If your business is selling and shipping products to customers, there will come a time when you need to take a serious look at, and possibly improve your delivery process. You need to consider the efficiency of storage and picking and packing for optimal results.
Here are some important points to consider:
Picking and packing system
Storage is a critical part of the infrastructure for this process. Your merchandise must be easily retrieved from the storage unit, packaged according to the needs of each product, in the quantity needed, in the presentation that the customer requires, and then sent to the customer.
This will enable your business to achieve greater productivity and customer satisfaction.
Picking: this is order preparation. This includes collecting and grouping a diverse set of products to fulfill orders. Currently there is a tendency to automate this process when the volume of merchandise requires it. Collection can be done by manual, automatic and mixed procedures.
Packing: this is based on the fact that every product has physical, chemical and even biological behavioral properties that must be taken into account in decisions regarding its presentation to customers and the consequent recognition in the supply chain and distribution logistics.
Pallet rack
Pallet racks are metal structures designed to store palletized merchandise, i.e. placed on pallets. They consist of supports fixed to the ground and joined together to form scales and horizontal beams which form the load tier. They have a very large load capacity in terms of weight and volume.
Palleting your warehouse can result in greater throughput and increased efficiency.
Pallet rack type
conventional: it is the most widely used system. It is mounted on a double shelving unit with access on both sides, which forms an orderly series of shelving and corridors. The aisle width is a function of the user handling elements: stackers, forklifts, etc.
Mobile base: the different rack batteries move along multiple paths allowing the removal of almost any loading or unloading aisle. This achieves greater space usage for storage.
Compact: they allow storage by pallet accumulation. Each rack can accommodate multiple pallets in depth. Pallets are supported on side rails and propelled by loading and unloading trucks.
Dynamic: similar to the previous one, but the pallet support rails have a slight slope and are equipped with rollers so that the pallets move through the racks by gravity. Loading and unloading is done at the opposite end of the rack.
Getting the storage and picking and packing procedures right requires a lot of thought, design and investment.
If you think your business has outgrown its rudimentary packing and shipping operations, and you want to spend more time on core business activities rather than redesigning your warehouse and hiring more staff, it may be time to consider outsourcing this function to specialists. pick and pack provider, which will give you greater flexibility and reduced overhead.
