Which storage method for optimised logistic picking? | RAJA

Managing the flow of goods, teams, incoming and outgoing stocks… There are many challenges for those who want to run their logistics warehouse efficiently! Among these challenges, one stands out as a key to increasing warehouse productivity tenfold: logistical picking, i.e. the action that consists of an operator going to pick up products in the stock before the packing phase. To meet this challenge, one element becomes essential: choosing a storage method that will allow you to optimise this picking. Which one to choose? What criteria to take into account? How do the biggest ones do it? The answer in this panorama of optimised storage.CONTENTS

1. Storage: a key criterion for optimising picking in a logistics warehouse

2. How do you choose your storage method for your logistics warehouse?

• The Pick and Pack method
• The Put To Light method
• The Pick by Light method

3. Different storage methods, to be chosen according to your needs

• The ABC method: logistical picking based on the turnover rate
• The FIFO and LIFO methods, based on the time of entry into stock
• The FIFO method: First In – First Out
• LIFO method: Last In – First Out
• Picking and Packing (order picking) are linked

4. An example of date-optimised logistics picking: Amazon Prime Now

5. The essentials in a few lines

1. storage: a key criterion for optimising picking in a logistics warehouse

It is undeniable that the storage method chosen by a warehouse will have an impact, positive or negative, on the preparation of orders. From the picking phase, which consists of fetching a product from the stock, to the packing phase, the way in which assets are stored will affect the productivity of the logistics warehouse. There are two main objectives in implementing an optimised storage method

• On the one hand, to reduce the picking time, which will ultimately lead to a quicker completion of the packing phase, thus increasing the warehouse throughput.
• Although warehouse productivity is increased, the operators must be spared to really see the benefits of this optimisation.

how to choose your storage method for your logistics warehouse?

With these two optimisation objectives in mind, you will have to choose a method that is adapted to your warehouse and, more generally, to your business.

Warehouse criteria to be taken into

account It should be noted that not all storage methods will be suitable for all logistics warehouses. Several criteria should be considered in order to make a truly informed choice. On the one hand, the choice of your storage process will depend on the picking methods that you have implemented or that you decide to implement. We spoke to you about this in a previous article devoted to the subject, but the issue is important enough to be outlined

• The Pick And Pack method involves the operator picking products from an order in the warehouse and placing them in the packing area. The operator can pick products from one or more orders, depending on the required pick rate.
• The Put To Light method requires the operator to carry a trolley equipped with illuminated screens, which indicate to the picker where he should pick and drop the products of the order.
• The Pick By Light method is quite similar to the previous one, as light signals are displayed right at the storage location, so the operator knows where to pick the necessary products and then takes them to the packing area.

on comprend aisément, en lisant ces méthodes de picking, que l’agencement de l’entrepôt logistique ne sera pas le même, selon le processus choisi.

En effet, l’un des éléments inhérents à chacune de ces méthodes, qui va impacter votre choix de méthode de stockage, sont les outils de picking à votre disposition.

Tandis qu’en Pick And Pack, les préparateurs sélectionneront les produits à la main, dans d’autres processus, ils s’équiperont de chariots ou de transpalettes. Autant dire qu’un chariot ne vous demandera pas le même espace disponible que des opérateurs se déplaçant à pied.

Notez bien ces enjeux primordiaux, et continuons à chercher la méthode de stockage qui conviendra le mieux à votre entrepôt.

Les différences entre le stockage B2B et B2C

Voilà un autre élément à observer de près avant de vous lancer dans l’optimisation de votre entrepôt logistique : les différences de stockage entre les activités B2B et les entrepôts B2C.

En B2C, un entrepôt logis

• The orders are smaller than in B2B: parcels are sent, whereas B2B is used to sending pallets on a regular basis.
• Product flows can be very variable depending on the season;
• The distance operators have to travel to pick is generally longer;
• Pickers are not always equipped with picking machines, depending on the size of the warehouse;
• Order picking is more complicated, sometimes with multiple products that are very different from each other..

par conséquent, on va voir apparaître des différences dans les méthodes de stockage entre le B2B et le B2C. Fait assez important pour qu’on le présente comme un élément à prendre en compte dans sa gestion logistique : le fait qu’en B2B, on a plus le droit à l’erreur qu’en B2C.

