If you manage a logistics or fulfilment warehouse, you’ll be aware of the two main requirements, speed and accuracy. Ultimately, you want your staff to be working as efficiently as possible to maintain a high level of product throughput without affecting accuracy as this could result in mistakes and ultimately, customer complaints. Read this article to find out which metrics you should be keeping an eye on, and how implementing a strategy that includes an automated dimensioning solution will help to make your business more profitable.
Average warehouse capacity used
The percentage of your utilised warehouse space is directly connected to your profitability, any unused space could be used to capitilise on potential business. On top of that, you could be paying rent on premises that you don’t need. How do you calculate this? It’s important to understand the total available area within your warehouse and also the exact dimensions of all of your inventory, you can then work out what percentage of your warehouse space is being used.
Peak warehouse capacity used
Knowing your peak warehouse capacity utilisation is also helpful. Ultimately you will be aiming for 100%, any less than that and there’s room for improvement. For that reason, peak warehouse capacity is used as a target, it’s important to constantly aim to improve this figure.
Order picking accuracy
This is a particularly important metric for eCommerce fulfilment warehouses. Order picking accuracy shows how accurately staff pick products ready to fulfil an order. It may sound like a way of measuring staff capability, but it’s also a means of highlighting any potential issues in your storage system. For example, do you organise your product storage based on size or weight? Making sure your items are accurately weighed and dimensioned is crucial, therefore implementing a solution that can provide this data will help you to drive efficiencies.
Find out more about our range of automated dimensioning solutions that will help you to gather weight and dimensioning data: www.dimensioning.co.uk/shop
On-time shipments
One of the most critical metrics for measuring the success of your warehouse or logistics operations, is the percentage of customer shipments that are on time. This doesn’t just represent ‘a job well done’, it also saves a lot of pressure from other areas of your business. Say for example a customer is expecting a parcel that doesn’t arrive, they’re going to call your customer services team who will then spend time investigating and reporting.
Product throughput
Measuring the speed at which a product enters your warehouse and makes it through the process is important. It’s the best way of being able to highlight exactly where in the timeline you need to/are able to increase efficiencies. For example, if you’re spending a lot of time manually measuring parcels, it’s time to put an automated dimensioning system in place to speed up this process.
Take a look at Resolution 5, the inline weigh dimensioner. With the ability to weigh and dimension up to 2,000 items per hour, this will save you some serious time as well as supply you with another means of data to help track an item’s journey.
Find out more about our products, here.