C-Suite for a New Warehouse Management System
Article from MHI Solutions Magazine
If warehouse workers are constantly bumping into each other while navigating high-traffic aisles, then hiring more manpower likely would add to the chaos instead of boosting throughput. Likewise, moving into a bigger warehouse, a tremendous undertaking with a hefty cost, is no quick fix for businesses experiencing prolonged growing pains.
That was the dilemma facing a major distributor of bicycle parts before the company implemented a warehouse management system (WMS), unlocking the power of data and automation. The WMS quickly paid dividends for that client, increasing productivity 30-40%, according to Bill Denbigh, vice president of marketing for MHI member Tecsys.
Using handheld devices connected to the WMS, workers went from picking orders one-by-one to grouping orders together, picking a bunch of the most commonly purchased products in a single pass through the warehouse. Guided by the WMS, pickers were now taking the most efficient path through the warehouse, and popular products were positioned closest to the packing stations to reduce wasted movement.
“Workers were all moving in the same direction, so they weren’t colliding anymore,” Denbigh said. “The WMS allowed them to finish picking at 2 p.m. instead of working late into the night. They were able to pick orders that day to deliver to the customer the next morning because they now had a system that let them hit their customer service cutoffs…
