Last week we looked at how cross-docking can improve your productivity and reduce delivery lead times. But you may be asking, what is cross-docking? In its purest form, it is the process of moving inventory direct from a truck in receiving to an awaiting truck at shipping: You may already practice cross-docking when you take […]
Category: Space Utilization
The Benefit WMS Building Blocks – Inventory Accuracy
![Man in blue shirt scans product from a warehouse shelf using handheld barcode scanner](https://www.impactwms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ManScanningNeatProduct.jpg)
A Warehouse Management System (WMS) is a foundation for improved operational efficiency, providing a series of building blocks that will act as a basis for efficient warehousing operations. Today we will look at one of the primary building blocks a WMS provides; Improved inventory record accuracy and the reduction in data processing errors that result […]
Directed Put-away – No Location Found
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Directed put-away removes the routine and tedious decision making tasks from operators allowing them to be more productive. A good warehouse management system (WMS) should allow management to define various put-away rules the computer will use when determining the best put-away location. […]
Boom Room. Sometimes being lean simply means being simple.
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Your workforce can manage keeping the flammable product in this protected space by memory, but most warehouses should have technology in place to ensure all product is put-away following rules-based decision support. This ‘direct putaway’ capability will help you with additional warehouse best practice including: […]
Lean and Safety – Stop, Look & Point
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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. […]
Storing Small Items – Part 2
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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
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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
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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?
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Carrying Cost, as a warehouse manager it is out of your control but use it to your advantage […]
Store Product Picked Together, Together
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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 […]