recurring errors to isolate: picking, location and data entry
in the improvement model: prioritize errors, then choose the most effective actions
Picking errors: the wrong item at the wrong time
A picking error occurs when an operator picks the wrong item, the wrong quantity, the wrong batch or the wrong packaging. It is common when references look alike, locations are dense or deadline pressure pushes teams to favor speed. The effect is twofold: the customer receives an incorrect order and system stock diverges from physical stock.
Location errors: the right item becomes unfindable
A product stored in the wrong place can physically exist while becoming operationally invisible. For the system, it is available at a precise location; for the team, it cannot be found at the moment of picking. This error creates phantom inventory, unnecessary searches, delays and sometimes unjustified replenishment.
Data entry errors: data diverges from reality
In a warehouse, data entry does not only concern quantities. It also covers locations, statuses, batches, returns, internal movements and corrections. Data entered too late or in the wrong format breaks traceability. System stock then continues to evolve on a false basis until an inventory count, a stockout or a claim reveals the discrepancy.
The proposed improvement model
The authors propose an approach inspired by Quality Function Deployment. The first step is to filter the human errors that affect warehouse performance the most. The second is to prioritize corrective actions able to address those errors with the best effectiveness-to-cost ratio. This approach avoids multiplying controls everywhere: it focuses effort on the errors that truly matter.
Picking, location and data entry errors have different causes, but one thing in common: each error appears at a moment when the system allows a physical action to happen without reliable validation. Scanning, control rules and standardized procedures reduce this risk by turning human error into an exception that can be detected immediately.
Original summary written from the ResearchGate page and the preview of the article "Human errors in warehouse operations: an improvement model" published in 2017. ResearchGate indicates that the content may be subject to copyright and the article mentions Inderscience copyright; no long passage is reproduced.
Original sources
- 1
Human errors in warehouse operations: An improvement model
Parama Kartika Dewa, Nyoman Pujawan, Iwan Vanany, 2017
View original article