Qualitative Factor Rating Method

Factor rating is a means of assigning quantitative values to all the factors related to each decision option and then getting a score to evaluate which option is suitable. In this way right priorities are kept in mind and constraints are also ruled out. Procedure for qualitative factor rating is,

• Lineate a list of relevant factors associated with selecting a warehouse.
• Assign a weight to each factor to indicate its relative importance (weights may total 10)
• Assign a common scale to each factor (ex 0-100 points) and designate any minimum.
• Score each potential location according to the designated scale, and multiply the scores by the weights.
• Total the points for each location, and choose the location with the maximum points.

Weighted scores are computed by multiplying the score times with the assigned weight and summing those products. Based on this data, a location among many would get selected as the preferred location for the new warehouse.

Picking Productivity

As order picking can oft en account for 50 per cent of the staff in a warehouse, picking productivity is a very important component of overall efficiency. It may be measured in quantity terms (eg the number of cases or units picked per person per hour) or in terms of the number of locations visited (eg the number of SKUs or order lines picked per person per hour).

Comparing pick rates of different warehouses can provide some very diverse results with figures often varying by more than 100 per cent (eg 150 cases per person per hour in one warehouse and 350 cases per person per hour in another). This does not necessarily mean that one warehouse is more efficient than the other, as pick rates may vary according to many factors, such as:

Operational requirement:

• size of item or case
• number of items/cases per order line
• number of order lines per order
• product range, ie number of SKUs
• specific requirements, eg labeling, batch number checking
• scale of operation

Equipment:

• category, eg picker-to-goods or goods-to-picker
• height, eg ground-level or high-level picking
• type, eg trolley or electrically powered order picking truck.

Management:

• motivation, eg industrial relations, incentive schemes
• work processes, eg batch picking, slotting and pick route methods;
• load balancing, eg between warehouse zones
• replenishment and stock accuracy.

Information technology:

• technology aids, eg pick-by-light, voice picking. –

Pick rate should not be the sole measure of performance, and other key indicators to be monitored include accuracy of pick, completeness of order fill and timeliness of meeting dispatch deadlines