Karma Logistics wishes all our friends, colleagues in the Distribution sector a great 2013.
Every day, in your/our warehouses, we are looking for MORE usable slots (faces). Just ask your inventory staff.
Look for products that are no longer selling.
we take 1 or 2 months of actual order pick data. Look for those SKU's that have stopped moving.
see graph below.
of these slow or NO movers, we concentrate on those '0 Hits", meaning we have sold ZERO cases in the last 2 months. If you have a seasonality pattern, please ignore this discussion. In the graph above, we have highlighted sku's that sell 0 or 1 or 2 or 3 cases. Look at the left most part of the graph. We have approximately 30 sku's with '0 hits"
These '0 hit' sku's occupy slots, they increase travel time.
If we ask you to drastically change the layout, you will not agree.
How about buying some extra cross beams?
In the example above, we have illustrated 3 picking levels below and reserve levels above.
We recommend , installing additional cross beams at the first Reserve level.
Say this reserve slot is 50" high. The cross beam is about 4" high.
50" - 4" = 46"; Divide into 2 halves; we get 2 slots with 23" height.
We recommend moving those '0 hits' items from their normal pick slots to these new slots in the first reserve slot. Since these slots are shorter, select only those sku's that have 3 or 4 cases on hand.
You gain -
- More usable slots in the Pick levels
- Move '0 hit' item to a less desirable slot
- positive impact on picking travel time
And you should make this a monthly once activity..
of course, there are other ways to manage these '0 hits' also.
By sending them to appropriate charities and taking a tax write-off
Or selling them in non-competing retail channels.
Or when your accountant is on vacation, dumping them in the nearest dumpster. (keep this as a secret)
Watch for more recommendations in the coming new year 2013.
We provide 3D modeling, Profiling, Slotting, Built-in simulations.
and a weekly reslotting service that keeps your DC in the best shape. Every week
Happy holidays..
Ram.krishnan@yahoo.com
Minnesota
