Page 17 - Logistics News - May 2021

WAREH O US E INVENT O R Y

Improve slotting for greater

warehouse efficiency

As part of our practical series for warehouse managers, Christo Pieterse looks at inventory slotting and
how it can improve productivity.

lotting is the process of organising inventory inventory by category. Fast-moving items should be right
inside a warehouse. By arranging your warehouse at the front of the pick area to improve the productivity of
Smore optimally, you can improve productivity and your pickers. Be careful not to have all fast movers in the
throughput. same aisle, as that can cause congestion and bottlenecks.

Classify inventory into categories You do not necessarily have to incur additional
Start by classifying your inventory into categories. Look labour or other costs to reslot the warehouse. Most
at your sales history or product movement for the last resources, like forklifts or reach trucks, have some
three to six months to determine the activity rate. Two downtime at some point during the day. For some
main methods to classify your inventory are: warehouses, this may be early in the shift, and for
others, later in the shift. Use that dead time to slowly
• ABCD classification. If you have never organised reslot your inventory.
your inventory and you want to reslot your entire
inventory, the best way is probably the ABCD method. Review process
This involves classifying all your inventory into one of the Once you have made the changes to your inventory, you
four categories, and you choose how to apply the method need to measure to determine the effectiveness. Compare
based on your unique operation and the number of items the productivity after the reslotting to the previous
you have in the warehouse. productivity.

A – Fast. Should be a small number of items that make up Review your inventory movement periodically
a big percentage of the movement. (normally once a quarter) and make changes based on
B – Medium. Items that move often, but not as fast as the product movement changes that may have occurred.
A movers. Also be aware of seasonal demand for products and slot
C – Slow. The majority of items will be in this section. proactively for that. Certain items sell at different times
D – Dead. Inventory that does not move. Store this at the of the year.
top and back of the warehouse, far out of the way.
New items
• Pareto principle (80/20 rule). If you do not have To maintain your slotting management, put a process
the time or resources to reslot your entire inventory, in place to slot new items as they arrive at receiving into
use the Pareto principle. It simply states that for many your categories. Try to get the sales forecast for an item if
outcomes, roughly 80 percent of the consequences comes possible. If you do not slot items you are receiving, it will
from 20 percent of the causes. This is often true when it deteriorate the slotting process over time and force you to
comes to warehouse inventory. So, by identifying your do more moving of stock at a later stage.
20 percent fastest-moving inventory and only reslotting
them into the optimal locations, you will see a huge Inventory slotting is a critical element of effective
productivity improvement quickly. warehouse management and will have multiple benefits L O GI S T I CS NEWS
throughout your operation. Be creative and smart
Physically move the inventory about how you slot your inventory and you will see the
Identify which part of your physical location will hold the improvements almost immediately. •

www .l o g ist i csn e w s .c o .z a M A Y 2021 15