(Courtesy: https://www.wearethepractitioners.com/library/the-contributors-voice/2013/04/03/wms-and-picking)
The rise in online shopping has put dock and warehouse managers under the gun to improve operations.
Mega-retailers like Wal-Mart and Amazon and package delivery services like UPS and FedEx can afford to spend billions on research and development of faster, more efficient ways to get products to consumers faster and more accurately.
The result is consumers who now expect to get their orders not in weeks or months, but in days or even hours after they submit their orders.
And it’s not just residential consumers either. Now the trend towards faster, better, and more efficient delivery systems is extending to businesses as well.
In the meantime, many small- or medium-sized business warehouse or dock managers are being challenged to develop ways to improve workflow and throughput without the benefit of the bottomless resources of multi-billion global corporations.
Throw Out the Rule Book
The problem that many operations have is their past. “We’ve always done it this way” is not going to cut it in the 21st Century, when competition with fast, efficient, web-based businesses is ferocious.
“We’ve always done it this way” is not going to cut it in the 21st Century, when competition with fast, efficient, web-based businesses is ferocious.
The first thing you can do to streamline picking and distribution operations is to forget everything you have done in the past. New solutions call for fresh ideas.
Have a Game Plan
Another challenge to efficiency is existing overhead.
If your business already has invested over the years in elaborate shelving, materials handling equipment, and other costly warehouse and dock equipment, it’s not going to be easy to write-off those expenses and buy brand new, state of the art technology like automated guided vehicles, digital warehouse management systems, and other big ticket items.
But you don’t have to do everything all at once. Instead, develop a long-range strategy to upgrade your picking, packaging, and delivery systems over time. Then build these updates into your budget so you don’t have to take the whole hit at once.
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
Businesses that have been in operation are always difficult to change, especially when compared to smaller, newer, and more flexible competitors.
One analogy frequently cited is that big companies are like big ships. They can’t change course easily and require time and patience for major changes to occur. Smaller, cutting edge companies are more like speed boats that can speed up, slow down, and make sharp turns more easily.
Yet even established businesses can benefit from youthful thinking. Executives who encourage managers to be creative and give them the freedom to make decisions on their own often can see faster, better results.