The building blocks of shipping accuracy

Achieving the perfect, or near-perfect, order is a matter of putting the right building blocks in place.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/2007

Delivering the right product in the right quantity at the right time to the right location. That’s how you usually think of shipping accuracy. But how often does that occur, and just what does it take to deliver the perfect order?

“Everyone thinks they need the perfect order,” says Brian Hudock, a partner with Tompkins Associates. “The question I have to ask when I talk with clients is: What level of accuracy do you need versus what are you willing to spend to get ther?

In some industries, like pharmaceutical, medical supplies, or defense contracting, lives depend on the accuracy of orders. There, 100% shipping accuracy may be an absolute.

For general industry, however, Hudock says that shipping accuracy of 99.5% and above is in the best practice range. “And generally, what we see is anywhere from 92 to 98%,” Hudock adds.

The building blocks of shipping accuracy
How does a company go from the general range to the best practice range? Hudock believes that six building blocks go into building a foundation for high shipping accuracy.

Block 1 is people: “Once you’ve devised your best practices, you have to train your people to follow that process,” says Hudock. “This is where an experienced labor force with product knowledge is an advantage over a temporary work force. You can’t have operators making it up as they pick.”

Block 2 is communication: “It’s important that you give your operators clear and simple instructions for what they need to pick, the quantity they need to pick, and the location of that product,” says Hudock.

Block 3 is picking: “In any facility, you’re going to make a trade-off between the value of the product being picked, the shipping accuracy required by your customer and the throughput you need to get from the facility to be profitable,” says Hudock. Those three considerations will determine whether you discrete pick or batch pick, and whether you pick single order in their entirety versus multiple order picks.

Block 4 is accountability: “First, it’s important that everyone in the facility understands the goal and the metrics that you’re tracking,” Hudock says. “Then, they need the tools to confirm the accuracy of their picks.” Picks need to be confirmed with a bar code scan or voice technology. Further down the line, before a pack or shipping station, an automated weight check is another form of confirmation. “If you have a warehouse management system, you should have an accurate database of the weights and sizes of your cartons and your products,” says Hudock. “That allows you to run a tote across a scale. If it’s not the right weight, that’s a flag to check the order.”

Block 5 is auditing: Even with technology to confirm picks and automatic weight checks, facilities may still audit orders. “We think the best approach is to randomly audit experienced pickers by pulling apart occasional orders,” says Hudock. “Targeted audits, where you audit 100% of the orders, are most effective if you have a new picker, a problem picker or a new client.”

Block 6 is feedback: Just as it’s important that everyone understand the goals for the facility, Hudock says it’s important that everyone in the facility knows how they’re performing against those goals.