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

In the last article, we showed you how you can increase warehouse performance through improved stock reservation. Today, we will explain how optimized batch planning enables an intelligent picking strategy in the warehouse.

The initial situation: With multi-order picking, we combine items from several orders and pick them in one round trip. Picking can be either single-stage (order-oriented) or two-stage (item-oriented). In the classic compilation of order items for a transport unit and for an employee, we take the order priorities into account. The next pending order items are compiled taking into account, for example, the volume of the transport unit. However, this can lead to a large spread between the items to be picked.

Figure 1 shows the following scenario: The orders to be picked are arranged according to priority. The disadvantage: 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 reserved strategically or sensibly within a local area or at least within an aisle. These long travel times account for a significant proportion of picking time and affect performance in the long term. This does not have to be the case.

One possible solution is the optimization of batch planning. This answers the question: "Which order items should be planned for a transport unit in order to minimize the distances?" We show how this works in practice. The basis is formed by the planned picks as a result of the stock reservation. As part of batch planning, we classify and optimize these picks in a strategically sensible way. The aim is to pick as many order items or pre-calculated package parts as close together as possible (see Fig. 2).

Strategic stock reservation and the consistent use of reservation results make it possible to implement batch planning optimally. The aim is to bundle strategically sensible combinations of pick orders on a transport unit within a round trip in order to reduce walking distances. This is achieved by combining orders with similar storage locations in one batch. However, the size of the planned batch must not exceed the capacity of one transport unit. Optimized batch planning takes into account the same check sequences as for stock reservation, which are specified by the customer's warehouse layout. Inspection levels can be "segment-clean" or "level-clean", for example. At the same time, the permitted planning combinations of the segments are defined and specific threshold values for planning the next batches are configured. The aim is to increase the quantitative throughput as much as possible and to make optimum use of the available resources (e.g. people or trolleys).

The result: orders are processed faster in the warehouse thanks to optimized batch planning. The routes and workload per order are reduced. In this way, you make the best possible use of the potential in your warehouse and increase the overall efficiency of your warehouse.‍

Part 4 of Warehouse Performance deals with the application of the "Warehouse Healing®" strategy. The aim is to identify existing patterns in the order history and use them to generate sensible stock transfer and putaway suggestions in order to minimize picking routes.

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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.