Warehousing
IDA Business AI
3PL Bills for the Work Its System Had Already Recorded
Storage and handling were invoiced from a monthly spreadsheet, and the value-added work was mostly forgotten.
Warehousing · IDA Business AI
Distribution Centre Shortens the Walk Behind Every Pick
Slotting had been set when the building opened and never revisited, so the fastest movers sat at the back.
23%
more picks per hour on the same headcount
38%
less travel per order line
Deferred
mezzanine capex, capacity found in the layout
The challenge
Pick rates had been falling for two years while volume grew, and the site had begun to discuss a mezzanine. Nobody could show where the hours went. Bin allocation dated from the original layout, seasonal lines kept their summer positions all winter, and travel was the largest component of a pick that nobody measured.
Our approach
We measured the pick path rather than the pick, separating travel, search and handling. Slotting was re-driven from velocity, seasonality and handling profile, with the reslotting plan produced continuously rather than annually. Wave construction and task interleaving were changed so that put-away and replenishment share the journeys picking already makes.
The outcome
Throughput rose enough on the existing footprint that the mezzanine was deferred, and slotting is now adjusted on a rolling basis against measured demand.
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