A streamlined order picking process is essential to maintaining your warehouse business’s operational efficiency. With a well-optimised picking strategy, you can keep pace with the growing demands of your supply chain, enabling your team to fulfil orders faster and meet customer expectations better. There are several components that contribute to this, from warehouse layout and infrastructure design to workforce training. Among the components, however, employing a modern order picker fleet stands out as a practical strategy for improving labour productivity.
Unlike general forklifts, which are designed to lift and move heavy loads all at once, order pickers are more meticulous in their function. They enable precise item selection at various rack levels, making high-density storage more accessible and picking tasks more efficient. While the cost of a modern order picker can appear high upfront, investing in a fleet of this equipment offers long-term value. Here’s how the right order pickers can directly support your labour strategy and transform warehouse performance.
Increases Picking Speed
The speed at which your workers move in your warehouse has a direct impact on your business’s output. If your workers can reach each pick location quickly, the faster they can get orders completed and dispatched. However, even if your employees are highly skilled, obstacles, such as long travel distances and awkward corners caused by inefficient layouts, can slow progress and reduce overall efficiency.
Order pickers are designed to minimise this friction. With their fast speeds and precise lifting capabilities, order pickers allow operators to move quickly between pick faces. They’re also designed to move through narrow aisles with ease, which means they require less time spent reversing or realigning. When incorporated into a well-planned warehouse layout, order pickers support a faster, smoother workflow, allowing your workers to maintain momentum throughout a shift.
Optimises Reach and Space Utilisation
The way your warehouse’s space is utilised directly affects how efficiently your people can move, pick, and handle goods. When that environment becomes difficult to navigate, even experienced teams can slow down and make mistakes. For instance, vertical storage is a common layout choice for warehouse businesses; it offers the most practical way to increase inventory density. However, it can hinder productivity if workers struggle to access high stock levels safely and quickly.
Modern order pickers help overcome this challenge. With controlled lift mechanisms and ergonomic controls, they allow operators to reach elevated shelves with minimal effort or disruption to workflow. This reduces time spent navigating between pick locations and cuts down on manual strain, helping your team stay productive across longer shifts.
Order pickers also enable narrower aisle configurations, which increases the number of pick faces in a given footprint. This reduces travel distances between picks and minimises non-productive movement.
Ensures Careful Handling of Fragile Items
If your warehouse operations involve the movement of fragile or high-value goods, then you know how careful handling of such items is essential to maintain product integrity. These items are often sensitive to impact, so even the slightest knock can damage packaging or contents, leading to lost revenue.
Order pickers can make this process less error-prone. Their smooth lift mechanisms and stable platforms help minimise sudden movements when warehouse personnel are accessing higher bays, reducing the risk of jarring or accidental contact. The result is more delicate handling from shelf to dispatch, which is ideal for stock that requires extra care.
Improves Worker Safety
Maintaining a safe working environment is essential to long-term productivity. When your workers feel secure in the warehouse, their likelihood of getting into a workplace accident is greatly reduced. Modern order pickers play a vital role in reinforcing this safe working environment. Unlike ladders or manual climbing aids, which expose workers to fall risks during item retrieval, order pickers reduce the need for unsafe movements by bringing items within comfortable reach.
Ground-level models, for instance, allow workers to review goods without having to stretch, climb, or handle loads from awkward angles. Models with stable lift platforms, on the other hand, provide a secure way to access elevated stock directly, reducing the risk of overreaching or losing balance at height.
Additionally, modern order pickers are fitted with anti-slip flooring, guardrails, and automatic braking systems. These design elements reduce the chances of slips, trips, and collisions, especially in fast-paced warehouse settings.
Offers Operational Scalability
As customer demands fluctuate and order volumes grow, your warehouse operations must be able to respond without sacrificing efficiency. This ensures that you can deliver consistent service levels, even during periods of increased activity. To achieve this, you need equipment that can scale with your business’s operational requirements, and order pickers are well-suited to this role.
Due to their flexibility and versatility, order pickers are suitable for a range of workflows. Whether you’re processing small, frequent orders or managing large-scale inventory movement, order pickers support your team in maintaining speed and accuracy across different picking scenarios. Moreover, modern order pickers are available in various configurations, from horizontal models to high-lift pickers. With several types to choose from, you can comfortably phase in additional units as demand increases and adjust your picking strategy over time.
Productivity is one of the most valuable assets in any warehouse operation, but maintaining it is becoming more difficult. Evolving supply chain pressures and shifting customer expectations call for faster turnarounds and tighter accuracy, performance standards that could strain even the most experienced team. Fortunately, you can confidently navigate these rising demands with modern order pickers. Their practical and adaptable features support a more effective picking strategy, making them key tools in improving labour efficiency.