LPC have significant experience in picking and packing operations and were engaged by Hancocks to design a new standalone picking and packing operation dedicated to the business e-commerce fulfilment. In determining its location and layout within the facility the operation had to take into account:
- The existing racking layout
- Plotting material flows and operational layout to take account the overall facility layout
The review covered the design and layout of the picking and packing operation, including the material flows from receipt through reserve storage to picking locations to packing through to despatch. In so doing LPC needed to:
- Analyse demand and stockholding by SKU
- Take account of the various product categories and their requirements for co-location
- Plan for growth
LPC based the layout of the picking operation on the existing racking, relocating beams and shelves where appropriate to provide the correct location sizes, while looking at productivity and efficiency and optimising the flow to the packing area. In so doing, LPC took into account the material flows within the pack area in order to plan the pack stations and allow expansion and improvement of the facilities to accommodate growth.
Design of Pick Face and Picking Operation
Once the number of SKUs for the e-fulfilment were determined the pick tour was planned to minimise walking. This took into account:
- Plotting ABC movers for the SKUs and the production of a location map for slotting
- Determining the location sizes based on demand and replenishment activity
- Numbering location to integrating with the existing WMS requirements and taking account of constraints
- Advising on storage/binning equipment requirements
Design of Packing Operation
Once the optimum location was determined for the packing operation LPC:
- Designed the operation with separate carton packing line for small orders and a pallet assembly packing area for large orders
- Incorporated marshalling and order drop areas to maintain efficient order flow
- Allowed for the future expansion of the packing operation
Operational Set Up and Implementation
The study conclude with LPC providing the initial pickface set up by advising on the best location for each SKU based on location size and speed of movement.
