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        • "Automated conveyor belts and robotic forklifts manage ending inventory in a modern distribution warehouse."

          5 Common Mistakes in Ending Inventory Calculations to Avoid

          April 30, 2025 | By Christen Thomas

          Workers using tablets to manage inventory in a modern, well-organized warehouse.

          Understanding Days Sales in Inventory (DSI): Calculation and Importance

          | By Christen Thomas

          inventory control computer chip graphic

          Optimizing Inventory Control: Challenges & Best Practices

          April 14, 2025 | By Elijah Charbonneau

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White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management

White Papers/Case Studies
White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 1 - waving, wave pre-planning

Recognized. Trusted. Proven. See why Cadre made the Top IT Providers list—and how we can help you succeed| Learn More

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Warehouse distribution centers tend to be more successful if they are able to efficiently handle orders of any size, any volume, and from any source. Their competitive edge and higher profit margins come from their efforts to fulfill orders as quickly as possible, at the cheapest cost for the consumer.

Challenging that formula are increased client expectations that soon may require even faster processing. Ecommerce has made time sensitivity a priority issue for warehouse managers. Another is the ongoing labor shortage in the supply chain. High turnover rates and increased onboarding periods have created a talent gap at the warehouse level which has the potential to create a significant drag on order fulfillment. Add to this challenge the ever-changing and costly shipping landscape, and the problem even becomes more complex.

Wave pre-planning, also known as waving, is your best defense against all of these challenges and represents what is often regarded as the forgotten step in supply chain management. Waving gives companies the ability to establish a game plan for the orders before they are delivered to the warehouse floor for picking.

Here are 3 Ways Focusing on Waving Will Keep Your Operation Competitive Despite the Ongoing Challenges in the Industry:

1. Waving Saves Time

Waving is a value-added way to automate the grouping of orders by different criteria: level of priority, destination, customer, product attributes, or the time of day or day of the week the orders need to be picked for shipping. Many other criteria may be involved but the bottom line is preplanning done by waving has a huge effect on warehouse productivity.

There are a number of reasons why this saves time. Since picking can become the most intensive labor activity in your warehouse — taking up between five minutes to two hours for one pick — waving can reduce the workload by grouping similar orders for efficient processing. This becomes most helpful for temporary workers who may not be familiar with every corner of your warehouse, not to mention your products, customers, etc.

Secondly, waving shortens the time required to organize each grouping. If there are multiple orders for Walmart, for example, waving helps group them into a single pick for shipping. All forms of picking — Multi-order, zone, cluster, and pick and pass — all require proper waving to be effective.

Since picking can become the most intensive labor activity in your warehouse— taking up between five minutes to two hours for one pick — waving can reduce the workload by grouping similar orders for efficient processing

2. Waving Enables Efficiency

Preplanning your picks according to shipping time will create efficiency right off the bat. The reason for this is logical: If one order needs picking today and another order doesn’t need picking for two days, waving gets the higher priority order up front instead of wasting resources for an order where time is less of an issue. Today, this technique may even apply to a 24-hour, three-shifts-a-day warehouse. The point is the same.

Wave processing makes picking manageable by sequencing picks in groups according to your criteria of shipping requirements so the activity on your warehouse floor is balanced accordingly. Better yet is how wave processing can go further in allocating the extra time required for certain products. One example is how waving enables pickers to pick the same SKU all at once for pre-labeling of thousands of consumer orders versus a multi-SKU pick, which involves picking a larger order for a retail warehouse. Again, the key is grouping identical orders together!

3. Waving Strengthens Accuracy

Nothing spells more trouble for your warehouse operation than a shipment that contains incorrect items. Wave processing guards against that possibility by making sure your workers are confined only to areas in your warehouse dictated by your orders. If your temporary workers are trained to pick only one type of order, this keeps them focused and makes training easier and less costly.

Calibrating orders by only a certain kind of pick will not just shorten the time needed to get the items shipped, but it will also ensure your packages are picked the way your clients require. This not only increases your level of service, but limits warehouse costs at the same time.

What are your warehouse management needs?

Visit us at www.cadretech.com or call  +1 (303) 217-7030 to learn more about our warehouse management systems for 3rd Party Logistics (3PL), Manufacturers and Distributors and to set up a demo.

June 7, 2022/by Cadre

Recent Posts

  • "Automated conveyor belts and robotic forklifts manage ending inventory in a modern distribution warehouse."5 Common Mistakes in Ending Inventory Calculations to Avoid
    April 30, 2025
  • Workers using tablets to manage inventory in a modern, well-organized warehouse.Understanding Days Sales in Inventory (DSI): Calculation and Importance
    April 30, 2025
  • male and female workers doing warehouse forklift safety trainingWarehouse Forklift Safety Tips for a Safer Workplace
    April 5, 2025

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Recognized. Trusted. Proven. See why Cadre made the Top IT Providers list—and how we can help you succeed| Learn More

Ready to Learn More About Cadre’s WMS Solutions? Request a demo today

Success Stories

“Cadence WMS provides us real time data to allow us to monitor our daily activities in all of our warehouses. It has provided us the visibility to flex our staff across our network and also provides our clients the transparency they want into our daily operations.”

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 4 - waving, wave pre-planning
Dave Jesse, COO, Bonded Logistics, Charlotte, NC

“We’ve used Cadre products for quite some time now. Their willingness to work with us to customize and connect to other systems and provide seamless solutions for our customers through their online tools has been invaluable. Logiview has been a cornerstone of our logistics platform for many years.
”

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 5 - waving, wave pre-planning
ArcBest, Director, Supply Chain Solutions, ABF Logistics, An ArcBest CompanyFort Smith, AR

“Cadre’s software allows us to meet the changing requirements of our warehouse clients and helps us remain competitive with new opportunities. The people are great to work with because they are responsive and understand our business.”

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 6 - waving, wave pre-planning
Paul Delp, President, Lansdale Warehouse Company, Lansdale, PA
More testimonials

Recent Articles

"Automated conveyor belts and robotic forklifts manage ending inventory in a modern distribution warehouse."

5 Common Mistakes in Ending Inventory Calculations to Avoid

Blog
Discover how to perfect your ending inventory calculations and avoid common pitfalls with our expert tips and strategies. Enhance your financial accuracy today!
April 30, 2025
Workers using tablets to manage inventory in a modern, well-organized warehouse.

Understanding Days Sales in Inventory (DSI): Calculation and Importance

Blog
Unlock the secrets to efficient inventory management with our deep dive into Days Sales in Inventory. Learn to calculate and utilize DSI for better financial outcomes.
April 30, 2025
male and female workers doing warehouse forklift safety training

Warehouse Forklift Safety Tips for a Safer Workplace

Blog
Ensuring warehouse forklift safety is vital to avoid accidents and maintain a productive work environment. This guide covers essential safety practices such as operator training, daily inspections, and safe load handling. Read on for straightforward…
April 5, 2025
More Articles

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White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 7 - waving, wave pre-planning
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