Your pickers aren't lazy: 70% of their shift is wasted walking and searching for inventory.

Your pickers aren’t lazy: 70% of their shift is wasted walking and searching for inventory.

Are slow order pickers destroying your warehouse productivity? A Georgia Tech study revealed that order pickers spend 55% of their time just walking to items and another 15% searching for misplaced inventory right in front of them. That means 70% of picking labor is completely wasted due to broken warehouse processes, poor receiving accuracy, and unoptimized pick paths.

Fixing your order picking speed requires optimizing your warehouse layout. Moving high-velocity SKUs closer to shipping doors and creating clear pick paths instantly cuts travel time. Additionally, ensuring 100% receiving accuracy prevents pickers from wasting time searching for inventory that isn’t actually there. Addressing these two operational flaws yields an immediate 20% to 30% improvement in picking speed and shipping throughput.

This video covers order picking efficiency, Georgia Tech warehouse study, pick path optimization, inventory accuracy, receiving accuracy, warehouse layout strategy, reducing picker travel time, order fulfillment, and distribution center productivity.

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Key Takeaways

• Operational Focus: Real-time visibility and structured dock scheduling eliminate carrier congestion and turn dock bottlenecks into predictable flows.
• Carrier Communication: Digital driver check-in and automated notifications keep facility teams aligned and prepared ahead of truck arrivals.
• Facility Throughput: Consistent appointment scheduling prevents detention fees and maximizes dock utilization.