Layer Picking

A while back a customer had a heavy case pick account that was struggling with their pick line setup. The account was primary in storage racking and with 60% of the outbound being case picked a pick line made sense. 

The pick line contained 2 pallets and it seemed like no matter what they did to allocate resources the case pickers were only picking around 60 cases per hour. The account needed a case pick rate of roughly 120 cases per hour to be profitable.

We worked together and analyzed the picking data, the pick path (Travel time), as well as the order make up. What we found was the average order contained just over a third of a pallets worth of case pick per order. In other words, 2 pallets would only satisfy 5-6 orders before requiring a replenishment. 

During the review of all the data we found that most of the case picks could be satisfied by adding a "Layer pick" area thus creating a secondary pick line. 

The operations team was apprehensive as they were currently struggling with 1 pick line and now, we suggested a 2nd pick line area. We agreed to take 10 SKU's and do a trail run on the evening picking shift.  

We came in the next morning, pulled the picking data (RF account so we had great stats) and we found that on those 10 times they averaged over 600 cases per hour! We knew that number was real, but we also picked the 10 "Best" SKU's based upon the current order makeup, but it confirmed we were on to something great.

Over the next few weeks, the account added all the higher picking SKU's to the layer pick area. They also setup the layer pick area on the floor (No special equipment) so they could put 15+ pallets in the area.

Once all was set and the staff was fully trained the following results were realized:

- Cases per hour across the account are now over 240 per hour (All SKU's!)

- The less then layer pick line (Cases) now hold a couple of days’ worth of stock

- Order accuracy increased as its easier to count layers then it is case ties.

So, for a few minor changes to the warehouse, a simple change to the WMS allocation process, and some training the account was turned around and is now a "Star" account within the building... And yes, they have replicated this strategy to other accounts across the organization.

 Cloud Services

We have all heard about the newer cloud services offerings that out out there and at a high level does it make sense to look into them. 

Going to the "Cloud" when the buzz word first came out was nothing more then really just renting computing capacity and storage from an entity that had extra to share. Back in my high school days we used a computer that The Ohio State University had. Since those days its developed into an opportunity that many companies should look at. 

Some of the main advantages of moving your business to the cloud centers around the hardware management component. In a traditional "In-House" computing center the IT team manages not just the software but the hardware as well. They have to evaluate and procure the equipment, manage operation system updates, backup and recovery strategies, as well as all training and hiring staff to maintain it all.

Imagine if all the computing infrastructure requirement was removed and instead of all the lease payments, labor requirements, and backup activities where outsourced to a knowledgeable team on how much additional time, money, and overall resources the IT team would have o focus on the business.

Going to the cloud does have its risks that cannot be ignored. If your computer is physically located on the same network as where it is accessed from in the event of an internet disruption you can still support those users. Since most 3PL's have multiple buildings that rely on the internet these days, the old "Dedicated" phone lines are not needed as they once were. 

Each organization will have different needs thus every IT group should do their due diligence on what the risk/benefit analysis.

John Kohan

VP Of Development Services

www.ctcodeworks.com

jkohan@sccodeworks.com