01 · The problem
What problem does it solve?
A distributor’s warehouse stores stock wherever there is space. Only two senior pickers know where things are; new staff walk every aisle looking for a single SKU.
Orders are picked one at a time, look-alike items go out in the wrong box and come back as returns, and once a year the warehouse closes for two days to count everything — and still finds differences.
Walking, not picking
Pickers spend much of a shift searching.
Wrong items shipped
Look-alike SKUs leave in the wrong box.
Knowledge in two heads
When a senior picker is off, dispatch slows.
Closed for counting
Full stock counts stop dispatch for days.