Let’s talk about the basic process of warehouse picking. Picking is the selection of items that are in storage so that they can be prepared for shipment. Here is an overview of this fundamental process. Another great reference by Ed Frazelle for an overview of warehousing processes and analysis is here. But today we’re just … Read more
Part of warehouse efficiency is effective supervision. Most warehouse and distribution center shift work is defined by fixed periods of work for their teams. These periods of work – the shifts – are the basic unit of supervisor output. So supervisor management of the shifts is very important to managing labor cost. The setup of … Read more
Having great warehouse efficiency means having great process quality. One of my favorite charts shows how the cost of fixing bugs goes up exponentially through stages of software deployment: Managing quality in a warehouse is very similar. Fixing something downstream takes orders of magnitude more effort than doing it right the first time. But quality … Read more