Benefits Of Slotting
Click here for INDUSTRY NEWS: Product Slotting
- The Secret to Increased Productivity
- Do you have plans to build
a new warehouse or expand your
current warehouse?
- Are you running out of warehouse space to properly store
products?
- Do you have insufficient storage systems to meet inventory
needs?
- Would you like to optimize your picking and putaway strategies?
- Is travel time accounting for more time from your pick
replenishment labor hours?
- Are pick rates not in line with industry standards?
If you have answered YES to any of these questions then you could
benefit from slotting. There are several potential cost savings
that can be attributed to the implementation of a slotting application.
These cost savings include:
Increased productivity – Travel time can often
account for up to 60% of a picker’s daily activity.
A good product slotting strategy can reduce travel time thereby
reducing picking labor. A faster pick rate leads to lower labor
costs.
- Maximized space utilization – It is important
to make sure that product is stored in the right size location
to maximize cube utilization. Periodic re-warehousing as inventory
levels change is one way to continually re-optimize the available
space. An assessment of current storage media may reveal an opportunity
to increase storage density. A move to smaller locations can
dramatically increase cube utilization. The management of the
cube can maximize the utilization of space within the warehouse,
thereby reducing operational costs. By ensuring that items are
placed in properly sized locations, more products can be more
easily stored in a cube.
- Reduced operational costs – Product
slotting is often the biggest hidden opportunity to reduce labor
costs. Slotting refers to placing products in the optimal equipment
and location to maximize the use of space and labor. The issue
of slotting affects the two largest labor pools: picking and
replenishment. By sizing the pick face location based upon a
standard unit of measure (case, pallet) for the product in question
you can significantly reduce the labor required to replenish
the location. Ongoing slotting is efficient when done with a
slotting program, and the return on this investment is typically
less than a year.
- Improved worker safety (Ergonomics) – High
velocity products are placed in a “golden zone” to
reduce bending and reaching activity. Heavy or oversized items
are placed on lower levels in the pick zone or placed in a separate
zone where material handling equipment can be utilized. Typically,
just 20% of the total active products account for 80% of all
picking activity. These top-moving products should be located
in the most ergonomic locations and in storage equipment sized
appropriately to reduce stock-outs and minimize replenishment
labor. These products should then be balanced across picking
zones to decrease congestion and further boost picker productivity.
Product
placement must be regularly reviewed and maintained. The amount
of change in SKUs and their movement is the primary factor in
determining the optimal frequency for updating placement, but
this must be balanced against the material handling effort required
to relocate the items.
