to hold it.
• Electric container tilters: Another helpful tool for picking, storing, and transporting product is the container tilter. With bins or containers elevated and tilted to the correct ergonomic level employees can stock or pull from containers both safely and efficiently. Having ergonomic equipment such as the container tilter will make a tremendous difference in improving safety and productivity in your picking operations. Select from any of our manual or electric container tilter options.
• Mobile lift table: Mobile lift tables like the container tilters, provide great ergonomic advantages. Since they can be transported to any part of the warehouse employees can conveniently pick product and place them in containers or boxes that are maintained at heights that ultimately will prevent injuries commonly caused by repetitive bending, reaching and stretching. Feel free to explore our selection of portable lift tables. These units offer various ranges of capacities, lift heights, and platform sizes.
• Industrial hand carts: Efficient order picking relies on dependable material handling equipment. Cherry’s industrial hand carts are perfect tools for all your order picking tasks. They speed workflow, improve ergonomics and help organize your efficiency. Make sure you view our online selection of aluminum, drum, hardwood, service, utility and panel hand carts. Cherry’s Industrial Equipment also offers powered carts and custom-built order picking solutions.
• Industrial pallet trucks: No warehouse order picking process should be without Cherry’s industrial pallet trucks. Our pallet trucks and pallet jacks do your heavy lifting and take the strain off your order pickers’ backs. Cherry’s has a safe and efficient line of manual, electric, specialty, all-terrain and custom pallet trucks and jacks. We offer you the most efficient range of weight and size capabilities. We also accommodate your budget while offering you peak operating environment efficiency.
• Industrial pallet stackers: If your warehouse layout has narrow aisles, then Cherry’s industrial pallet stackers will make your order picking highly efficient. We carry a wide range of manual, semi-electric and fully-electric pallet stackers. They perform the same work as a forklift but at a fraction of the price. That efficiently works for your budget as well as your pickers.
  
• Appliance hand trucks: Cherry’s Material Handling makes moving appliances and equipment efficient while reducing worker strain. Having the right appliance hand truck lets your order picking team move orders with minimal effort. Cherry’s carries the right hand truck for your picking efficiency. We offer a selection of economy, deluxe, convertible, appliance and drum hand trucks.

Cherry’s Material Handling is here to help improve your order picking efficiency. We’ve been helping improve warehouse picking efficiency for three decades, and we’re here to help you now. No matter what material handling efficiency you need, you can count on Cherry’s to deliver. That’s the promise we make as your preferred material handling partner.

Call Cherry’s Material Handling today at 877-350-2729 or contact us online to speak to our product specialists about tips on improving your order picking efficiency. Browse our online inventory and request a quote for your material handling equipment.