Continuous Warehouse Optimisation

Changes in the business environment or within the company force the warehouse manager to constantly custom the warehouse operation to the new requirements. The well-known Deming-circle (Plan-Do-Check-Act) is a useful framework for achieving continuous change in the warehouse operation. The figure on the right depicts the four steps in the continuous optimisation cycle.

Plan: We start by defining targets for cost and service levels and we document the procedures. Quick-wins are immediately included in the procedures. 

Do: The procedures are introduced in the operation. Employees are trained to follow the new procedures.

Check: Well-defined management information provides insight into the bottlenecks in the operation. The information can be used to evaluate and motivate the staff.  Our warehouse intelligence system (WIS) is a helpful tool for performance measurement. It extracts detailed data from a warehouse management system and converts it into key performance indicators and performance reports.

Act: Using the management information, we identify and prioritise opportunities for performance increase. Introducing these improvements enables us to enter another cycle of the Deming-circle.

More services.