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Commissioning explained - How to optimize your inventory management
Katharina Rösner
Commissioning — or assembling goods — is essential for every company. We'll give you an overview of what you can consider.
Sounds complicated? It isn't at all. Commissioning means that Compilation of goods and goods from a warehouse. This is usually done by an order picker or picker.
The process therefore looks as follows: Customers order goods from you. For example, if you grow and sell wine, the order could consist of 5 bottles of Pinot Blanc, 10 bottles of Riesling and 6 bottles of Lemberger. You are now putting this order together from your warehouse, Grab she and Dispatch them or Deliver them.
Even small orders involve picking. With a small warehouse, this might not be a challenge for you. However, as soon as you receive large or many orders, you have to organize the picking more intensively.
Depending on the company, putting together the items for your orders meet different requirements.
To do this, consider whether you are a automatic order picking system needs, or whether a manual one is sufficient. Would you like to pick up the goods from the warehouse on an order-by-order basis or without an order? Would you rather order electronically or analogously?
We'll show you what options you have and what advantages and disadvantages they have for you.
One distinguishes two storage systems. That one is mechanically, the other manually. In the manual system, the order is man to product and in the machine product to man. The man-to-goods system plays a role for companies with smaller order volumes. The person responsible for picking removes the items in the order from the goods shelf.
Is that Warehouse too extensive For the procedure, is more likely to focus on the mechanical system resorted to. The goods are transported to or from the order picker via automated removal. Whether such a system is required depends on the size of the inventory. If you need a mechanical system, there are certainly a few benefits.
This may also result in disadvantages.
In addition to the two systems, there are other methods that you can use.
As mentioned earlier, you must decide whether you will assemble the items in your warehouse depending on an order, or whether you will carry out the picking without order. The former means the one-stage process, the latter the two-stage process.
For example, if you sell dairy products from your own production and receive three orders, you can process them individually and put the products together. Order 1 contains 4x cherry yoghurt, 3x strawberry yoghurt, 1x ice cream and 4 bottles of fresh milk, which you then put together and then deliver. Then process order 2 over 3x church yogurt, 1x ice cream and 5 liters of fresh milk and then apply 3 à 5x cherry yogurt and 3 bottles of fresh milk.
Alternatively, you can group the items under the product category, collect them and then divide them between the different orders. The total order quantity is therefore 12x cherry yoghurt, 3x strawberry yoghurt, 2x ice cream and 12 bottles of milk. Do you choose that two-stage process, you no longer have to go to the milk shelf three times, but only once. On the other hand, you must correctly order from the total quantity consolidating.
Depending on which process you choose, it has an impact on which method is suitable for picking. The single-step and multi-step methods already mentioned have other variants from which you can choose.
This method is part of single-stage picking. Order-oriented means that the items that are put together are only for one order. Parallel because the different goods are in different locations in your warehouse. Several employees split up for an order and collect the articles for it in one place.
This is suitable for large warehouses on. However, the collection point must be organized. If that works, you can definitely use it to shorten your distances.
This type of picking is also single-stage. If you run a small company that may just be establishing itself on the market, this method is suitable. Because of the smaller number of orders, you can process them more carefully. A picker provides the Items for one order at a time together. This barely delays your processes because your warehouse is not that big. If, on the other hand, it is larger and you have several pickers available, an order can also be split up. They pass this on with their collected items to the order pickers in the next storage zone.
No matter how you organize the picking. The most important thing is that orders are processed carefully. Incomplete deliveries result in dissatisfied customers. If your customers aren't happy, that doesn't exactly contribute to your image.
The method is one of multi-level. You do not focus on individual orders, but remove the products for several orders at the same time. Several pickers do this at the same time. They split up various storage zones so that the distances are significantly shorter. This is useful if you have a large warehouse and a lot of orders. In this case, it is worthwhile to check the individual orders carefully afterwards when they are consolidated at the collection point.
The picker can also use single order picking or multi-order picking. He or she either goes through the warehouse or through part of the warehouse to put together an order. Or it picks several orders at the same time on the way through the warehouse.
Multi or picking is therefore More error-prone, but also more efficient. You must also be able to tell the orders apart at the same time. With separated compartments, for example.
