Minimise Your Warehouse Picking Errors With QTS Solutions
In an ideal warehouse world, every order picked is flawless, pleasing customers and maintaining a smooth operational flow. Unfortunately, reality paints a different picture. Picking errors can occur for myriad reasons, and understanding these errors is crucial to your warehouse operations. Let’s delve into some common picking errors and explore how to prevent them.
Consider this – the average returned purchase in the UK passes through seven pairs of hands before it’s ready for resale. Each day, countless packages begin a costly journey through warehouses and processing centres, getting cleaned, repackaged, and prepared for new owners.
The impact of picking errors stretches beyond just the price of the wrongly picked item. It involves the cost of returning the item, processing it upon receipt, and restoring it to inventory, all while picking, packing, and dispatching the correct item to the customer in haste. Not to mention the potential damage to your customer relationships. With an estimated 35% of fulfilment operations plagued by ongoing picking error rates of 1% or more, the costs can rapidly escalate.
Let’s explore why you might be experiencing these issues and how to prevent picking errors for good using easySHELF™ and easyDIVIDER™.
Wrong Item in the Wrong Location
Errors may occur when items are mislocated, causing pickers to dispatch the wrong orders. This isn’t just an inconvenience for the customer, but a financial burden for your business as returns can cost a hefty £60bn a year for UK retailers!
A solution lies in a robust barcode scanning system and warehouse management software, reducing the likelihood of misplaced items. Equally essential is your racking system – keep items correctly located with a wire mesh divider system like our easyDIVIDER™. It ensures that each item stays in its designated place.
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Items in Multiple Locations Throughout The Warehouse
Having the same items in multiple locations can lead to confusion and time wastage for pickers. To prevent picking errors, your picking system should logically group sections and separate them with mesh dividers, reducing the time spent walking around the warehouse.
Picking Areas Too Close Together
While a SKU system is common, it can cause confusion, especially when similar part numbers are placed next to each other. Consider using mesh dividers to separate part numbers and items, simplifying the picking process.
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The True Cost of Picking Errors
Picking errors have a domino effect – impacting returns, customer satisfaction, customer service, repackaging, shipping, and even your sales and labour cost. Improving your picking process before it impacts customer sentiment is imperative.
An efficient warehouse begins with preventing common picking errors. Our easyDIVIDER™s offer an efficient solution. They help you dramatically reduce picking errors by dividing products for quick and efficient identification. Transform your mesh deck into an organised picking area – perfect for everything from warehouses to stock rooms.
Ready to minimise your picking errors? Contact us today to learn more about our mesh dividers and discover how QTS can help streamline your operations.
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