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Warehouse decision-makers constantly face operational bottlenecks that affect a facility’s picking efficiency. Perhaps the picking process itself is slow, error-prone or struggles to keep up with demand. Whether you have labor, inventory or process-related challenges, these inefficiencies cost you time and money and impact customer satisfaction.

To combat this, you must implement strategies and technologies that can help boost picking efficiency. If you’re looking for actionable strategies and curious about how automation can help, this guide is for you. We’ll break down the different picking methods and provide you with a clear framework for evaluating your own operations. Afterward, you’ll be able to identify the best possible solutions for your warehouse’s specific needs.

Why Your Picking Process Is Slowing You Down

Before all else, you need to pinpoint your warehouse’s current inefficiencies that are hindering its performance and productivity. Knowing the specific pain points is the first step to improvement. While there may be various inefficiencies, we’ll review a few common ones and explain why they’re slowing you down:

• Excessive travel time:聽Inefficient layouts force pickers to walk long distances across the floor. The wasted time slows down the picking process and could increase labor costs.
• Picking errors:聽Mistakes happen, and when they do, they waste time, money and resources. Errors can range from choosing the incorrect item and quantity to selecting from the wrong location.
• Peak season struggles:聽Struggling to keep up during busy seasons can lead to delays and missed fulfillment deadlines. These seasons may put strain on your labor force or even your warehouse management system (WMS), especially if it’s outdated.
• Slow onboarding:聽When new employees take too long with training, it can negatively impact the warehouse’s throughput. Their inability to reach their full productivity may increase the risk of errors.

Each warehouse has its unique challenges. To identify the cause of your picking processes slowing down, conduct a site assessment or聽seek the help of an expert聽who can assist you.

Start With a Smarter Warehouse Layout

Your warehouse’s layout is its foundation. Having a smarter layout through organization is the first step in achieving an efficient warehouse 鈥� no expensive tech needed. That said, warehouse layouts involve more than neat rows and open aisles. You must also prioritize where you keep inventory.

That’s where strategic slotting comes in. While slotting involves organizing products in their optimal picking locations, you can take it a step further with the ABC analysis method. This method categorizes inventory into either A, B or C groups based on their demand and velocity:

• Category A:聽High-demand, fast-moving items that are placed in the most accessible locations closest to the dispatch area.
• Category B:聽Moderate-demand and rotation items that are placed in accessible, direct areas that are available after organizing A items.
• Category C:聽Low-demand, slow-moving items that are placed in available spaces after A and B items, typically farthest away from the dispatch area.

It’s a simple shift that can save your team a significant amount of time in traveling and workflow.

It also helps you match your racking system to the types of products you store. The wrong setup can quickly turn into a traffic jam. For example, selective racking is ideal if you have many different SKUs and need to access them quickly. Pallet flow racking is perfect for high-volume items that need to keep moving.

When your storage system aligns with your inventory, everything and everyone moves a whole lot faster.

Choose the Right Picking Methods

When you select a picking method that works for your warehouse, it can help streamline your operations. There are three main picking methods that can help with inefficiencies 鈥� test and combine each to see which one best suits your warehouse’s needs.

1. Zone Picking

Zone picking involves dividing the warehouse into specific zones. Each picker is then assigned to handle all items in their respective zone for multiple orders. Orders are split by zone, and the items are consolidated at packing, typically via conveyors. While zone picking can significantly help minimize cross-warehouse travel, it also helps staff become highly specialized in their assigned zones, which in turn enhances accuracy.

This picking method is ideal for businesses that regularly ship similar items on a consistent basis. It’s also great for larger warehouses with split-level floors and multiple rooms.

2. Batch Picking

Batch picking involves one picker collecting multiple orders with similar SKUs simultaneously. Typically, a picker receives a consolidated list of orders, retrieves all these items in one trip and sorts them at packing. This method can help reduce the time needed to travel across the warehouse floor. It can inherently increase the picks per hour, as a single picker can collect a batch of items in one trip to a location.

Batch picking is perfect for large warehouses with long travel distances between picking zones, and if you have high-volume operations with similar items.

3. Wave Picking

Wave picking involves scheduling orders into 鈥渨aves,鈥� or specific times, based on certain criteria like shipping deadlines or routes. This method can help balance workloads and reduce bottlenecks, especially during peak hours, to ensure timely shipments.

Wave picking works well for warehouses that experience fluctuating order volumes during specific busy sales periods, such as Black Friday.

4. Bonus: Zone-Batch-Wave Picking

You can even combine the above three picking methods into a hybrid one. This option maximizes picking efficiency by integrating the strengths of zone, batch and wave picking. For instance, pickers can be assigned to specific zones where they batch-pick items for multiple orders within a scheduled wave.

This is the perfect option for large and complex warehouses with diverse inventory.

Leverage Tech and Automation

While manual picking has long been the staple, it does come with its own challenges, which can be overcome with technology and automation. It’s no wonder that聽, or that paper-based picking is losing popularity, according to the 2024 Warehouse/DC Operations Survey.

If you’re wondering whether it’s time to bring automation into your warehouse, evaluate your facility’s readiness with the following criteria:

• High labor costs:聽Do staff consistently work overtime to keep up with orders?
• Frequent errors:聽Does the warehouse experience high return rates?
• Growing volume:聽Do the growing order numbers put strain on your processes?
• Budget and space:聽Do resources align with the warehouse’s investment and return on investment (ROI) goals?
• Staff readiness:聽Does your team seem willing to learn and adopt new tools?

