If your business sells and ships products to customers, there will come a time when you need to seriously look at, and possibly step up your dispatching process. You will need to consider storage and picking and packing efficiency for optimal results.
Here are some key points to consider:
Picking and packing systems
Storage is an essential part of the infrastructure for this process. Your merchandise needs to be easily extracted from storage units, packaged according to the needs of each product, in the quantity required, in the presentation that the customer needs it, and then shipped to the customer.
This will allow your business to achieve greater productivity and customer satisfaction.
Picking: this is the preparation of the order. It includes the collection and grouping of a series of diverse products to fulfill an order. Currently there is a tendency to automate this process when the merchandise volume warrants it. Picking can be done under manual, automatic and mixed procedures.
Packing: this is based on the fact that each product has physical properties, chemical and even biological behaviours that must be taken into account in the decision regarding its presentation to the customer and consequently in its introduction in logistics supply chains and distribution.
Palletizing shelves
A pallet rack is a metal structure designed to store palletized merchandise, that is, placed on a pallet. They are composed of struts fixed to the ground and braced together forming scales and horizontal beams that make up load levels. They have a very considerable load capacity in terms of weight and volume.
Palletizing your warehouse can lead to greater throughput and enhanced efficiency.
Types of pallet racking
Conventional: it is the most used system. It is mounted on double shelving units with access on both sides, which forms a regular succession of shelves and corridors. The width of the aisles is a function of the user handling elements: stacker, forklift, etc.
Mobile bases: the different shelving batteries move along some lanes allowing the elimination of almost all loading and unloading aisles. This achieves greater use of space for storage.
Compact: they allow the storage by accumulation of pallets. Each shelf can accommodate several pallets in depth. The pallets are supported on side rails and are pushed by the truck loading and unloading.
Dynamic: similar to the previous one, but the support rails of the pallets have a small inclination and are equipped with rollers so that the pallets move through the rack by gravity. Loading and unloading are carried out at the opposite ends of the shelf.
Getting storage and picking and packing procedures right requires a great deal of thought, design, and investment.
If you think your business has outgrown its somewhat rudimentary packing and shipping operations, and you want to free up more time for core business activities rather than redesigning your warehouse and employing more staff, it might be time to consider outsourcing this function to a specialist pick and pack provider, which will provide you with greater flexibility and reduced overheads.
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