Errors to Avoid During Order Processing
Are you truly satisfied with your company's order fulfillment? If not, is there room for improvement? Enhancing the customer experience is crucial. Many errors occurring during the picking or packaging stages can lead to customer complaints and claims. While achieving absolute perfection is challenging, making adjustments throughout the process can ensure that orders are handled and shipped in optimal condition. Here’s a list of common mistakes to avoid during order fulfillment:
1. Picking the Wrong Item
If an item is placed in an incorrect warehouse location, the person responsible for collecting a SKU from that spot is likely to pick the wrong item. This mistake should not be underestimated, as it results in the order picker assembling incorrect items, leading to inevitable customer claims.
2. Insufficient Product Picked
Sometimes, the issue lies in the quantity of items picked. The order picker may collect too many or too few items for the order. In larger companies using barcode scanners, it’s crucial to accurately register the number of items picked to prevent this error from recurring.
3. Collecting SKUs with Similar IDs
Slot signaling is essential for many logistics professionals as it aids in quickly locating items. However, this can also lead to mistakes, where the operator mistakenly scans a similar reference number instead of the intended item's barcode.
4. Items Spread Throughout the Warehouse
Disorganization can waste time during the picking process. If the operator has to travel to different warehouse zones to retrieve various units of the same product, it signifies a lack of organization. This situation should not occur if your business is committed to effective stock management.
5. Missing Items
Although products are received with barcode labels for identification and location within the warehouse, it’s not uncommon to find unlabelled items on the shelves. In such cases, these items must be re-labelled before they can be included in an order.
6. Mixing Multiple Orders
Often, a single operator is responsible for collecting items from different orders simultaneously, which can streamline processing. However, this method carries risks, as a momentary lapse in attention can lead to errors during packing. To avoid this, make it a practice to scan each item before packing, ensuring clarity for the order preparer.
7. Unauthorized Item Replacement
In cases of stock breakage, if an item needs to be replaced, it’s essential to properly register this change in the system. Failing to do so can disrupt stock management. Your replacement policy should be clear, and all employees must adhere to it strictly.
8. Picking the Wrong Size Item
Warehouses often stock identical items in various sizes. To ensure accuracy during picking, each package should have its unique barcode, and the order preparer must scan the item before selecting it.
Identifying these errors is the first step toward successfully addressing them. Once you recognize the factors that lead to financial losses and disrupt complete customer satisfaction, you can take action.
To ensure your customers are fully satisfied, it’s vital for your business to master every step of the order fulfillment process. Beyond just picking items, pick operators should receive training to optimize the entire process, from picking to packaging.
Three Guidelines to Optimize Your In-Warehouse Order Fulfillment Process:
1. Prepare “One Touch” Orders
Train your pickers to minimize unnecessary steps, avoiding the need to repackage or revise shipping data. Streamlining the order picking process saves valuable time at every stage, from picking items to packing them.
2. Reduce In-Warehouse Distances
Properly organize all goods to enhance efficiency. Arrange item families and sub-families logically so that order pickers can locate items quickly. Additionally, consider the volume of orders: place high-demand items close to the prep areas, while less frequently ordered items can be stored further back.
3. Leverage Technology for Order Picking
Implement warehouse management systems to enhance order picking efficiency.