Automating Your Warehouse

Do you still manually track the data and items that are moved in and out of your warehouse? Did you know that barcodes can maximize inventory throughput, increase productivity and improve accuracy throughout different operational areas of the warehouse? Below we will walk you through a list of warehouse functions that can easily automated using a mobile computer, barcode scanner or other barcode equipment, along with our warehouse management software.

• Receiving – The ability to properly handle a shipment when it arrives. This process can be individualized to each warehouse or product type. In some cases, goods are not received into a facility, but rather cross-docked, which is a logistics procedure where products from a supplier or manufacturing plant are distributed directly to a customer or retail chain with marginal to no handling or storage time.
• Put Away – Put-away is normally thought of as the process of moving received inventory from the dock, kitting area, or production department to a storage bin. The put-away process is also used to relocate inventory within the warehouse and to replenish dedicated storage bins with inventory from a reserve storage bin.
• Inventory – Inventory management refers to the supervision of supply, storage and accessibility of items in order to ensure an adequate supply without excessive oversupply. It also helps companies keep lost sales to a minimum by having enough stock on hand to meet demand. The inventory can be real-time or in the form of a cycle count, which is an audit procedure designed to verify the inventory accuracy for a small subset of inventory in a specific location on a specific day.
• Picking – Picking consists of taking and collecting articles in a specified quantity before shipment to satisfy a customer’s order. The following are different types of picking:
  • Piece Picking (or Pick to Part) – Order pickets move to collect the products necessary for one order.
  • Zone Picking – Each order picker is assigned to one specific zone and will only realize order picking within this zone.
  • Wave Picking – Order picker moves to collect the products necessary for several orders.
  • Sorting Systems Method – No movement of the order picker, as the products are brought to picker by an automatic system.
  • Pick to Box Method – No movement of the order picker, as the picking area is organized so that there are a number of picking stations connected by a conveyor. The order picker fills the box with the products from his station and the box moves to the other picking stations until he customer order is complete.
• Packing – Packing occurs after the picking process and entails prepping a product or good for shipment by re-packaging, affixing with a shipping label, including an invoice and staging in preparation for shipment. Additionally, for certain goods or customers, there may be the requirement for kit building.
• Shipping – Shipping entails the delivery of the right product or good to the right customer or location using the right method of shipment, all while minimizing the cost. If a customer is doing their own delivery, incorporating proof of delivery allows for more accurate information and quicker confirmation to the customer. Furthermore, our software has the ability to integrate shipment tracking for customers.

Lastly, did you know that at Barcodes, Inc. we can automate all of the warehouse functions that we described into one warehouse management system? Give one of our experts a call to get a free consultation for your warehouse management solution.