What are the primary stages of a warehouse's workflow?

At Zipaworld, we divide warehousing into six core stages: receiving goods, putaway, picking individual orders, packing with labels, shipping to carriers, and handling returns. Modern tech-driven providers also offer BOPIS options for highly seamless retail fulfillment.

Why does picking take up so much of a warehouse’s budget?

Picking isn't just grabbing items; it involves retrieving, collecting, and combining products. At Zipaworld, we optimize this phase because it consumes over 60% of warehouse resources and accounts for a massive 55% of overall operational costs.

How do WDRA guidelines and e-NWR protect my logistics business?

The WDRA promotes scientific storage standards in India. By issuing electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWR), they allow businesses to pledge stored inventory for easy bank financing, minimizing financial risks and enhancing liquidity across supply chains.

Why should we integrate our software with a Warehouse Management System (WMS)?

Integrating a modern Warehouse Management System (WMS) with your company's existing software streamlines daily inventory tracking. Zipaworld leverages these smart digital integrations to maximize your profit margins, eliminate shipping errors, and dramatically elevate overall customer experiences.

Warehousing Solutions Role in India Growing Logistics

The recent budget announcement showcases the government prioritizing the development of sustainable transportation solutions in a way that underscores its commitment to fostering growth and innovation in key sectors such as warehousing and logistics, thereby propelling India towards a more efficient logistics system.

The prevalence of online shopping and same-day deliveries has led to the invention of an unsung hero that helps facilitate the manufacturer, importer, exporter, and transportation of goods. This unsung hero is warehousing.

It's a must-have solution for any company in the business of selling physical goods. Warehousing allows them to manage their supply chains and optimize their order fulfillment processes by storing inventory in one or multiple locations for the purpose of receiving, handling, picking, packing, and shipping them to customers later.

Let's know more about the warehousing processes:

1. RECEIVING

When receiving any goods from suppliers, warehouse staff will inspect these goods side-by-side with the packing document for checking or investigating goods in case of any damages or lost goods. Once these are complete, they will proceed to place the products in the put-a-way area.

2. PUTAWAY

As soon as the products reach their storage locations within the facility from the respective receiving area, warehouse staff will need to calculate each item's space requirement and organize similar goods in groups or pallets for easy picking and packing. All this is done through equipment like wheels, rails, forklifts, pallet jacks, or automated machinery.

3. PICKING

Picking is not as simple as grabbing the item the customer ordered from the shelves and then sending it away for packaging. It's actually the process that includes retrieving, collecting, combining, and preparing the individual products that make up a customer's order.

You can do it better with warehousing solutions to save on operations costs. This process generally takes up over 60% of a warehouse's resources and accounts for 55% of its operating costs.

4. PACKING

This process involves putting the items in the appropriate packaging, weighing them, and printing labels. All this processing is ready for shipment.

5. SHIPPING

As part of shipping, coordination with the delivery service or carrier on when to pick up the packages is done. Then the packages are turned over to the respective carriers to deliver to the customer's doorstep.

6. MANAGEMENT OF RETURNS

The warehouse returns process begins even before an order is shipped, with procedures in place for when a customer decides to return an item. So, return management is the flow of products from the consumer back to the warehouse.

7. ADD-ON SERVICES FROM THE WAREHOUSE

Some warehouses also offer a Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) service that allows the customer to pick up their orders in the nearest warehouse.

Warehousing is fundamental to the success of e-commerce or other businesses. Therefore, for better supply chain management and prevention of risks and disruptions, the Warehousing Development Regulation Authority promotes scientific storage and the issuance of electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWR). A user-friendly warehouse management system technology that can easily be integrated into your companies software applications can help maximize profits and customers' experiences.