Improving Order Picking Accuracy with Carton Flow Systems

Timely and accurate order fulfillment starts with efficient order picking. If there are shipping delays or a rise in customer returns, there’s a good chance it started with inaccurate or ineffective picking.

The ramifications of a single missed pick go far beyond the cost of the product itself. Correcting a mistake often requires refunding the original order, re-shipping a new item, and paying extra for the labor to make it right. Yet, these costs pale in comparison to the long-term brand reputation damage that comes from bumbling customer orders.

Avoiding these losses requires getting to the heart of the picking operation to consider the shelving you use to store and move inventory. Converting key picking areas to carton flow storage can help create an organized, efficient, and high-visibility picking process that significantly reduces errors and increases throughput. 

To see how, let’s look at the real costs of picking mistakes and the ways carton flow supports more accurate picking.

The Hidden Costs of Inaccurate Order Picking

Order picking errors aren’t just minor mistakes — they have real financial consequences. Consider how picking mishaps lead to the following:

• Increased returns: When workers pick the wrong items, customers inevitably send them back. More returns mean higher shipping costs and lower profit margins.
• Labor inefficiencies: Order mistakes must be corrected, and that means workers will spend time fixing errors instead of fulfilling new orders.
• Inventory mismanagement: Stocking and picking errors can create inventory miscounts, causing stockouts or overstocking.
• Customer dissatisfaction: The most serious impact of a picking error is its damage to customer trust. Receiving the wrong product may cost you the loyalty and repeat business of even a long-term buyer.

Key Strategies for Ensuring Accurate Order Picking

With such significant outcomes on the line, retailers or warehouse managers must ensure the picking process is well organized and effective. This requires a few simple steps — each of which can be bolstered by using carton flow systems.

1. Store SKUs According to Throughput

When an order comes through, pickers should know exactly where to find each SKU. Creating clearly defined SKU locations minimizes confusion and limits search time.

The best approach is to organize SKUs according to throughput. Optimizing inventory slotting by slow, medium, and fast movers streamlines the picking process and limits worker travel time. 

How carton flow fits in: Carton flow makes it easy to arrange slot SKUs according to throughput. Carton flow is ideal for fast and medium moving SKUs. Once inventory is organized, workers can easily pick what they need from the proper locations.

2. Utilize FIFO (First-In, First-Out) Storage to Maintain Accuracy

FIFO inventory management is one of the oldest tricks in the book for optimizing product storage and flow in warehouses and retail backrooms. Proper inventory rotation — new items in the back, older items in the front — prevents old stock from being overlooked or misplaced.

How carton flow fits in: Carton flow systems are perfectly suited for FIFO storage. The angled shelves use gravity to move old inventory forward to the pick face, while stockers can easily replenish shelves with new items from the back without disrupting work in the front. This simple system ensures SKUs are always available and easily accessible.

3. Reduce Picker Travel Time with Optimized Storage Layouts

Chaotic, cluttered storage areas are basically asking for fulfillment errors. Busy workers can only overcorrect for disorganized layouts so much, and they’ll inevitably make mistakes when hurrying to pick products. Consolidating inventory into a tight, well-organized layout will make it much easier for workers to find the right item when they need it.

How carton flow fits in: Because they’re designed to maximize the use of shelf space, carton flow systems put more items within reach. Carton flow minimizes excess movement by placing the right products directly in the picker's line of sight, reducing the need for pickers to bend or reach for items.

4. Use High-Visibility and Easy-to-Read Labels

An efficient layout is still insufficient without a clear labeling system to ensure pickers can easily find items. Make sure labels are easy to read and placed in standardized positions for quick scanning, and use durable label holders to prevent wear and tear.

How carton flow fits in: Although carton flow storage significantly improves inventory visibility, a consistent labeling system remains essential. This ensures order pickers can efficiently and accurately locate items, enhancing overall picking performance even as product configurations evolve.

5. Choose the Right Order Picking Methods

Aside from your inventory layout and shelving, your choice of picking method(s) can also impact your overall efficiency. The best method depends on your order volume and inventory types:

• Single-order picking: This is the simplest method, where pickers pick one SKU at a time. It’s less efficient but ideal for low-volume, high-accuracy operations.
• Batch picking: In this method, workers pick multiple orders at once. Grouping similar orders together reduces pick time and works well for simple, small orders.
• Zone picking: This method treats order picking more like an assembling line, assigning pickers to specific zones. They only pick items in their zone and pass the rest of the order to the next zone, reducing worker movement and the potential for errors. Zone picking is typically the best approach for warehouses that move many different SKUs at high volume.
• Wave picking: While orders are still picked one SKU at a time, this method organizes picking by time and order priority. Wave picking is highly efficient in environments with high SKU throughput.

How carton flow fits in: Carton flow systems are an order picking solution designed to fit any of these methods. The key is to simply organize your shelving layout to fit the method or methods that suit your warehouse and unique product mix.

How Carton Flow Systems Improve Order Picking Accuracy

We’ve explored how carton flow storage can support and streamline your efforts to implement each of the above strategies. But what about your choice of the carton flow system itself — and how can it make your order picking more accurate? Consider the possibilities with SpanTrack carton flow solutions from UNEX.

SpanTrack is one of the longest-standing carton flow systems in the business. With simple drop-in tracks that fit your existing pallet racking, you can convert static shelving to carton flow in no time. Whether you choose SpanTrack Lane for smooth, streamlined inventory flow or SpanTrack Wheel Bed for maximum flexibility, you get durable gravity flow shelving you can customize to suit your operation. 

SpanTrack offers several key benefits as an order picking solution:

• Clearly labeled lanes prevent picking mistakes by keeping products organized and visible. SpanTrack Lane is ideal for slotting predictable SKU sizes, while Wheel Bed is ideal for a wider variety of SKUs and seasonal re-slotting.
• Simple gravity flow, with open ends at the front and back of each track, ensures easy FIFO inventory rotation. Stocking and picking items in the right order reduces outdated or misplaced stock and lowers the risk of fulfillment errors.
• Ergonomic design, with optional knuckled end treatments, minimizes picker strain and lowers the risk of injury. Keeping workers safe further limits the risk of mispicks and order mistakes. 

Few changes can help you pull off high-speed, high-accuracy picking like SpanTrack carton flow. In just a few steps, you can transform sprawling, disorganized inventory layouts into compact, highly organized carton flow shelving.

Accuracy Starts with Carton Flow

Inaccurate order picking is one of the most significant sources of waste in any warehouse or retail operation. Disorganized inventory decreases productivity and sets up all kinds of picking errors — and ultimately leads to dissatisfied customers.

Carton flow storage offers an immediate solution. By ensuring products are correctly slotted, organized, and accessible, you can quickly transform picking speed and accuracy, leading to faster fulfillment and happier customers. 

With SpanTrack, it’s as simple as removing old static shelving and dropping in new carton flow tracks. By implementing UNEX carton flow solutions, you can be well on your way to reducing picking errors and optimizing efficiency in your warehouse. Connect with our carton flow experts today to learn how you can improve order picking accuracy in your facility!