Warehouse and Distribution Center Optimization: Two Key Factors

Warehouse and distribution center optimization is a key to increasing productivity and cutting costs in any organization that receives, stores, and dispatches products during their normal business operations. Two of the most important factors impacting how well-optimized a goods handling facility is include:

• Picking process. Because it is one of the processes that is the most labor and time-intensive, order picking is an area where improvements made will affect the overall performance of the entire warehouse/distribution center. Simply sending pickers out into the warehouse, with an order in hand, to pick in a random, chaotic manner is not the best way to handle this function. The order picking process needs to be expertly designed and then strictly controlled. Using a top-class warehouse management system (WMS) can help a lot in this regard, as they have built-in best-practice picking methodologies that will automatically send your personnel out in efficient picking waves.

• Layout. This is of vital importance, as it has a huge impact on picking efficiency. If your warehouse or distribution center is badly laid out, it will be impossible to fully optimize the order picking process.  A bad design hinders the flow of all items into and through the facility. If your materials handling area is badly laid out or the design is outdated, you should consider having it redesigned by warehouse and distribution center optimization experts with experience in warehouse design and access to the latest tools and techniques. The increased productivity and efficiency your warehouse will gain will more than cover the costs of this exercise in the short-term and save the business a small fortune in the long-term.