Order picking is quickly finding, transporting, and retrieving products from inventory within a warehouse. This secondary job often requires workers to work in high-stress environments with little to no breaks. As a result, it is common to face typical problems like misplacing items, picking the wrong things, or accidental redundancy.
However, now, you can tackle all these problems with a high-efficiency warehouse management system (WMS). The best way to solve your troubles and ensure your warehouse’s smooth functioning is to take help from the latest technology. Here’s how you can solve these five common order-picking problems with a warehouse management system:
- Picked the Wrong Item/Quantity
This is one of the most common order-picking problems in a warehouse. It occurs when pickers choose the wrong product from the selected order or accidentally pick the same items more than once.
Most WMSs use a barcode system to solve this problem, where a unique code is assigned for every item. Before taking the order, the pickers have to enter the system by scanning the bar code. Then, the immediate alert system activates and warns about the mistake if the wrong item is picked.
- Order Picking Errors
It happens when you have extra orders, and your pickers mistakenly pick different items for those orders. It could be due to a lack of knowledge about the overall operational system or incorrect data in WMS.
To fix this issue, integrate all these systems so that they function correctly together and help avoid mistakes made by workers regarding the order information. Those who want expert help should know that the best drayage service is ArdentX.
- Pickers Do Not Confirm Orders
Another common problem is misplacing items within your warehouse because of mistakes on orders filled by employees. Picking errors usually happen because of incorrect data written in the WMS or when workers need to confirm the order before picking it up.
To fix this issue, try to check all the orders before scheduling the work for pickers. If there is any change in the order, the warehouse management system immediately issues a correction order with a comment and corrects the mistake in time.
- Accidental Redundancy
One of the most difficult order-picking problems is the redundant pick. Most employees need to figure out where to put the items being picked, resulting in a massive pile-up. To solve this problem, use a combination of barcode and RFID systems.
The RFID system uses near-field communications to track the items within range, so you can send all the orders along with their numbers to the picker closest to the rack on which they are located.
- Unavailability of Pickers
One of the most common order-picking issues is the unavailability of pickers. However, sometimes it also happens that workers feel they need to be more active in the warehouse management system, resulting in mistakes. To solve this problem, take help from a simple kiosk with a phone number that instantly alerts the warehouse management system when it receives any new message or order.
Therefore, every warehouse can realize the above-mentioned key benefits of WMS, like improved service quality and customer satisfaction. With help from a WMS system, you can reach these objectives and achieve greater agility for your business.