MMBA24L08 WAREHOUSING FACILITIES AND AUTOMATION MANAGEMENT

UNIT II – WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS, PROCESS AND M

H E
Warehouse Operations – Receiving and Put-away – Pick
preparations – Order picking methods - Warehouse pick area
layout – Cross Docking – Picking Strategies and Equipment –
Material Handling Equipment and Storage Equipment – Order
Shipping – Warehousing Efficiency Methods and Bench
Markings
Textbooks:
T1.Warehouse management 2nd edition by Gwynne Richards – CILT UK Publication
T2.Warehouse in the Global Supply Chain– Ricardo Manzoni by Springer Publication
Reference Books:
R1.The Handbook of Logistics and Distribution Management 5th edition by Alan Rushton –
CILT UK Publication.
R2.A Supply Chain Logistics Program for Warehouse Management – David E Mulcahy CRC
Press Book
 Warehouse Operation – Receiving

1. RECEIVING
a. Advance Shipping
Notification - ASN
b. Dock allocation
c. Physical Unloading and
Staging
d. Verification - quantity,
quality https://blog.onpalms.com/blog
s/end-to-end-operations-using-
e. Identifying, Marking, warehouse-management-syste
m-wms
Link for the video on WMS from
MACALUX :
https://youtu.be/tp5_Op94xq0
 Warehouse Operation – Put-away

1. MATERIAL TRANSFER TO WH
STORAGE -

BINS, PALLETS, TOTES..

2. PUT-AWAY
a. Product Family
b. Size of material
c. Cost of material
d. Color of material
e. Weight of material
 Order Picking
Warehouse activities as a percentage of total cost
Order Picking refers to the
process where individual items
are picked from a fulfilment
facility to satisfy customers’
orders.

It’s an essential aspect of order

fulfilment and is considered
one of the most expensive and
labor-intensive activities for
warehouses.

During the pick process,

appropriate instructions for pick
and pack are provided to the
user
The speed and efficiency of the order picking process can affect the delivery time
of a customer's order, which can affect customer satisfaction. Therefore, to fulfill
customer orders quickly and accurately, it's essential to streamline this process
 Benefits and Limitations of Picking Methods

https://hy-tek.com/resources/pros-cons-order-picking-methods/
Picking Methods – Single Order Picking

Pick and Pack (Discrete Picking or Single-

Order Picking)
This method involves picking and packing
individual orders, one at a time. It typically works
well for businesses with a small number of orders
(e.g., a retail fulfillment warehouse servicing 40
stores a day) Discrete picking allows for a high
level of customization and accuracy in fulfilling
customer orders.

Benefits:
• Ease of implementation
• Order picker accuracy and performance are
easily tracked

Potential Limitations:
• Time-consuming
• Labor-intensive
• Excessive picker travel
Picking Methods – Batch Picking
Batch-Order Picking
Another method commonly used in
warehouses is batch picking (sometimes
called batch and sort). This method involves
picking items for multiple orders
simultaneously. Typically, operations with a
large number of smaller quantity orders are
advantaged with this picking strategy. Batch
picking is often more efficient than single-
order picking because it consolidates picking
routes and reduces travel time within the
warehouse.
Benefits :
• Enables faster order fulfillment for a high
volume of orders.
• Reduces order picker travel.
Limitations:
• Product sortation and order consolidation is
needed for multi-unit orders.
Picking Methods – Zone Picking Type 1

Pick and Pass Zone Picking

In a pick-and-pass zone-picking
method, an order is passed from zone
to zone where workers in each zone
place items into the order tote. Once
the tote makes it through the last zone,
it is sent to packing.
Picking Methods – Zone Picking Type 2
Batch & Sort Zone Picking
In a batch-and-sort zone-picking method,
workers in each zone pick items for multiple
orders. Once all the items are picked from each
zone, they are combined at a separate station
for packaging and shipping.
This method helps reduce congestion in the
warehouse and increases order-picking speed.
By assigning specific zones to each picker, it
minimizes the travel distance and time required
to pick items. Zone picking is particularly
effective in large warehouses with a wide range
of products and a high number of orders to fulfill.
Benefits:
• Slot items by SKU velocity more efficiently
• Reduce aisle congestion
Limitations :
• Since orders will consist of items picked from
multiple zones, the products will need to be
consolidated.
• Some zones may experience more activity
than others, creating unequal workloads. This
can be evened out with a zone-balancing
Picking Methods – Wave Picking
Wave Picking
Wave picking might be best described as an
order release method rather than a picking
method. A “wave” describes how orders are
given to order pickers and it can be utilized in
conjunction with batch picking and/or zone
picking.
With wave picking, orders are grouped
together based on specific criteria and
assigned to pickers accordingly.
Benefits:
• Efficient organization and planning of order
release
• Ability to forecast labor demand
Limitations:
• Not all waves disperse work equally,
causing some pickers to wait for work to be
released
The continuous wave-picking method allows
for new orders to be transferred to the current
workload (current wave) dynamically based on
picker location and workload. This method
does require sophisticated software for precise
Picking Methods – Cluster Picking
Cluster Picking
Cluster picking simply means that multiple
discrete orders are picked simultaneously. It is
similar to batch picking, however, cluster
picking involves arranging items into distinct
bins. This strategy allows workers to fulfill
multiple orders in a single trip while alleviating
the need for further sortation.
Benefits:
• Minimizes touches and the need to sort
downstream
• Works for small- to medium-sized items
Limitations:
• Limited number of orders per cart per trip
• Long pick path for slower-moving items (less
popular)
• Not ideal for large items (cannot fit on cart)
Warehouse pick area layout
Picking equipment
Material Handling equipment
Storage equipment
 Cross Docking
Transfer of incoming shipments directly to outgoing vehicles without storing them in between.

Unloading of goods from inbound vehicles and loading these into outbound vehicles
 Benefits Cross Docking

Below are some of the Key benefits of cross docking

 Reduction of overall logistics costs by reducing WH cost,

 Frequent and Faster Delivery of smaller volumes,
 Improved Responsiveness capability and customer service quality
 More inventory turnover with fewer overstock or stock-out
 Consolidation of shipments and shorter delivery lead time
 Reduction in lead time
 Reduction in Storage space requirement
 Shipping process in a Warehouse
Create and Manage Order Information

While there’s a lot of different steps within this process, the basics include
gathering order information, validating addresses, confirming available
inventory, combining any shipments that are headed to the same location, and
preparing the order for shipment.

Pick, Pack, Ship

You may have heard the terms pick, pack, ship. It’s a simple three-step process
used by almost every logistics company out there. Picking products pertains to
getting ordered items off the shelves, packing is the preparation of those items
in their proper packaging, and shipping is label creation. After the package or
order is ready, it’s moved on to the shipping process.

Shipping the Order

Shipping is as simple as moving the order from one place to another via a
parcel or courier service. If you’re a smaller company or business, you’ll likely
partner with a courier service such as UPS, FedEx, or USPS. Recently, big-name
companies such as Amazon have started managing their entire shipping
END OF UNIT 2