Enhanced Picking Strategies
Optimizing order fulfillment processes is key to ensuring efficient operations.
Our refined strategies—FIFO, FEFO, and the Pallet Selection Algorithm—each play a crucial role in enhancing space utilization, inventory turnover, and minimizing waste.
Below is an overview of how each strategy is implemented, including examples for clarity.
By Default FIFO will be enabled.
And if you are using expiry dates for specific products then FEFO will be used for the operations.
FIFO (First-In, First-Out)
FIFO prioritizes the dispatch of items that were received first.
This approach is especially beneficial in managing perishable goods, reducing the risk of obsolescence, and ensuring products are used within their shelf life.
Example:
If a warehouse receives shipments of the same product in January, February, and March, the FIFO strategy would ensure that the January stock is picked first, followed by February's, and then March's, maintaining product freshness and reducing waste.
FEFO (First-Expired, First-Out)
FEFO goes a step further by dispatching goods based on their expiration dates rather than their arrival dates. This method is critical for items with varying shelf lives, ensuring that no product goes to waste due to expiring before use.
Please Note : We will be using the expiry dates added by associates while doing receiving.
Example:
Consider storing medications with different expiration dates. FEFO ensures that medications expiring sooner are dispatched first, regardless of their arrival date, reducing the risk of having to dispose of expired goods.
Pallet Selection Algorithm
The Pallet Selection Algorithm enhances the Full Pallet Picking process by intelligently selecting the most suitable pallet(s) for an order.
It aims to minimize pallet usage without compromising order accuracy, especially beneficial for orders closely matching available pallet quantities.
Prioritizes smaller pallets to optimize space and reduce unnecessary pallet usage.
Seamlessly integrates into the order fulfillment process, replacing previous methods with a more efficient strategy.
Example:
For an order requiring 50 units with available pallets of 30, 40, and 50 units, the algorithm selects the single 50-unit pallet. This choice prevents the inefficient use of multiple smaller pallets, enhancing space optimization.
Conversely, if an order of 50 units faces available pallets of 100 and 20 units, the system now prioritizes the 20-unit pallet and seeks additional sources to fulfill the order efficiently, addressing previous logic flaws where larger pallets were incorrectly chosen over smaller, more suitable options.
Please Talk to your Implementation Engineer from Hopstack to discuss which algo would be suitable for your operations.
And Hopstack team will be accordingly enabling the same for your instance.