If multiple of these criteria apply to your warehouse, it may be time to implement automation into your operations. There are entry-level and fully automated solutions to choose from.

Entry-Level Automation

Entry-level automation is a technology that works with staff during the picking process. It doesn’t replace labor entirely, but assists staff in repetitive tasks to help increase accuracy and efficiency. Entry-level automation is ideal for warehouses that want to improve their performance without investing in a fully automated infrastructure.

Entry-level automation examples include:

• Pick-to-voice:聽A worker has a headset and microphone connected to a mobile device. Through this device, they receive instructions from a WMS detailing where to go and what to pick. Also known as voice-directed picking, it allows for hands-free and paperless operations.
• Pick-to-light:聽A storage location features a display module that lights up. There, a worker will see details about what they need to pick for an order. This is also known as light-directed picking, and it can help streamline high-volume, small-item picking.
• Pick-by-vision:聽A worker receives picking instructions and visual cues directly in their field of vision. This is achieved through the use of augmented reality (AR) glasses, or smart glasses. This type also enables hands-free workflows and provides real-time feedback.
• Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs):聽AMRs are your workers’ pick assistants. They can help transport picked items, bring items to picking stations or take finished orders to shipping. AMRs use sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve this.
• Conveyor systems:聽Standard conveyors are a simple concept. They basically help streamline material flow and increase throughput within your warehouse. Some may even integrate with picking systems to further boost efficiency.

Full Automation

Full-automation technology is deeply integrated in the warehouse to maximize its efficiency. It helps minimize manual tasks and travel time to increase speed and accuracy, potentially operating 24/7. Through full automation, you can reallocate staff to more valuable, higher-skilled roles.

Full automation examples include:

• AMRs:聽You can also invest in AMRs that independently transport items, shelves or entire racks. These intelligent robots can avoid obstacles and adapt to the environment in real time.
• Goods-to-person (GTP) systems:聽GTP, or G2P, systems automatically deliver items to workers at a designated station for order picking. Once packed, they return to the storage bin to their location. These systems are ideal for reducing time-consuming travel across the warehouse.
• Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS):聽An AS/RS is a computer-controlled system that automates the storage and retrieval of inventory. There are various types of AS/RS, such as vertical lift modules (VLMs), carousel-based and shuttle-based AS/RS.
• Robotic arms:聽This technology can fully automate piece picking. Its advanced computer vision and specialized grippers work in unison to identify and move specific items. Robotic arms can also integrate with GTP systems.

Whether you start with entry-level or full automation, any聽material handling equipment improves warehouse efficiency聽in one way or another.

Improve Performance and Training

Even with the best warehouse layout or automation tool, you still need strong performance habits to support them. You need to track what’s working and make sure your team knows what to do.

Start by keeping an eye on the right performance metrics. You don’t necessarily need a complex dashboard 鈥� simply tracking how many picks your team completes per hour, how accurate each order is and how much each pick costs is enough. These insights can help you spot slowdowns early and recognize your top performers.

To identify your top performers, everyone should be on the same page. That’s where training comes in. A standardized training program ensures your team follows the same methods throughout. It can also cut down on costly mistakes and help new hires get up to speed faster. Plus, when everyone understands why certain processes exist, not just how to follow them, they鈥檙e more likely to take ownership of their role in keeping things efficient.

How to Choose the Right Strategy for Your Warehouse

Each warehouse faces its own challenges. To choose the right strategy, you should know what’s slowing down your picking processes. That way, you can match the two efficiently.

Use this quick guide to match common issues with the best approach:

• Too much time walking:聽If your team spends too much time walking between picks, try a smarter layout and consider ABC slotting.
• Storage feels cluttered:聽If your storage feels inefficient or cluttered, reassess your racking system.
• Slow picking processes:聽If your picking process feels slow and unorganized, experiment with different picking methods or try a hybrid approach.
• High labor or error costs:聽If you’re struggling with high labor costs and rising error rates, consider introducing different automation tools.

Of course, you don’t have to stick with one strategy at a time 鈥� implementing multiple strategies can create a domino effect of positive results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Refer to the following FAQs about warehouse picking efficiency.

What Are the KPIs for Pickers?

Common key performance indicators (KPIs) for pickers include picks per hour, order accuracy rate and cost per pick. There are various other productivity, quality, efficiency and cost metrics.

What Are Automated Picking Systems?

Automated picking systems are technologies that use robotics and software to automate the picking process with minimal human intervention. Examples include AS/RS, GTP systems and robotic arms.

How Can Technology Improve the Picking Process?

Technology helps boost the speed and accuracy of picking processes. Different technologies require different levels of human intervention.

Let 樱桃视频 Help You Implement Your Strategy

If you’re looking for an expert partner to help you implement these improvements, turn to 樱桃视频. We focus on boosting picking efficiency strategies and automation solutions to streamline your warehouse operations. From optimizing layouts with better racking and shelving to聽exploring advanced automated systems, we can bring these strategies to life.

Unsure where to start?聽We do warehouse site surveys聽to realize your site’s unique needs and give you customized, data-driven recommendations. After assessments, we also help plan, design and install the perfect warehouse for you.

Complete our online contact form聽so we can help you build a more efficient picking process, or call聽888-214-1847聽to get in touch with us now.