Express areas

A masterpiece of efficiency is the order-related assignment of products to express areas.
The key success factor is the special goal: A maximum of complete orders should be picked from an express area in one step by just using a minimal number of different products.

It means that all steps of consolidation can be skipped (e.g. to bring all articles, which are not fast movers to complete the order in advance). Business critical is the choice of the “right” products, based on the particular order frequency and structure. The dynamic of the goods transportation, the characteristics of the articles, the relevant space and the logistic infrastructure might be the main constraints.

The major benefit of using algorithms is obvious when the articles are selected:
When selecting articles of a traditional fast mover area it is possible to consider just the picking rates of the articles. For the express area concept we also take the combination of articles into account - typical sets of articles, which are usually ordered together. This task requires more than a traditional database check.

On the basis of a list of orders a special algorithm can define a dedicated characteristic. It can help to foresee what might be the benefit of an order-related assignment of express areas regarding this particular order structure.

The graphic shows two graphs:

• (green) a highly potential future express zone
• (red) an express zone without future potential

The potential is defined by the following ratio: a relatively low number of articles allows in future the completion of a relatively high number of orders (marked with blue).

Using W2MO^® such express areas can be integrated easily in existing layouts and the results can be viewed immediately.