Just a few small tweaks in your warehouse approach can improve your customer service. Develop confidence in your customer experience by adequately maintaining your critical product data. Read on to discover just how by our very own Supply Chain Management expert, Tracy Warren.
The modern warehouse can be home to a variety of product styles. Each product type requires specialized data handling. Most warehouse management systems (WMS) support tracking and maintaining critical aspects such as lot numbers, serial numbers, and expiry dates, etc. Below, we cover the essential product data elements in the warehouse:
Lot Numbers — The Lot Number is often used to represent a specific production run from the factory. Tracking the Lot Number can help isolate any issues originating from the manufacturing or production process. The Lot Number to Item Unit relationship is one-to-many, meaning multiple Item Units can be associated with the same Lot Number.
Serial Numbers — At a much more detailed level, many types of items, including some electronics, are assigned Serial Numbers to identify a unit of inventory. The Serial Number to Item Unit relationship is generally one-to-one, meaning one Item Unit per Serial Number.
Expiration Dates – For many products, it is required to track the expiration dates in the WMS to manage inventory at that level. There can be many units of stock across many License Plate Numbers associated with the same Expiration Date. Warehouse allocation should follow corporate guidelines by first clearing out the previous expiration dates.
Maintaining critical data may seem like a ‘no-brainer,’ but taking a few extra moments along the way can help us avoid a variety of issues when trying to close out loads, support warranty requests, perform a recall, and provide excellent customer service. Building data integrity starts with bringing useful data into the system, but also maintaining that integrity throughout the process through a series of checks and balances. We expand on them below:
- Receiving – Take extra care at the receiving stage to make sure the Lot Number and Serial Number assignments are rendered correctly in the system. If we have an Advanced Shipping Notice, confirm the electronic details about the inventory to the physical product. Perform occasional post-receipt audits to confirm information has been correctly input into the system.
- Cycle Counting – To validate the Lot Number and Serial Number, add a layer to the inventory counting process. The cycle counting process could be beneficial for higher traffic pick locations where the inventory is continually changing, and the risk of contamination is high. The Lot Number validation feature could be optionally activated by leadership for a specific user or counting period.
- Picking/Packing – Prompt the user to confirm the Lot Number and Serial Number during the picking and packing processes. This process is especially helpful in assigning the correct Serial Number to the pick for future recall or warranty purposes. We want to make sure the customer gets the right piece of inventory that matches the paperwork.
- Invoicing – The invoicing process not only assigns the inventory to the customer, but it also relieves the warehouse inventory. The more accurate this process is, the higher the integrity of the shipment and the remaining stock in the warehouse.
One of the most tangible benefits of being a good data steward is having confidence in delivering positive customer experiences. Make these little checks and balances a part of daily life in the warehouse, and you’ll be amazed at how the interactions with customer service will take on a friendlier tone.
Contact us today to see how one of our Katalyst consultants can help you come up with a plan to capture, confirm, and maintain your critical item data.
