What Is Warehouse Slotting, and How to Do it Better

Take into account potential congestion you may accidentally create. Slotting can increase the efficiency of picking and packing as well. By slotting your warehouse in the most suitable way for your business, you can maximize the utilized storage capacity. Efficient slotting can lead to storing more items in one area, leading to more space for new inventory. Warehouse management systems act as an incredible assist for facility managers who wish to streamline the warehouse optimization process.

• Since it takes longer for them to finish their work, you may have to hire additional pickers to maintain everyday operations.
• From organizing inventory based on how often each SKU is picked to arranging inventory depending on the picking zones for each item, here are four key inventory slotting best practices.
• Some examples follow to illustrate why this topic is a little more complicated than it may seem at first glance.
• Some products are sold by the pallet, some are sold by the case, and others are sold individually.

The need for faster order fulfillment, more inventory, more SKU’s and better utilized space. Pickers should be able to do their jobs quickly, without giving extra thought to configuring items in the box and playing Tetris. My experience implementing Warehouse Management Systems , educating users, and optimizing internal processes has taught me one invaluable lesson about how data and physical operations go hand in hand. The most advanced system will fail if it’s given improper data, and the most capable labor force will make mistakes if the system fails. An item selling quickly during the summer might move slowly during the winter.

What are the symptoms that slotting is required?

All other actively stocked items that had no movement during the time period are assigned a “D” velocity ranking. It is the “D” items that are candidates to move out of the active pick line if your operation has a lack of pick facings at ground level. The same type of product velocity ranking can be assigned on the basis of cube velocity if this is a more pertinent measure to use such as in a full case operation. Whether you choose one approach versus the other may be a function of the warehouse management system you are using within your facility. Some WMS applications are designed around the assumption that random slotting or fixed slotting is the de facto methodology to operate the picking function.

The most difficult part of warehouse slotting optimization is that it’s a never ending process. To have a truly optimized and highly functioning order fulfillment strategy – inventory slotting has to be ongoing. A continuous process of gathering data, analyzing data, making inventory changes and repeat. Warehouse slotting considers the item velocities, dimensions , weights, product groupings, and more to determine the ideal warehouse setup.

Analyze available storage systems and the warehouse layout

This may, according to your sales, involve re-slotting the warehouse for better efficiency. If you are a distributor with seasonal products then obviously your warehouse will need to be re-slotted for the picker’s efficiency during any seasonal product you are selling at the time. There also has to be re-slotting for inventory that is not moving and will be stored until that particular products season is open. In addition to saving space within a facility, efficient slotting methods allow for fewer workers to pick more orders more efficiently, ultimately reducing labor costs . Slotting your products in a more efficient manner can help to drastically reduce travel time, making your workers more productive and increasing labor efficiency. Warehouse slotting is the process of assigning and storing items in optimal picking locations based on various criteria, such as unit velocity, size weights, and family group for instance.

• Directly connected to operators via RF scanners, Easy WMS Warehouse Slotting Software automatically generates goods redistribution tasks in the facility.
• In your kitchen you have your spices near your stove for easy access while cooking, same with your dishes and glasses which are usually placed in your cupboard near the sink.
• By tracking order accuracy rates, you can get a better understanding of whether items are being picked correctly or not.
• The size and weight complexity also comes into play here, since the rearrangement of items to get to the bottom item can bear too much stress on the picker.

Aidc Solutions uses your current slotting system to get the best out of our implemented warehouse system. Digitisation has become the best method for eliminating inefficiency in any logistics process, including product slotting. Only a warehouse management system is capable of designing an optimal, error-free location strategy, based on the criteria established by the manager of the installation. If you are planning to build a new warehouse facility or updating your existing facility, you will want to devote some time to your slotting strategy to make sure that it is as efficient as possible. Often, this will be done in collaboration with a warehouse design consultant or systems integrator, who can help you identify inefficiencies in your current system.

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Therefore, with inappropriate What Is Warehouse Slotting? your company is wasting time and money in its ability to pick items for shipping at the fluency they should be. Remember its about the movement of people and the more time they have to move between aisles the less time there is left to ship out orders. The module optimises location management by updating slotting in line with historical, current and future demand for each product.

Additionally, it can reduce the time needed to locate them when necessary. Easy WMS, our warehouse management system, has been implemented by more than 500 customers in 36 countries. If you’re looking to optimise inventory slotting at your warehouse, don’t hesitate to contact us. One of our expert consultants will help you to raise your installation’s efficiency to the next level and beyond.

Facility managers should take both realms under consideration as they organize their warehouse. Once businesses have both micro and macro slotting under control, they can see significant improvements in how their warehouses operate. Items slotted efficiently take up less space, which means you can store more items in the same area.