5 Effective Ways to Reduce Picking Errors in Your Warehouse

Many businesses only get returns due to delivering wrong products to the customers. This problem largely arises due to picking errors that often go unnoticed during the shipping process. A lot of times, inventory inaccuracy also plays a key role in picking wrong products, giving businesses no clue on why they keep shipping wrong products to the customers. It is one of those issues that needs to be sorted quickly, otherwise, its impact on sales becomes visible quickly.  

Being a business stakeholder, you cannot afford to deal with repeated returns regularly. Keeping that in view, your warehouse needs to implement a plan that can eliminate picking errors quickly, so that customers can be facilitated with the right orders on time. A lot of businesses these days use advanced warehouse management software to handle this issue, as it provides automation in picking, shipping and other related workflows. Utilizing these methods is important not just to drive sales, but to retain customers for a long time, as that directly helps in the growth of your company. 

In this article, we will discuss in detail how warehouse administrators can reduce picking errors by using precise strategies. Let’s start from the basics understanding what a picking error is and how it derails the process of correct order fulfillment. 

What is a Picking Error? 

A picking error refers to a crucial mistake that leads workers towards picking wrong items from the inventory. It generally happens due to not having enough information about the stock or the product itself that needs to be picked. As a result, workers in the warehouse unintentionally pick and pack wrong products that are not ordered by the customers. Interestingly, this issue does not get highlighted until the product is finally delivered to the customers. Once it does, the returns keep on coming continuously, making the order management a big hassle for the warehouse administrators.  

It is noticed that warehouses struggle with picking errors mostly during the peak sales seasons. It is a time in which workers are required to pick and pack items quickly, as the volume of orders keep on rising each day. Such a speedy picking process becomes prone to errors, and then the key reason for customer returns. Those businesses that try to handle this process manually are impacted more, because using spreadsheets can never bring accuracy in picking or shipping orders. 

Ideally, third-party logistics providers are recommended to use 3PL warehouse management systems to avoid this issue. These systems provide accuracy in picking each order, as they are built with precise functionalities that give correct information about every inventory. Some of the top 3PL WMS solutions like WareGo are recommended the most in this regard, as its AI-powered features simplify the picking process perfectly. 

What Are the Costs of Picking Errors?

Understanding the true cost of picking errors is important because it lets you know why this problem should be avoided in the first place. Generally, the cost of picking errors vary by industry, as every business operates with a unique set of products. Their pricing is different, which is why the cost on their return also becomes different. Understanding these factors is important, as it helps you to bring precise adjustments in picking to avoid the extra returns cost.

Talking about more factors, there are several areas in internal warehouse processes where picking errors can generate substantial overhead cost. First of all, if the mistake is identified before the order shipment, the cost could be minimized by a decent margin. But, if the errors are not addressed before the delivery, customers will get the wrong product which will start the process of returns. This is a time taking process that will eat up your sales cost, or could even force you to send the full refund to the customers. That is how errors in picking can hit your budget massively, if appropriate measures and checks are not taken in a timely manner. 

5 Proven Ways to Reduce Picking Errors in a Warehouse 

Every retail business should utilize practices that ensure to keep the picking errors as low as possible. Ideally, it is recommended to use a WMS sosftware to keep these problems out of your facility. It is the best way to not just eliminate errors, but also bring perfection in inventory management with real-time tracking.

Unfortunately, many warehouse administrators do not use a warehouse management system, nor do they know any tips or tricks, which is why managing picking errors becomes a problem for them. If you are also struggling with the same issue, take a look at the key tips given below.

1. Keep Warehouse Inventory Accurate

The first step to avoiding picking errors is ensuring complete accuracy in the warehouse inventory. It is often observed that businesses only face errors in picking due to inaccuracies in their internal inventory. This is one of those issues that not just creates problems in picking, but also makes the inventory management quite difficult for the administrators. It can be easily sorted by working with a 3PL warehouse management system that provides automated solutions to handle a warehouse inventory. It simplifies the administrator’s job of managing the inventory, as real-time tracking gives them the visibility of the entire stock. 

With a clean inventory count, picking orders with accuracy becomes easy for the in-house workers. They get exact information about the picking location through a WMS that helps them to know everything about the designated product. Due to this, their chances of picking wrong items gets completely eliminated, making the order processing quite fast and hassle-free. 

