Part Four of The Importance of Measuring and Utilizing KPIs in Warehousing.
This article is part three of our six-part KIPs in Warehousing series. Click here to read part one: The Importance of Measuring and Utilizing KPIs in Warehousing: Storage & Inventory.
A messy warehouse is an inefficient warehouse. Further, the longer inventory stays in the warehouse, the more it costs a business. For this reason, tracking storage efficiency and inventory is essential to optimising your warehouse.
This article is part three of our six-part KIPs in Warehousing series. Click here to read part one: The Importance of Measuring and Utilizing KPIs in Warehousing: Put-Away.
Once receiving activity is completed, the accepted merchandise must be stored in a location that is convenient to retrieve for further action. This process is called put-away which can consist of several different types of functions:
Part Two of The Importance of Measuring and Utilizing KPIs in Warehousing.
KPIs, or key performance indicators, are a measure of performance of the business that provide insights and opportunities to improve. They are essentially a “performance scorecard” of benchmarks that are unique to each business, gauging progress towards the company’s goals, identifying areas that need improvement, and comparing performance to competitors and industry standards.
Different warehouses have different KPIs, therefore it is important that warehouse managers and administrators work together to identify areas of importance. Each warehouse KPI analyses a specific process or operation and gives you a result that shows how well that process is doing by comparing it to past numbers and benchmarks.
While all warehouses are different, there are many commonly used KPIs that can be applied to most warehouses. However not all KPIs need to be used to reach your goals. Instead, you should choose the ones that are most relevant to your current goals.
Over the next few weeks we shall be highlighting the Top 25 KPIs in Warehousing and the processes they form part of.
One of the keys to improving operational efficiency is productivity analysis: using data to objectively understand existing operations and finding ways to make improvements.
Managing worker, team and overall productivity in the warehouse and on the factory floor has historically been reliant on subjective observations by supervisors as there was no simple way to track time spent on tasks by individuals and groups. Time keeping systems have offered a partial solution, but they are time-consuming to use, are error prone, and often workers record estimates of time spent on tasks.
Can inventory cycle counts completely replace stock-take in an organization?
Any manufacturer, distributor or warehouse manager is familiar with the concept of physical stock-take. While essential to maintaining inventory accuracy, it can be a disruptive process that causes down-time for business and leaves a lot of room for inaccuracy.
Inventory cycle counts, on the other hand, can complement or replace an annual stock-take exercise while improving day-to-day stock management and accuracy. Any strategy for verification of physical stock must include considerations for internal accounting and audit requirements.
As we find new ways of doing things in the age of digital transformation, moving towards Smart Factories and Warehouses creates new opportunities to improve contactless processing. We are often asked how to take the first step so let’s look at the Internet of Things and some ideas for getting started down the path to a fully automated smart factory.
The Internet of Things is a phrase you’ve probably heard used many times by now. With technology constantly driving changes and growth in industry, it is important to look at these new concepts and how they might be used to improve warehousing and manufacturing.
Around the world, industry is starting to reopen, and businesses are slowly returning to work. While the global consensus seems to be that business should phase in their return, there are no guidelines and each country is taking a different approach.
Accurate, real-time data is the cornerstone of improvement strategies in manufacturing and production.
The importance of accurate data in manufacturing is indisputable. In today’s climate of fierce competition, manufacturers must continually search for ways to improve productivity and customer support. In order to maximize results, companies must utilize their data in a strategic fashion, finding the strengths and weaknesses and looking for ways to improve.
While having accessible manufacturing data is no doubt beneficial, simply capturing data is not enough. Not having said data available and on hand when it is needed significantly reduces its usefulness. Imagine how many times during a day opportunities for improvement might be squandered if decision makers don’t have access to the right information.
The terms stock take and cycle count are often confused and the difference is not well understood. An informative article from www.syspro.com looks at what cycle counts actually are and how they impact your inventory management.
High Quality Organics (HQO) is the leading, trusted provider of wholesale organic ingredients in North America. The Office in the Netherlands serves the European customers with the same excellence.
HQO receives large volumes of product, from over 40 countries, that must comply with strict food safety and tracking standards. TransLution software eases this burden and automates the process of smooth receiving.
Operations within a warehouse are critical to smooth and efficient sales cycles. However, it can be difficult to pinpoint methods for improving operations and productivity.
These 5 tips will help you find the areas that should be focused on for improvement.
In an article on Warehousnews.co.uk, Darren Wildman, Vice-President of UK-based Asset Management at Apex Supply Chain Technologies talks about how there are widening resource gaps in warehousing and distribution.
This interesting article looks at how automation has become a critical priority in ensuring the maximisation of existing staff efficiency.
To make manufacturing warehousing more efficient and more profitable, materials must be managed proficiently. Ensuring a well-structured warehouse, correct stock management and shipments, and well-organised handling can all go a long way in improving efficiency of your manufacturing processes and ultimately the bottom line of your business.
An article from McKinsey & Company looks at how manufacturers taking advantage of advanced analytics can reduce process flaws, saving both time and money.
“Many global manufacturers in a range of industries and geographies now have an abundance of real-time shop-floor data and the capability to conduct such sophisticated statistical assessments. They are taking previously isolated data sets, aggregating them, and analyzing them to reveal important insights.”
Inventory control is a key aspect of warehousing and distribution. Correct management can be a great area of success, but poor control can result in major losses.
Surprisingly, despite this, many businesses don’t know what is in their inventory at any given time. This often means poor and slow business operations, and sometimes even losing customers to competitors when sales can’t be completed.
How important is the integration of your Warehouse Management System and ERP? In today’s warehouses, automation of processes and access to accurate, real-time data can give an organization a competitive advantage.
More and more companies are moving toward digitization on the warehouse floor after seeing the positive impact on efficiency. But often integration with an ERP is either overlooked or fraught with complications. This leaves a large gap in a potentially streamlined process and many organizations are missing out on the benefits.
Errors and inefficiencies in the supply chain are common problems that ultimately affect the bottom line of your business. So how do we reduce waste and improve productivity?
Following on from our previous article Understanding and Managing the Bullwhip Effect, we are looking at further ways to improve and streamline the supply chain
Inefficiencies in the supply chain can cause a phenomenon referred to as the Bullwhip Effect. The idea, first identified by MIT professor Jay Forrester, identifies a trend of ever-increasing swings in inventory in response to shifts in customer demand as one looks further back in the supply chain. In other words, small variances in demand in lower parts of the supply chain create larger variances higher up the chain as we get closer to raw materials.
Staffing can be the trickiest of all business functions, and hiring a warehouse manager is no exception. What should you look for beyond the usual necessary skills and training?