When picking yourself, you can also use different methods.
If you have a small business, it may be possible to remove the products with a pick list. You might prefer to proceed manually and analogously. As a result, you must manually compare and adjust the stocks before and after removal. The downside of this could be that you make mistakes when reconciling. Or you find that this is delaying your work processes.
For this reason, many prefer to use electronic solutions. This update your inventory automatically And take them inventory Almost off. There are 3 electronic procedures.
MDE stands for mobile data collection device and replaces the list made of paper. The device has a barcode scanner, which you use to scan your products that you remove from the shelf. It can be an advantage because recording saves time.
However, if the barcodes are damaged, the scanning process may take longer. In addition, the device must be purchased. These can be expensive under certain circumstances. The question is whether such a device is worthwhile if, for example, you have regional direct marketing.
For this, too, you need the device for mobile data collection. It is connected to a headset into which the data is recorded. With voice recognition, the device knows which data it should record. Voice recognition can of course also slow down the picking process. If the background noise is too loud, the device may not understand you and you will have to repeat yourself.
In this method, a light signal is attached to the shelf. The light shows which item must be selected for an order. Another display with numbers indicates which quantity is to be selected. The removal is confirmed via a confirmation button.
The advantage is the look. Because it is clear which goods are to be removed. Plus, you don't need any other device. However, the installation is expensive and complex.
For example, if you sell your groceries regionally, it's a good idea to use pick lists. We already noticed earlier that a mobile data collection device can be quite expensive, sometimes in the four-digit range. If the purchase is not financially worthwhile, picking from a pick list is the better choice.
For For smaller warehouses, serial order picking is sufficient. But whether you walk down your shelves in an order-oriented manner or remove the total quantity of a product from several orders independently of orders is perhaps a personal preference.
Whether you prefer to carefully compile individual orders, or first collect and then consolidate, is entirely up to you. The order-based method may be better if you're putting together sandwich bags for your delivery service. On the other hand, order-independent picking may be more helpful for your direct milk marketing.
ERP software can also help when picking. Auch Freight pilot As an enterprise resource planning software, it has many functions that help you do this.
One warehouse software supports you with your inventory management. The program records all incoming and outgoing goods and thus maps your warehouse. This means that you are continuously informed about your inventory. The warehouse management program notifies you when and which products need to be replenished.
A good ERP software Can be used with interfaces connect to your online shop and to your cash register system. Orders and customer data are then automatically transferred and you don't have to enter anything else. This way, you always have an overview of your orders.
If you're still looking for a ERP softwareThat also gives you a interface about your existing systems, for example at Fracht pilot past. If you already have software from Weclapp or JTL, is our REST API perhaps a good way to optimize your processes. With Fracht pilot Do you keep track of your inventory management. You will receive information about your inventory and customer data. Orders are also synchronized.
Even if you run a small business, ERP software is useful for your inventory management. The program makes it much easier for you to organize and saves you time. On this scale, the picklist method and the order-oriented method may be enough for you.
Die Commissioning is becoming a time and cost factor for larger companies. Once the company is established on the market, the number of daily orders increases significantly. This also applies small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)). Then it definitely makes sense to make the picking as efficient as possible. After all, you also have a real warehouse, which must be well organized.
You should then at least work with the pick-by-scan method. Editing is more efficient when you use a multi-step process. Since you probably have a large warehouse, you hire several order pickers who compile several orders in parallel. You optimize the travel time by logically arranging the warehouse. The employee doesn't have to search for an item for a long time. In addition, parallel order picking saves time. Multi Order Picking shortens the picker's running distances.
Whether a machine-based goods-to-man system is worthwhile depends on your capacities. You must weigh up the cost-benefit ratio and also whether your warehouse is geared towards it.
Commissioning plays a central role in every company. Warehouse management software is always useful for this. Depending on the size of the company, different aspects are important when compiling orders. If you have fewer customers, you should go to careful picking pay attention. If you receive a lot of orders, you should do the picking as much as possible efficiently Tackle and not just work with pick lists. When processing, it is recommended to use a series-oriented approach instead of an order-oriented approach.
