Warehouse Operations

Chapter # 07

Mission Of A Warehouse

Improving order picking operations

Utilizing cross-docking
Increasing productivity
Utilizing space
Increasing value added services

Improving order picking operations

Where a company spends more of its time and money
To improve the productivity is the main goal
Supply chain requirements drive the warehouse properly

Utilizing cross-docking
Occur at different levels
Like Manufacturer, Distributor, Retailor, Transportation levels
Each participants has different requirements

The receiver requests that the cross dock goods be

sorted and prelabeled
Example
If 100 items are ordered, the warehouse must
pick the 100 items and also separate those
items for the different store orders

Increasing productivity
To do it faster with fewer people
To maximize the effective use of space, equipment and labor
Productivity is not just labor performance

Utilizing space

Old rule, when a warehouse is 80% full, more space is needed

The proper slotting of product starts to disappear
Slow moving items in fast moving locations and vice versa
End result decline in productivity due to poor space utilization

Increasing value added services

Warehouses are no longer just picking and shipping

Include services that facilitate more efficient operations
Benefit the customer
Like prelabeling goods

Functions in Warehouse

Receiving
Inspection and quality control
Repacking
Putaway
Order picking

Storage
Postponement
Sortation
Packing and Shipping
Cross docking

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Receiving
Orderly receipt of all coming materials
Assuring the quality and quantity of ordered material
Disbursing material to storage and other organizational functions

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Inspection and quality control

Extension of the receiving process
when supplies are inconsistent in quality
Product must be inspected regularly

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Repacking
When products are received in bulk form
Packing singly
Relabeling is done when products are without marking

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Putaway
Act of placing merchandise in storage
Includes material handling and placement

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RECEIVING & SHIPPING OPERATIONS

Receiving is collection of activities assuring quantity and quality
of materials.
Shipping includes packaging and checking orders for
completeness.
Carriers must be properly considered for these operations along
with the activities of carriers.
Receiving and shipping begin and end upon crossing the property
line by carriers
Both warehouse operations are aimed for the organization to
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RECEIVING & SHIPPING SPACE PLANNING

The steps required for determining space requirements for
the above mentioned warehouse operations are:
1. Determine what is to be received and shipped
2. Determine the number and type of docks
3. Determine the space requirements for receiving and
shipping area within the facility.

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What is to be received and shipped

Implies information regarding what, when and how much of the items
shipped or received
Identification of carrier types used for shipping and receiving including
the carrier height width and length also with the height of the dock

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Number & type of docks

Waiting line analysis helps determines the number & type of docks.
If the arrival and service distribution are not much varied over time then waiting line
analysis helps addressing the problems of number
If the arrival and service distribution vary over time then simulation technique will be used.

By type of dock we mean configuration, which has to be determined after determining

the no. of docks.
It considers the flow of carriers relative to the facility.
For rail docks configuration of the railroad spur dictate the flow of railroads thus leading to
configuration of rail dock
For truck docks traffic patterns of trucks must be analyzed
Different considerations are there for configuration of truck dock.

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Determining shipping area requirement

Receiving and shipping department area requirements within a facilty may include
space allocations for the following:
Personnel convenience/office
A receiving hold area
Trash disposal and recycling bins
Palletizing equipment
The truckers lounge
Buffer or staging areas
Material handling and manuevering
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Example 1

What are the roadway requirements to the east north and west of the facility and
what space requirements are needed within the facility.

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A total staging area is

{3(10) + 2(7)} x 52 = 2288 ft sq.

A truckers lounge of 150 ft sq. will be added.
The total space requirement will be

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Dock operations Planning

Dock operation planning deals with equipment requirements for
shipping and receiving which comprise of equipment suitable
between carriers and docks.
The equipment are:
o Dock levers (Between a dock at given height and carriers of
variable height)
o Bumper pads (Between a fixed dock and a movable carrier)
o Dock shelters (Between a heated dock and unheated carrier)

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Storage space planning

The maximum and average quantities of unit load
stored are directly related to method of controlling
inventory.
There are two major storage philosophies:
Fixed or assigned storage: Each individual SKU is stored
in a specific location and no other SKU is placed in that
location even the location is empty.
Randomized storage: Any SKU can be stored in any
available location in the inventory.
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Example 2

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Example 3
Randomized vs dedicated storage
With dedicated storage the required no. of spaces
equals the sum of maximum inventory for each
individual item.
With randomized storage the no. of required the
required amount of spaces equals the maximum
aggregate inventory level.
Here is an example of 6 items in which

No. of spaces with randomized storage = 105 pallets

No. of spaces with dedicated storage = 140 pallets
Average inventory
= 77.5
Here one third more pallet position is required in dedicated
storage as compared to randomized storage.
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Example 5
Impact of aisle space on storage space utilization.

Honeycombing is the wasted space that results when a stack cannot be utilized because adding other materials
would result in blocked storage.
Honeycombing determines losses in cube utilization due to use of aisles.

When the losses in cube utilization have been determined space standards for unit loads may be calculated

Vertical
honeycombing

Horizontal
Honeycombing

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Example 6
Determining optimum storage location based on item
popularity

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Continued

The location of item along the main aisle depends on receiving/shipping ratio.
If the ratio is equal to 1 then the no. trips for both operations are equal
If the ratio is less than 1 then the trips for receiving are less than shipping and items are
placed near the shipping end.
If the ratio is greater than 1 then the trips for receiving are more than shipping and items
are placed near the receiving end.

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Principles of Order Picking

Regardless of size, mission, volume, inventory, customer requirements
or type of control system of a warehouse operation the principles apply
equally to the order picking function.
1. Apply Paretos law
2. Use a clear, easy-to-read picking document
3. Use a prerouted preposted picking document
4. Maintain an effective stock location system
5. Eliminate ad combine order picking tasks when possible
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