Safety and Lean can and should go hand in hand. I recently did a lean tour of a large distribution center. Along with seeing many lean process ideas I learned they had a strong focus on employee safety. […]
Lean and Safety – Stop, Look & Point
Storing Small Items – Part 2
Last month we introduced a few ways to store small items including custom made dividers, plastic dividers on small beam racking, traditional small bin shelving and rotabins. This month we provide a few more small items storage ideas and end with a general comparison. […]
Storing Small Items – Part 1
On a recent facility tour I observed a unique approach to storing individual cigars. This neat diamond rack configuration was designed to easily store various types and sizes of cigars in a small area. During a discussion with the rack designer we mentioned the pro’s and con’s of the design: Pro’s: Good density, ease of […]
The Golden Zone
Utilizing The Golden Zone will help make sure fast-moving SKUs are accessible and require minimal effort for the operator to pick. […]
What is Carrying Cost?
Carrying Cost, as a warehouse manager it is out of your control but use it to your advantage […]
Online Learning Opportunities
The COVID pandemic has changed the way business is done. More working from home and less professional interaction, but you still want to network and continue learning. A positive coming out of the shift in socializing is the numerous online professional development opportunities available. […]
Get Involved
While there are many more ideas we could discuss for consideration in your facility, the final item on our list is Get Involved. More specifically, get involved with learning and observing […]
Pass the White Glove Test
You can randomly look around for inventory that appears to have been around for a while. If the inventory has excess dust on the boxes chances are it has been there too long. […]
Implement a Vendor Compliance Program
When you consider the average warehouse receives, counts, and inspects thousands of items of varying shapes and sizes from hundreds of vendors whose picking, packing, and shipping practices are all different, it is not surprising receiving can be one of the most complicated functions in the warehouse. […]
Store Product Picked Together, Together
In an earlier blog we discussed ABC profiles and cube movement distribution. Through this analysis you should be able to determine if products are frequently ordered together. If you do see a significant correlation between products, consider storing the products together to help reduce overall travel time per pick tour. If the pick correlation frequency […]