WHY PICK FACE DESIGN MATTERS!

Most e-commerce businesses with warehouses will have some sort of pick face or simply put an area within the warehouse where orders are picked from before despatching to the customer. However, not all businesses recognise the criticality of this area, particularly in terms of the design and function, enabling high levels of efficiency and service level to be achieved. Below, five key issues that need to be addressed to ensure a cost effective and efficient operation.

Product location – whilst it might seem obvious, the design of the pick face needs to support the location of the most frequently picked products closest to the packing and despatch point. Processes also need to be put in place to regular review sales volumes, such that as products become popular, their location is changed. This is particularly important in businesses with seasonal demand.

Physical capacity of pick location – ensuring the pick location is big enough to hold the correct amount of stock is critical. If the physical location is too small, orders will not be picked in full, or worse still not at all, resulting at best in multiple picks to fulfil an order. This in turn drives inefficiency and additional cost. Sizing the pick face will depend on not only the sales volume but also the physical dimensions of the product.

Replenishment quantity – linked with the above, the amount that is physically sent to the pick face should be calculated carefully. Ideally, replenishment quantity should be based on full carton, which eliminates the need to break cartons down into smaller amounts, thus maintaining efficiency.

Fixed or dynamic pick locations – when setting up a pick face a fundamental decision is whether to have a fixed location for every product or allow products to be stored in dynamic locations, based on fluctuating demand. The latter solution is more space efficient but will require an IT solution to determine optimum locations as sales demand fluctuates.

The final and most important point is recognising the effect of an inefficient picking process on shipping costs. This particularly true for any business shipping parcels via a third-party courier, where the shipping cost is based on the number of parcels sent. Efficient picking will ensure that an order is shipped in the least number of parcels thus reducing the transport bill. ?