UNEX Blog | Space Optimization Insights and Trends

The Power of Pickability

Written by UNEX | Dec 13, 2013 6:51:09 PM

One of the most frustrating things I've ever attempted was explaining to my family what exactly UNEX Manufacturing does.

My family tree is constructed of teachers, lawyers, and police officers. The closest thing to a warehouse they've seen is their Sunday trips to Costco. Therefore, it's no surprise my explanations of order picking in a distribution center or lineside carton flow in an assembly processes were met with blank stares, shrugs, or a simple, "I don't know what any of that means."

For me, this presented an interesting challenge. After all, the space optimization solutions UNEX Manufacturing provides to distribution, manufacturing, logistics, and retail industries have the potential to touch the supply chain from the shop floor to the shelf.

But how can you explain this to an individual whose sole interaction with the supply chain is the purchasing of a finished product? How can we summarize all we do in a short sentence?

The UNEX team decided they could do even better than a short sentence-- how about a single word? And thus, pickability was born.

Pickability

Pickability is the measurement of ease with which an item can be picked.

  1. High pickability means products are easy to locate and pick, saving operations time, footsteps, and most importantly, money.
  2. Low pickability means a disorganized, inefficient pick line that is simply falling short in terms of pick rates and throughput.

UNEX helps you achieve high pickability by analyzing your operation, creating the best floor plans for your space, and implementing the right mix of durable, cost-effective and safe order picking solutions for your facility.

The concept of pickability is easy to understand and holds value to the consumer. The higher the pickability, the lower the cost of producing and distributing products. That translates to savings for everyone in the supply chain-- even the consumer. And savings is a concept my family most certainly can grasp.

The pickability of an operation can be evaluated by a UNEX expert. We call those experts our resident Pickologists. If you're looking to increase your pickability score, you can speak with a UNEX Pickologist now.

Give us a call at 1-800-334-UNEX (8639), or visit our contact page, and we'll put the power of pickability in your hands.