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Even though the value of controlling travel time has been recognized for decades, a recent report suggests that the issue is underestimated by many warehouse managers. The larger the warehouse, the easier it is to lose control of travel cost. It has long been recognized that travel time is the largest element in order picking, and order picking in turn is the largest element in warehouse handling.
Those managers who live with a poorly designed locator system, or worse yet no system at all, will waste significant time searching for SKUs that are lost in the warehouse. We once worked in a grocery product warehouse, a huge facility with no locator system, and a prime use of the loudspeaker communication was finding things that are lost. A frequent broadcast was: “Does anybody know where the raspberry Jell-O is?”
One peculiarity of order picking is that the vehicle used to do the job is running empty about half of the time. For example, a lift operator who goes out in the warehouse to pick orders has an empty truck until he reaches the location where the first merchandise is located.
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