En effet, le consommateur final B2C est bien plus enclin à se plaindre d’une commande mal préparée, mal emballée, ou mal livrée et à rompre immédiatement la relation. Tandis qu’un client B2B dont l’expérience de livraison aura été décevante sera moins prompt à changer de prestataire sur le champ.

Vous avez désormais vos enjeux particuliers de stockage bien en tête, et allez pouvoir choisir la méthode stockage qui convient le mieux à l’optimisation de votre picking en entrepôt.

3. Des méthodes de rangement différentes, à choisir selon vos enjeux

Des méthodes traditionnellesauxméthodes

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innovantes,nous

• ABC storage is well suited to warehouses where Pareto’s law is confirmed on a daily basis. If you have flagship products that are often stuck together, it is in your interest to apply it.
• It is particularly suitable for Pick and Pack methods, especially in small and medium-sized companies. If your operators are responsible for both picking and packing, ABC optimisation is particularly recommended.

the FIFO and LIFO methods, based on the moment of entry into stock of the products

Other storage methods to optimise picking: the FIFO and LIFO methods. These are two opposing methods, each of which has its own specific interest. It should be noted that these storage methods are also linked to an accounting method, since the price of the product taken is noted according to its date of removal.

The FIFO method: First In – First Out

The acronym FIFO can be translated into French by the expression “Premier entré – premier sorti” (First in – First out). The assets entered into stock first are thus supposed to be removed first as well

• It is particularly well suited to logistics warehouses that manage perishable products, where the use-by date governs the location of the product in the stock, to avoid exceeding the use-by date.

lIFO: Last In – First Out

This is the opposite method to FIFO, which can be translated as “Last In – First Out”. Managers will spontaneously apply this method, which seems to be the most “logical”. With the LIFO method, the last products entered into stock are stored as close as possible to the packing area. Operators thus have easy access to the “most recent” products. Note, however, thatin France, it is forbidden to carry out an accounting inventory in LIFO.Advantages of this method

• Picking from LIFO stock is much faster for the operators, whose travel time is greatly reduced.
• The LIFO method corresponds to activities where there is a real seasonality. On the one hand, new products arrive, are stored in front of the others, and leave quickly. On the other hand, the bottom of the stock corresponds to basic products, not subject to seasonality.

picking et Packing (préparation de commande) sont liés !

Vous connaissez désormais 3 méthodes de stockage communes pour un picking optimisé. Cependant, soyez conscient du fait qu’optimiser le circuit amont de picking n’aura pas d’effet sur la productivité de votre entrepôt, si vous n’avez pas également optimisé le poste d’emballage et de préparation de commande (packing).

Si la préparation de commande devient un nouveau goulot d’étranglement, elle ralentira le flux de votre entrepôt et nuira au délai de livraison promis à vos clients. 3 étapes simples existent pour optimiser votre poste d’emballage : et si vous les appliquiez [article]

4. Un exemple de picking logistique optimisé par la data : Amazon Prime Now

Avec l’apparition des nouvelles technologies, le monde de la logistique change de face. La gestion par les données informatiques devient de plus en plus fréquente. C’est le cas chez Amazon Prime Now : un exemple intéressant, dont on peut tirer des enseignements

• Operators, when they store an article in a specific location, scan it and indicate this location to the software.
• The order pickers, when picking, are then given the location where they should go to collect it.

and the technology goes further: when an order comes in, the software determines the optimal path for picking. It takes into account the journey time for the operator, as well as the specificity of the products, such as fresh products, which enter the picking last. The Amazon Prime Now picker only has to follow the optimised path, with a device that indicates the references to be picked along the way, up to the end of the warehouse, where the packaging is done.The data thus controls both the storage and the picking

5. L’essentiel en quelques lignes

En B2C comme en B2B, c’est désormais la vitesse qui prime sur l’optimisation à outrance des coûts.

Or, même si l’automatisation progresse de jour en jour dans les entrepôts, la très grande majorité des opérations reste encore gérée par l’homme. Par conséquent, la rapidité d’exécution doit prendre en compte la fatigue et l’effort de l’opérateur. N’oubliez pas que les TMS (troubles musculo-squelettiques) sont la première source d’absentéisme dans l’entrepôt !

Ainsi, quelque soit votre méthode de stockage et de picking, elle doivent trouver le bon équilibre en productivité et respect des opérateurs. Une collaboration et une prise en considération des observations de votre équipe logistique, sur le terrain, sera non seulement un gage de réussite, mais aussi la garantie d’une réduction des arrêts maladie.