There are a lot of management strategies, and managing inventory is one of the main aspects of managing a warehouse. We are gonna discuss a few of them.
JIT or JIC
You should choose one of these strategies, because you cannot have both, they are opposite to each other. JIT meaning Just-in-Time, consists of two principles. Materials arrive when production starts and it cannot arrive before the production arrives. The main mission of strategy is that materials will not take the place of important materials. It is a good way to attain high productivity with minimal inventory holding and costs
JIC, meaning Just-in-Case. This strategy is based on expectations of future sales. And it requires the company to purchase materials before the production. It focuses on prognosing the future sales. Main benefits of JIC management strategy is protecting business from falling behind in production and losing revenue. It is also pretty good when suppliers are not reliable.
Different Pick-and-Pack Management Strategies
- Wave Picking: It is for situations when a particular zone reaches a big size. This way schedules groups of pickers to perform specific tasks. But, if it is not done well, it will lead to downtime.
- Batch Picking: This is pretty good for customer service and it enables one person to deal with more than one order at the same time. This way may greatly increase efficiency.
- Piece Picking: This is the simplest method of pick and pack. When order enters the system workers pick individual items or cases. By saying cases we mostly mean boxes.
- Zone Picking: As it is understandable by the name. This method splits the warehouse into different zones. And team members are working inside of their areas.
FIFO, HIFO, LIFO
- FIFO: First In First Out. First products that are arriving are gonna be the first products that are sold or taken out of the stock. It is very simple to do. It will not let products spoil.
- HIFO: Highest In, First Out. This method focuses on highest cost products. They are the ones which are being sold first. It helps to reduce tax bills. But remember, they are not accepted under GAAP or IFRS
- LIFO: Last In. First Out. Well, this is the opposite version of FIFO, as it is understandable by the name. This method is only used in the USA, but it is pretty controversial because it owners also use it to reduce taxes.
These are not the main strategies for warehouse management. But they are pretty important factors to take into consideration. But before all of this, you must create a safe working environment.
