Against the backdrop of economic cycles, changes in consumer shopping habits and corporate ownership, warehouse and picking operations need continual review and if necessary updating. One order picking certainty in an uncertain world is the crucial necessity to remain flexible. Another is that order picking should not be treated in isolation. Demand is no longer as predictable as it was, epitomised recently by manic days like cyber Monday which, owing to sharp product price cuts for one day only led to huge demand spikes that overwhelmed the slickest of warehouse operations. This emphasises the importance of good stock/demand forecasting programmes that can, for example, react in almost real time to changes in weather forecasts. A heat wave, for example, could send demand for mineral drinks and beer rocketing four fold in a day or two, ending with pubs with no beer, a sad sight rarely exceeded. Such stock forecasting programmes can typically slash inventories by one third without affecting customer service and they have been known to yield a two-week payback.
Some warehouse businesses equate flexibility with zero-hour employee contracts to cope with fluctuating demand but this development has received much adverse publicity, is not conducive to retaining staff loyalty and may end in some kind of legislation. Given, however, that labour typically accounts for 45% of warehouse operating overheads it is, nevertheless, important to address the best use of labour. There are many technologies available for this, varying widely in cost and flexibility, but one technology that can easily be scaled up or down, according to changing demand patterns, is voice picking. It can address seasonal peaks without having to build in spare capacity. Usually it is quick to implement and workers can be effective within two days. Compared with paper-based order picking lists, voice-directed pickers are 20% faster and far more accurate, giving typical paybacks within one year. Other picking operations like pick-to-light or full warehouse automation may be useful but these are more suited to settled demand patterns, low SKU churn and high volumes.
The design of a warehouse layout is critical for achieving the most effective order picking operation so it is important to review this as well as the picking function when markets change, and few warehouses can have escaped the pressures from the explosion of online business. The need, therefore, is to see if the current design and layout are still appropriate, or used in the most effective way. Pointers to the need for change include changes in order sizes, recent changes in warehouse processes and additions, changes in handling methods, product throughput speeds and labour productivity and changes in space usage.
Changes in throughput speeds could influence where particular products should be stored or placed in pick areas. If the volume of orders for home deliveries has risen there may be a need for more picking and packing space, a prospect that can often be met by installation of a mezzanine. Precious space may also be freed up for more order picking functions by re-examining existing racking aisle widths, if offsite storage, roof-raising or tacked on additional premises are not feasible. Many warehouses still rely on space-hungry aisles 3.6 mt wide or more for conventional, counterbalanced forklifts or 2.6mt-wide aisles for reach trucks. By switching to articulated forklifts that need only 1.6 mt aisle widths and closing up all the aisles accordingly, much extra space can be made available for enlarged or additional picking/packing areas. Even a change in the type of forklift can help cope with the need for time compression techniques to meet the pressing demands of online shoppers expecting next-day deliveries. Recent developments like Flexi Narrow Aisle’s articulated, man-down flexiPick for picking full pallet layers and Translift Bendi’s new, articulated man-up, combi-style order picker can lead to much faster handling tasks to meet pressing delivery times.
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