Warehouse Efficiency Optimization Using Fastest Turning Closest to the Door Method A Case Study: A company in the personal security equipment industry

Abstract

The purposes of this research were 1) to study and analyze the work processes in the warehouse, and 2) to study the efficiency of warehouse management in terms of reducing product search time and picking distance. The quantitative data was gathered on historical inventory movement within the warehouse over two years (2022–2023). By studying the root causes of existing challenges and proposing effective solutions, the research identifies issues arising from an unclear storage layout, resulting in item congestion, extended search and retrieval times, and increased picking errors. To address these challenges, the researchers propose a solution involving the implementation of ABC analysis-based inventory categorization, grouping items based on their movement patterns. Furthermore, the "Fastest Turning Closest to the Door Method" is employed, positioning frequently accessed items near the entrance.

  Findings from the study revealed that after implementing the ABC analysis-based categorization and rearrangement strategy, the inventory items were grouped as follows: Group A (11 items, 42 boxes), Group B (20 items, 45 boxes), and Group C (217 items, 245 boxes). The "Fastest Turning Closest to the Door Method" was then tested, showing significant efficiency improvements. Before the changes, the average monthly time spent searching for items was 599.14 hours, and the average monthly distance traveled for item retrieval was 2,155,481 meters. After the changes, these figures were reduced to 451.51 hours (a 24.64% improvement) and 1,672,249 meters (a 22.42% improvement), respectively. These results demonstrated that the proposed new inventory storage format effectively enhanced operational efficiency.