Shipping Inspection
Checking if picked products are different from the shipping request information (order information) is called the shipping inspection. At logistics worksites, there is a chance for mistakes to occur that will cause mistaken shipments in all processes, from receiving and allocation to picking. The last point at which these risks can be prevented is the shipping inspection. This section gives shipping inspection methods and problems, and case studies using handheld computers that resolve these problems and make work more efficient.
Shipping Inspection Methods
The shipping inspection is work in which the destination, product name, product number, and quantity of products sorted by destination are checked to determine if they were picked according to the shipping instructions while viewing the shipping instructions form or picking list. If there is a picking mistake, there will be a mistaken shipment which will cause problems for the receiver and result in lost trust. And if there is a mistake in the shipping work, it can lead to internal problems, such as inventory discrepancies. The shipping inspection has a very important role in the logistics process since it is the last point to prevent mistaken shipments. Packaging in which products are placed in cardboard boxes and other distribution processing for the product are also performed in the shipping work.
Problems with Conventional Methods
A problem that frequently occurs at worksites in which a system has not been created for inventory management is visual verification mistakes. In warehouse work, shipping inspections are often performed during the evening hours when workers fatigue is at a peak, so that mistakes occur easily and mistaken shipments and inventory discrepancies also tend to occur. In the same manner as mistakes in visual checks, inspection mistakes due to assumptions also lead to mistaken shipments. When the fatigue of workers performing shipping inspections increases, these assumptions also tend to occur easily.
Case Studies for Handheld Computers
This section introduces case studies using handheld computers that solve issues and problems in shipping inspections. Using handheld computers is effective for reducing shipping inspection mistakes and it leads to efficiency which also reduces time and costs.
Reduce the burden on workers, eliminate shipping mistakes, and improve work efficiency with barcode inspections.
Conventionally, workers performed the shipping inspection visually while viewing the shipping instruction form (picking list), but the burden on workers can be reduced, shipping mistakes eliminated, and work efficiency improved by switching from the eyes of humans to the eyes of machines. Shifting from visual inspections to barcode inspections using handheld computers can greatly improve verification accuracy. In conventional inspection work that relies greatly on human labor, the occurrence of mistakes due to fatigue tends to increase because the burden on workers increases, but this need not be a concern with barcode inspections using handheld computers and mistaken shipments can be consistently reduced.
Link handheld computers to the system to understand the status of inventory in real-time.
The advantages due to adopting handheld computers are not only in preventing incorrect shipments. If handheld computers are used and linked to the system, product and quantity information that has been confirmed to be shipped can be fed back to the system in real-time, so that accurate inventory data can always be known.
- Flow of Shipping Inspections Using Handheld Computers
