Warehouse Performance: Get rid of unnecessary walkways with the right batch planning (part 3/4).

In our last article, we showed you how to achieve more efficient warehouse performance through improved inventory reservation. Now we will introduce you to another measure, namely how optimized batch planning ensures an intelligent picking strategy in the warehouse.

The initial situation: Items from several orders are combined in multi-order picking and processed in a single round. Picking itself can be carried out in 1 step (order-oriented) or in 2 steps (article-oriented). The classic compilation of order items for a transport unit and an employee is based on order priorities. The next pending order items are compiled taking into account, for example, the volume of the transport unit. In many cases, however, this results in a large spread between the items to be picked.

Figure 1 opposite shows the following scenario. The orders to be picked in each case are arranged according to priority. The disadvantage is that the employees cover long distances for a transport unit and usually have to pick throughout the entire warehouse area. This is because the picking orders have not been strategically or sensibly reserved within a local area or at least within an aisle. In this case, the long travel times in particular account for a significant proportion of the picking time and, in the long term, have a negative impact on performance. This does not have to be the case.

One possible solution is to optimize batch planning and thus answer the question: "Which order items should be planned on a transport unit to minimize distances?" We will show you how this looks in practice. The basis for this action is the planned picks as a result of inventory reservation. In the course of batch planning, these picks are classified in a strategically sensible way and put together in an optimized way. So that as many order items or precalculated package shares as possible and also as close together as possible can be picked (see Fig. 2).

Strategic inventory reservation and the consistent use of reservation results make it possible to implement batch planning in an optimal way. The aim is to put together strategically sensible combinations of pick orders on a transport unit within a round trip in order to reduce walking distances. This is achieved by planning locally related orders together in a batch. However, with the restriction that the planned batch is not larger than one transport unit. The optimized batch planning is done considering the same checking sequences as the inventory reservation, each of which is set using the customer's warehouse layout. Examples of one type of check levels are "segment clean" or "level clean". At the same time, the permissible planning combinations of the segments are defined and concrete threshold values are configured for planning the next batches. The goal is to increase the quantitative throughput as best as possible and to make optimal use of the available resources (for example, people or weighing).

The result: With optimized batch planning, incoming orders in the warehouse are processed faster, with shorter travel times and less effort per order. In this way, you make the best possible use of the potential in your warehouse and thus increase the overall efficiency of your warehouse.

Outlook: The 4th part of Warehouse Performance deals with the application of the "Warehouse Healing®" strategy. The goal is to recognize existing patterns in the order history and to generate sensible stock transfer and putaway suggestions from them in order to minimize picking paths.

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Are you excited and want to learn more about the consistent analysis and use of data in the warehouse? Feel free to contact us.