Limiting the Impact of Exceptions

A major obstacle to shipping orders on time is delays from processing exceptions. Equipment failures, human errors, and lost containers are just some of the unavoidable realities in the operation of distribution centers. Unfortunately, with wave-based order processing, the impact of exceptions can be broad and bring order processing across a facility to a halt. Even with all the bells and whistles to optimize waves (mini-waves, wave overlapping, etc.), exceptions at the tail of waves can delay not only the orders directly affected by the exceptions, but all the orders in the current and following waves.

For example, some exceptions require supervisors (or some specific humans) for resolution. If the required persons are not immediately available, all the orders affected by the exception can’t be completed. Even when the person(s) becomes available, it can take time for them to get to the right place to fix the exception. Until the resolution is complete, the current wave can’t finish, and the subsequence waves can’t start.

But not all exceptions really require human intervention. Shorts, damaged product, the wrong product at a pick location, lost containers, or abandoned stations by workers are exceptions that software can resolve without human intervention. Software is always available and in the right spot to fix exceptions. Using software to handle the exceptions that do not require human intervention expedites resolutions and minimizes the delays to impacted orders.

Software cannot eliminate all exceptions (e.g., mechanical failures). It is also limited in what it can do to reduce others (e.g., operator errors, inventory inaccuracies). However, software can significantly reduce the negative impact of exceptions when they happen.

At Fulfillment Engines, we believe most exceptions can be handled by software autonomously. Our solutions handle most exceptions without requiring any (or minimal) human intervention. Our solutions are also waveless. Without waves, there are no wave tail issues or cascading delays to future orders. Exceptions only impact the orders that are truly affected by the exception.

For instance, if a worker goes to pick an item from a pick location and finds that the pick location is empty, or has the wrong SKU, Fulfillment Engines immediately and automatically looks for other pick locations in the distribution center that can fulfill the demand. Our software reassigns the pick dynamically to another picker that is close to the new location – without waiting for a wave to complete or delaying any other orders. Further, it can notify facility managers that the item is out of stock (or there is inventory issue) and trigger replenishment automatically.

Feel free to contact us if you would like to chat about these topics as well as to better understand how Fulfillment Engines solutions address these issues.