FIGURE 8-30 Golden zone picking from a horizontal
Source: White Systems
Just like a minority of items in a warehouse generate a majority of the picking frequency, there are items in the warehouse that are likely to be requested together. Examples include items in repair kits, items from the same supplier, items in the same subassembly, items of the same size, and so on. Correlations can be identified from order profiles and can be capi- talized on by storing correlated items in the same or in nearby locations Travel time is in turn reduced because the distance between pick locations on an order is reduced.
At a major mail-order apparel distributor, nearly 70 percent of all orders can be completed from a single size(such as, small, medium, large, and extra large regardless of the type of item ordered(such as, shirts, pants, and belts, and so on). At a major distributor of healthcare products, a majority of the orders can be filled from a single vendor. Because material is also received that way, correlated storage by vendor improves productivity in picking and putaway.
A simple way to begin the process of identifying demand families is to rank pairs of items based on the number of times the pair appears together on an order. The pairs at the top of the list often reveal the rationale for demand family development.