DC Velocity - February 2012

SUPPLY CHAIN EDUCATIONAL SERIES DEVELOPED BY DEMATIC

Fostering Supply Chain Education DEMATIC UNIVERSITY

Mastering Slow Moving Parts

In most facilities, slow moving SKUs are an afterthought. Although they make up the bulk of the inventory, they take up valuable space, they’re not tracked and they require a disproportionate amount of labor because they aren’t easy to access.

For those reasons, mastering slow moving inventory can pay big dividends through improved storage density and accessibility along with reduced travel time and the overall cost of inventory.

Scan the QR code with your Smartphone App for more information Know What You Have and Why You Have It

;; Each SKU in a facility.

;; The size of each SKU.

;; The inventory levels and the movement for each SKU through the course of the year.

With that information, you can develop a strategy for storing and picking your slow moving inventory based on how it moves through the facility.

Storing Slow Moving SKUs

Making the best use of the storage space involves using technologies that are appropriate to the size of the item and the volume and velocity of the SKU.

In a full pallet system, for instance, slow moving items should be stored on upper levels or in the back of the warehouse, not in the golden zone. High volume items may be stored in double-deep pallet racks while low volume items are stored in single-deep pallet rack.

To avoid partial pallets, layers of cartons can be stored in case level rack, flow rack or shelving. Cartons can be further broken down into eaches that are stored on shelves, totes and pans. With dividers, for instance, multiple SKUs can be placed in one container or pan.

Mezzanines for shelving and rack make better use of the cube. So does high-density automated storage, such as a mini-load automated storage and retrieval system. In a 300-foot long, 35-foot clear warehouse, a one aisle mini-load provides over 1,000 pick slots along a side port and 5,400 reserve storage locations.

Picking Slow Moving Inventory

Slow moving inventory can easily represent 30-to-40% of the labor in a facility. There are several technologies and strategies to get the most productivity out of each associate by minimizing the travel time associated with each pick.

In a conventional warehouse without a WMS, a voice system can easily bolt onto an ERP to provide tools for labor management, slotting and cycle counting. A voice system not only optimizes picking routes, associates are more productive thanks to hands free picking.

In an automated DC, goods-to-person picking allows order selectors to stay in a work zone to reduce travel times. Totes, containers or pans are delivered from a high-density storage system, such as a mini-load. The order selector picks individual SKUs and places them in a shipping carton. The storage unit is then returned to the storage system. A multishuttle mini-load system is ideal in an environment with a high volume of small orders from a large number of SKUs.

Whether storing or picking slow moving inventory, matching the material handling technology to the volume and size of the SKU will deliver operational improvements.