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One client's five minute comment rewired how I run our tiny warehouse
We run a small fulfillment space on the south side of Austin, maybe 3,000 square feet, and I always thought our picking path was fine. Last quarter, a client who orders weekly said, 'You guys put the heavy items at the back of the shelf and the light stuff near the door, but I always grab the big box first, then I have to drag it all the way through.' At first I rolled my eyes, but then I timed a few pick cycles. The difference was roughly 14 minutes per batch just from walking that heavy box to the front. So we flipped the whole layout, heavy and bulky near the exit, small and fragile in the middle. It felt like a no brainer after I saw the math, but I never would have thought about it on my own. Now I ask every repeat client to walk the floor with me once a year and point out anything odd. Has anyone else gotten a simple tip from a customer that cut way more time than you expected?
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mark7311d ago
The yearly walk through is smart, but you could take it a step further and actually time the client while they do a mock pick. People say what bugs them in general terms, but when you watch their hands and feet you catch stuff they would never think to mention. We did that with one guy and found out he was skipping our label printer entirely because the screen angle made him lean over weird, so he was writing SKUs by hand on the box. Moved the printer six inches, saved him a couple minutes every order. What surprised me most is how many of these fixes are free.
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