Ways to Increase Your Warehouse Fulfillment Speed

Today’s consumers expect delivery orders to be fulfilled quickly, accurately, and efficiently. They want their packages to be on their home or office doorstep as fast as possible. Also in high demand is speedy in-store inventory. Faster delivery times increase profits. Therefore, every business should put warehouse fulfillment speed at the top of their priority list. Read on about four ways that you can do that.

Item Placement

Image via Flickr by KOMUnews

According to detrack.com, 75 percent of customers expect their purchases to be delivered in two to three days and 33 percent will pay extra for next-day or same-day delivery. By placing items that are frequently ordered together near one another in the warehouse, you can increase your fulfillment speed. It is a methodical way of slotting your inventory. This organizational method decreases the travel distance for you and your employees inside the warehouse. A short travel distance is crucial to fulfilling orders quickly. For example, if you sell pillar candles, your customers will probably want candleholders too. Slot those items together to cut down on your picking time. Placing popular or best-selling products together is another option.

Bundles and Kits

Selling related products in appealing kits and bundles increases your average sale transactions. This brings in more profits while keeping your overhead the same. Prepare your bundle and kit orders in advance to decrease warehouse travel distance and fulfillment time. This leads to increases in delivery speed. Eliminate picking all of the items individually and assembling them together when an order is placed. This method can be very instrumental during your peak seasons like Christmas or Mother’s Day.

Enhance Large Item Production

Are all or most of your products large in size, such as refrigerators, couches, or security safes? Filling purchase orders for those types of items can be time-consuming due to their size and weight. Consider purchasing a few forklifts to speed up your fulfillment time. They are quicker and more efficient than pallet jacks for retrieving oversized and heavy products. Forklifts can safely transport items to various areas of your warehouse. They can also carry several items at once. This decreases labor costs and possible employee injuries.

Re-evaluate Your Warehouse

The warehouse is the core of your fulfillment process. It must run in an organized fashion to meet the satisfaction of your customers. They trust that you will deliver timely, carefully packaged items to them. That begins and ends with your setup and execution. Learn how to improve upon the procedures that you have in place. Is your slotting optimization the best that it can be? Your competitors are probably focused on speedier times also. Find an edge over their practices. Order fulfillment can account for more than half of your direct labor time. Are you utilizing it to the best of your ability?

Ensure that your savings and profits rise by following these ways to increase your warehouse fulfillment speed. Don’t let your business growth suffer due to limits on your operations. Satisfied customers become repeat customers.