What are the best practices for improving warehouse efficiency with systems engineering and integration?

Integrate warehouse management system and inventory management data sources into the demand forecasting system to ensure that demand forecasts are based on accurate, real-time information, enabling more accurate forecasts and strategic decisions. Improve communication between warehouse teams and recognize the critical role of communication in warehouse operations, and challenges related to inventory management, picking, and shipping. Encourage cross-departmental collaboration to gain valuable information and perspectives on warehouse efficiency goals.

As melhores praticas para melhorar a eficiência do seu armazem com engenharia de sistemas e integra??o deve levar em conta as 4 principais fun??es específicas do armazem: recebimento, armazenamento, separa??o e expedi??o. A excelência de estoque é alcan?ada por meio do aumento da eficiência do estoque. Um bom início para isso é entender a situa??o atual do armazem. Tópicos, tais como: inventário, obsolescência, implicancias relativas ao lay-out, fluxo de materiais, equipes responsáveis (recebimento, estoque, separa??o e expedi??o), eventuais gargalos existentes, se existem indicadores e os mesmos s?o confiáveis, pontos de possíveis melhorias, etc. Com base nessas informa??es é possível executar um plano de a??o com a??es de melhoria.

Based on the title of this article for “Warehouse Efficiency” multiple tools and methods should be considered (not just one) for use to identify problems as well as a starting point to compare to future improvements. Warehouse improvements can be measured by cost, time reduction, traveling distance reduction, and order picking time to name a few. Each of the metrics (as well as others) can be evaluated in a different way and they should all be considered.

If at all possible see if testing can be conducted prior to implementation to debug as best as possible before going live. Previously working with Oracle, we were able to set up a test interface that used actual data however the changes that were made did not occur in the real world. This gave us the opportunity to see what the results of the changes would be without causing major problems with actual material.

During the process improvement or efficiency improvement projects, teams often lose sight of the overall/end-to-end view of the process. Tools such as value stream mapping are great in identifying or establishing relationships but if it was approached in silos, it may not provide desired results. For instance, a value stream mapping of Receiving activity in a warehouse should also consider the impacts on the shipping side. More often than not, how a product comes in has a strong impact on how efficiently it ships out. If that connection is lost while driving an improvement in receiving, it is only providing a partial result or sometimes adverse results.