Warehouse Management 101: A Simple Guide for Faster, Accurate Operations

Intro

Great warehousing is invisible to the customer—but it’s the backbone of every reliable supply chain. Here’s a clear, end-to-end view of how a modern warehouse runs, plus simple improvements you can apply this week.

1) Inbound & Receiving

• What happens: Vehicle check-in, GRN, quality check, barcode capture, palletization.

• How to improve: Fixed receiving windows, dock appointment system, and a GRN checklist.

• Pro tip: Pre-shared ASN (advanced shipment notice) speeds up inbound by 10–20%.

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2) Storage & Location Control

• What happens: Put-away to racks, FEFO/FIFO rules, slotting high-velocity SKUs near dispatch.

• How to improve: Label every aisle/bay/bin; maintain a bin master; run weekly cycle counts.

• Pro tip: Zone by temperature/moisture risk; keep a quarantine zone for exceptions.

  
  

3) Order Picking

• Methods: Single, batch, zone, or wave picking.

• How to improve: Pick paths that form a loop; use pick-to-light or mobile scanning to cut errors.

• Pro tip: ABC analysis—A (fast) SKUs near ground and dispatch, C (slow) higher or deeper.

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4) Packing & QC

• What happens: Verification, labeling, stickering, bundling/promos, sealing.

• How to improve: Standard pack stations, print-on-demand labels, visual SOPs at each table.

• Pro tip: Final weight check catches mis-picks quickly.

  
  

5) Dispatch

• What happens: Staging by route, vehicle checks, lashing, seal number capture.

• How to improve: OTIF dashboard (On-Time, In-Full), dock calendars, and route-wise staging lanes.

KPIs to Watch

• Inventory accuracy: ≥ 99%

• Dock-to-stock: < 8 hours (daily ops)

• Picking accuracy: ≥ 99.5%

• OTIF: ≥ 98%