It All Starts with Goods-In and Receiving Processes
Everything that happens in a warehouse starts with goods-in receiving. Before your products can make it to store shelves, customer doorsteps, or manufacturing facilities, product has to be received into your warehouse. How does warehouse receiving happen? Inbound items (load units) arrive, usually as pallets or cases. These are unloaded and verified as the correct orders. After passing inbound quality assurance, these load units are entered into a WMS system. This could be done by automation or a manual system (labor).
Your warehouse receiving strategy can set the bar for your whole operation. From storage and buffering to picking, packing, and shipping, it is crucial that you have an efficient receiving strategy. A well executed goods-in process carries all the way through even to retail customers.
What is the most efficient shipping and receiving system? A comprehensive warehouse strategy should combine labor, software, and hardware to achieve the most efficient receiving (and shipping).
The Proof is in the Process and the Technology
An efficient warehouse-receiving process starts before the goods even arrive. Starting with a pre-receiving strategy allows you to position your receiving area for success. There are several pre-receiving strategies you can take to ensure a smoother intake process.
Start by analyzing how you intake products. Pallet intake is the standard for many facilities, but there can be variations. If you have specific scanning requirements, there could be room to work on labeling redundancy.
If you have access to your historical data, you can analyze it to strategize the best intake methodologies. By analyzing your data, the labor needs of your receiving area can be compared to previous years. If you see a recurring bottleneck in your receiving strategy, you can adjust schedules ahead of time.
As goods are unloaded into your facility, sorting and verification scanning becomes crucial to make certain you are receiving accurate items. This is why a strategy that combines receiving with best practices from manual, to semi-, or fully automated processes with WAMAS® warehouse management suite.
Receiving Efficient Solutions
With WAMAS, you can begin the receiving process while the truck is en route. When the truck arrives, WAMAS executes receiving tools for quality control and supplier assessment tasks.
WAMAS uses your order history, size, expiration dates, and quantities to pre-define storage location types — inventory storage is fast and accurate. Pairing with automated or manual scan data capture technology ensures accurate order picking and is both easy and quick.
Adding WAMAS® with either a manual or automated warehouse system from SSI SCHAEFER empowers you with the most efficient shipping and receiving system.
