materialhandlingupdate CUBING & WEIGHING
1Facility design. When a com- pany starts planning for a new facility, one of the first things
the designer will want is a rundown
on the products that will be stored
there: How large are they? How
much do they weigh? Will they be
stored individually or on pallets?
The answers will dictate everything
from the design of the facility’s
picking and packing areas to the
type of storage that will be used in
the building.
2Storage. Good dimensional data can help DCs make the most of their storage space.
Once stock-keeping units (SKUs)
have been weighed and measured,
their profiles can be uploaded to a
warehouse management system
(WMS) for use determining the
optimal storage location for each
item—where in the building it
should go and whether it should be
stored in flow racks, shelving, or
another storage medium. Not only
does that help optimize storage
space, but it also ensures that the
SKUs will actually fit in their
assigned spaces.
3Slotting. Dimensional data can help streamline the slot- ting process. Once the SKUs’
dimensions have been captured and
loaded into the WMS, the data can
be imported into special slotting
software, which uses that information—in conjunction with data on
order characteristics like pick frequency—to determine how to arrange products within the pick zones to optimize
order fulfillment.
4Picking. In operations where workers pick directly into shipping cartons, dimensional data can be
key to preventing carton selection errors.
All too often, pickers are left to make
their best guesses as to what size carton
to use, but that can prove costly. If the
box is too big, the company ends up paying to ship air. If the box is too small, the
packer has to remove the items and
repack them, which can slow throughput. Dimensional data can help ensure
the right size carton is used.
On top of that, the data can be helpful
in determining where individual items
should go in a carton, and the order in
which they should be picked to ensure
everything fits neatly inside the box without crushing the items on the bottom. In
addition, accurate weight information on
SKUs can promote good ergonomic
practices by ensuring that order cartons
weigh no more than 40 pounds.
5Verification. Once an SKU’s weight has been captured and uploaded to the WMS, the information can be used to verify picking. As
each order is received, the WMS calculates how much it should weigh, based
on the weight of the carton itself plus
each of the items it contains. After the
order has been assembled, the carton is
weighed—often via an in-line scale on a
conveyor system. If the actual weight differs from the expected weight, the carton
can be set aside for further examination.
Automated verification can cut down on
the need for manual order inspections,
resulting in substantial savings in time
and labor.
6Packing. Dimensional data can go a long way toward helping com- panies optimize their packaging.
Shipping items in oversized cartons
stuffed with filler can lead to enormous
waste and inefficiency—and it happens a
lot more often than you might think.
“Most companies are shipping cartons
