Warehouses are increasingly faced with an increase in SKUs and peak demand moments due to e-commerce developments. In many cases, this leads to warehouse congestion and deterioration in delivery performance.
This is not really surprising. Most warehouses tend to have a static layout: a fixed picking zone, transfer points and fixed automated lanes that are overloaded at peak times. In addition, they often serve both B2B and B2C from the same warehouse. A mix of complete large orders alongside the many 'loose' units intended for e-commerce. Below, I discuss six strategies you can follow when setting up your warehouse to cope with the dynamics of e-commerce in your warehouse.
Multiple areas
Fine picking areas quickly become congested at peak times such as commercial promotions. The warehouse manager has to balance between costs and additional (temporary) staff. But even then, the capacity of the picking area is limited by space constraints. This concerns not only picking but also picking and dispatch areas.
Flexible warehouses should allow for multiple picking zones to accommodate peaks. These should not be static areas but zones that are set up to meet demand depending on the type of product and time.
Fast versus slow movers
The dynamic picking zones are set up partly based on the product turnover rate. Split the fast and slow movers by area. Also make sure your software can handle the dynamic zones. Many warehouse systems require a lot of parameterisation if you are going to shift your areas and locations.
Flexible picking techniques
Many warehouses are stuck with a particular method of picking that cannot move with the dynamics of the article flow. They are often fixed in the warehouse over which all types of picking articles are processed. As a result, the different types of orders can be compromised by overloading the system. One flow blocks the other. Separation of flows and different types of racking, picking modules or even flexible walls help to separate your flows.
So-called A-frames are well suited for small fast-moving items that have similar packaging. Put to Light stations can indicate which items can go together in a carton for the same customer. Through 'goods-to-person' systems, items come to the employee from different places in the warehouse. In addition, carousels allow many small items to be picked at one point and forwarded over specific lanes to one of several dispatch zones.
Multiple lanes
Conveyors or handling lanes should allow for different routes depending on the type of product or type of flow. In many warehouses, all items are ultimately routed along the same lanes, intersections and stations to their final exit destination.
Make sure your conveyors can handle multirouting. This then also applies to your software controlling the conveyors. Packages that are ready for immediate use should go to the expedition via the shortest possible route(early out). Items with multiple operations, such as adding items in the same repack, should go through the conveyors in a targeted way and only pass those stations where the operations are carried out.
Good scanning software
Many warehouses have fixed automated scanning software. With increasing SKU variety and the need to merge items, this regularly proves to be a hindrance. Your software and scanning points should be set up flexibly to allow both automatic and additional manual scanning to enable good merge items.
Cost savings on packaging
For a long time, warehouses focused on standard packaging and repackaging in order to buy cost-efficiently on packaging. But increasingly, carriers are focusing not only on weight in terms of price but also on cubic metres of space. Combining items in the smallest possible packaging is not only customer-friendly but also ultimately more cost-effective. From an environmental point of view, the right outer box is also better than standard packaging, which often needs extra filling with padding material to 'secure' the items in the outer box.
Summary
More and more warehouses are facing increasing pressure on (correct) inventory, increases in SKUs and ongoing peak moments with widely varying demand from different market channels. These market dynamics need to be reflected in warehouse design and control. Flexible equipment, software that can be parameterised more quickly, multi-routing solutions and a dynamic layout of your warehouse. In the current market, each market channel can grow as fast as it shrinks. Make sure your warehouse can breathe with these market movements.
Hans Groen - Consultant Supply Chain and Performance Management
