Archive for Warehousing
Task interleaving is an advanced productivity practice enabled by leading warehouse management systems (WMS) with task management engines. Task interleaving is designed to reduce deadheading—i.e., when a worker, for example, picks products and drops them off at a dock and then returns to the picking area without performing any useful tasks along the way. In most operations, some workers are dedicated to picking, while others are dedicated to put-away. Task… Continue reading
Last month, I wrote a piece on explaining the value of logistics to the CEO. Earlier this week, as I was catching up on my reading, I came across this quote from Jeff Fettig, Chairman and Chief Executive of Whirlpool, in a Wall Street Journal article by Joe Barrett: “[Logistics] and investment in new product innovation are the only areas that we’re spending the same on as we… Continue reading
In the last annual survey done by WERC, the average warehouse’s turnover was between 9.4 and 15 percent. This is too high, and turnover is expensive. How can companies perform better in this area? Could the composition of the workforce make a difference?
In recent research conducted by the Pew Research Center, they comment that “the American work force is graying—and not just because the American population… Continue reading
I received a question a while back from a client, a supply chain director at a process manufacturer. In the process manufacturing industry, storage often does not involve warehouses that store cases and pallets; it involves putting various types of liquids, at various temperatures and pressures, in storage tanks. These tanks might store raw materials at the front end of the manufacturing process, they might store products that are… Continue reading
I was briefed recently by Vocollect, a leading provider of voice recognition for warehouse picking. Vocollect is looking to expand from providing voice solutions for the warehouse to also providing solutions to support retail store operations. One of Vocollet’s clients, Cabela’s, a leading specialty retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise, has logistics personnel working in its stores and they are responsible for managing inventory in… Continue reading
Microsoft Xbox and Other AS/RS Killers
· CommentsI read an article by Bob Trebilcock in Modern Materials Handling titled “Automation: Grocery giant Kroger changes the distribution game,”and I was amazed by what Kroger has accomplished, and the risks the company has taken.
Kroger implemented an automation system “that can receive and put-away full pallets, then break them down and rebuild them into store-ready mixed pallets according to how they will be put away on the… Continue reading
About a year and a half ago, I completed a report on the ROI and best practices associated with Voice Recognition solutions for the warehouse. The price for voice systems has been dropping in recent years, as more companies use nonproprietary, mobile computers from companies like Motorola. These computers provide the local computing power for the voice headset, and they enable either voice or scanning driven processes depending on… Continue reading
When I think of a warehouse, I visualize a facility with racks. But in industries that sell commodities (e.g. fresh produce), “bulk” warehouses without racking are more prevalent. What you are likely to see in these warehouses are painted lines on the floor where pallets are stacked. Oftentimes, a worker has to move a stack of pallets out of the way in order to select the pallet(s) containing the products… Continue reading
