Voodoo RoboticsWarehouseWorkflow Lab
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Problem-solving guide

Workers spend too much time walking

Measure repeated walking, backtracking, crossings, and extra trips before paying for travel automation.

What to look for · What to measure · What to try this weekNot sure about a term? Open the plain-English glossary
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A simple example

One fast-moving item sits 300 feet from packing and appears on 90 orders a day. Moving only that item can remove far more travel than rearranging dozens of slow sellers.

01 · Check the complaint

Signs to confirm on the floor

  • Walking share exceeds handling time
  • The most frequently picked products are spread across the building
  • Workers backtrack or cross paths
  • Pick rates vary strongly by route
02 · Possible causes

Check more than one possible cause

The first explanation may sound right and still be wrong. Use the measurements in the next section to separate these possibilities.

1

Product pick frequency and common order pairings are ignored when assigning shelf locations

2

Discrete orders repeat locations

3

Forward area is undersized or stale

4

Routes and storage geometry conflict

5

Cart capacity forces extra trips

03 · What to measure

Numbers that can change the decision

Meters per order and lineMeasure total route distance, then divide by completed orders and order lines using the same shift or sample.
Pick-distance product by productFor each item, multiply daily pick visits by its travel distance. High totals deserve the first review.
Repeated location visits by batchCount how many times a route group visits the same location. Repeats show possible batching savings.
Backtrack and crossing distanceMark distance spent reversing direction or crossing another busy route rather than moving toward the next task.
Replenishment travel created by reslottingEstimate extra refill trips and distance caused by moving fast items into smaller or farther pick faces.
04 · Possible fixes

Choose a fix only after the facts point to it

1

Move frequently picked or commonly paired products

Use this when: A small product set creates much of the distance

2

Batch/cluster way to organize the work

Use this when: Orders repeat common locations

3

Mobile robot or goods-to-person screen

Use this when: Long-distance movement remains dominant

05 · This week

A practical seven-day starting plan

  1. 01

    Trace ten realistic routes on a scaled map

  2. 02

    Measure distance rather than estimating from building size

  3. 03

    Rank products by daily picks × distance

  4. 04

    Simulate batch sizes from order data

  5. 05

    Move only a small controlled product set first

Turn what you measured into a small test

The diagnostic compares practical options and shows which limits could change the answer.

Start the diagnostic