To improve fulfillment accuracy, you must employ structured, disciplined procedures throughout your operation with built-in checks to ensure accuracy at each stage. It is not just about picking, but begins right at the start when goods are received.
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Ensuring the correct location of goods is equally important as the accurate recording of product data. You cannot expect high fulfillment accuracy to come from an informal putaway strategy, where operatives place goods where they want to, or where they “think” they should go. You have to store goods in a disciplined way, and their location must be recorded.
This discipline in the receiving process is the foundation of accurate fulfillment. It means that you have goods stored with the correct data, in a place where you can find them quickly. This must be maintained, and any changes of data or location should be recorded. When you do that, the chances are that your pickers will visit the right location and pick the right goods, even without further checks.
However, this does not mean additional checks should be skipped entirely. To guarantee high accuracy, they should be built into your process. Pickers should confirm their location is correct, as well as the product, and the number of items being picked. Clearly these actions are easier using a warehouse management system with barcode scanning options. But the discipline is still important (and possible) if your operation is based entirely on paper.
Lastly, the packing stage provides a further option to check orders before dispatch. You may choose this as an extra measure, or instead of making checks at picking. Again, the use of a system with barcode scanning support is a major help.