2. Leverage Barcode Scanning

Barcode scanning is considered the best method to bring accuracy in picking orders. It provides an effective solution to pick the right products, as scanning offers an additional layer to validate the correct information of precise items. It reduces the dependency on human verification, making sure that the products are only picked after matching the right information given on the list. Using barcode scanners is also very easy, as it provides a simple UI to evaluate all the information of a product. It allows to make the picking process faster, making sure that all orders are moved to the packing zones with full validation. 

Nowadays, many advanced WMS software comes prebuilt with the functionalities of barcode scanning. They provide all the information about the product at one place, including its size, weight, storage location and more to make the picking process superfast. Due to this, workers inside the facility work with better efficiency, knowing they have the exact picking information of what’s given on the list. 

3. Work with a Quality Control Process

Introducing a quality control process to validate each product also helps to eliminate the picking errors. It is an important method with which warehouses can operate with better efficiency, ensuring that every order is picked and shipped after complete verification. This process works better when integrated with a WMS, as it provides a streamlined workflow to monitor the receiving, picking and packing of every product. Meanwhile, facility workers also find it easier to use a WMS, as it guides them through a step-by-step quality control process. 

Those businesses that do not prefer to use a WMS can create designated QC teams to look after this whole process. It could certainly take more time as compared to using a WMS, but it will ensure to only pass those products that are fully checked by the coordinators. Meanwhile, teams have the option to create their own workflows to check every order, so that the fulfillment process can be expedited. With this approach, picking errors can be reduced to a large extent, provided all the steps in the QC are followed adequately. 

4. Conduct Regular Audits

Warehouses are recommended to conduct regular audits to monitor the performance of in-house workers. This is an important step that not only improves the picking process, but also brings benefits for other internal workflows. By conducting regular audits, warehouse administrators will get a clear picture of how workers are performing and what type of adjustments they need in their picking process. Ideally, it should be done once in every month, so that problems in picking can be addressed quickly. 

For performance monitoring, make sure to set KPIs that can define how the correct picking process works. This will help every worker to understand the best way of picking an order inside the facility. A warehouse management system will come in handy in this regard, as it provides automated reports to define the performance metrics. It also creates alerts whenever any serious discrepancies are recorded, so that warehouse administrators can take timely decisions to resolve them.  

5. Optimize Picking Routes

Many workers inside the warehouse make picking errors due to fatigue and tiredness. They travel too much inside the facility, which often confuses them while trying to remember the real pick location. To resolve this issue, warehouses are advised to simplify their picking routes, so that workers can reach the designated storage location in the shortest time possible. This can be done by placing the most-demanded products at a specific place that is close to the packing zone. It significantly helps in reducing the travel time, allowing pickers to complete their orders without walking extra in the facility. 

Nowadays, many AI-powered 3PL WMS systems automatically provide picking route options that cover the least distance in the facility. These platforms manage the in-house inventory in a precise way that makes the picking process quite fast for the local workers. Besides that, the WMS also generates alerts in real-time to help pickers move inside the facility from the shortest routes. That is how the overall picking process is simplified, allowing warehouses to fulfill orders with complete accuracy. 

Final Words

That concludes our entire article in which we have discussed different tips with which picking errors can be reduced in a warehouse. These strategies will help administrators in bringing accuracy in picking orders, as most of them can be configured and monitored through a warehouse management system. By following them correctly, pickers can speed up their jobs and make the overall fulfilment process much faster. This will help to facilitate customers quickly, ensuring they always get the right products in the shortest time possible. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a picking error?

It is a picking mistake that occurs due to a wrong understanding of the product. It usually happens when workers inside the warehouse do not have complete information about the order or there are inaccuracies in the inventory itself. 

What type of impact picking errors can produce in sales?

Picking errors can derail the sales process, as it frustrates the customers by delivering wrong products. As a result, businesses start to face an increase in returns, which brings a big impact on their market reputation.  

What are the best practices to reduce picking errors?

There are several ways with which you can reduce picking errors inside a warehouse. From barcode scanning to optimizing picking routes, businesses can adopt various strategies that not only reduces the picking errors, but also speeds up the overall fulfillment process. 

How can a warehouse management software help to reduce picking errors?

A warehouse management system provides different features to eliminate the picking errors. It provides real-time tracking of every inventory that allows administrators to have a clear visibility of every stock. Similarly, it generates automated alerts for wrong picks, so that workers can fix them in a timely manner.