Dimensioning & Weighing Systems

As anyone who's ever had to gather weight and dimensional data together, can attest, dimensioning systems (also known as cubing and weighing systems) can take a lot of the pain out of the process. Accurate product data is the engine that runs proper slotting, storage, carton selection, pick ‘n pack & shipment operations.

Not only are these systems speedy; they're also precise, providing accuracy of within 2mm for a static carton.

Today's Dimensioning systems can boost Warehouse & Distribution Centre performance in a variety of ways.

1. Facility Design: When a company starts planning for a new facility, one of the first things the designer will want is a rundown on the products that will be stored there: How large are they? How much do they weigh? Will they be stored individually or on pallets? The answers will dictate everything from the design of the facility's picking and packing areas to the type of storage that will be used in the facility.

2. Storage: Good dimensional data can help warehouses make the most of their storage space. Once stock-keeping units (SKUs) have been weighed and measured, their profiles can be uploaded to a warehouse management system (WMS) for use determining the optimal storage location for each item

3. Slotting Dimensional data can help streamline the slotting process: Once the SKUs' dimensions have been captured, they're imported into special slotting software (typically from a WMS), which uses that information—in conjunction with data on order characteristics like pick frequency—to determine how to arrange products within the pick zones to optimize order fulfillment.

4. Picking: In operations where workers pick directly into shipping cartons, dimensional data can be key to preventing carton selection errors. Dimensional data can help ensure the right size carton is used.

5. Verification: Once an SKU's weight has been captured and uploaded to the WMS, the information can be used to verify picking. If the actual weight differs from the expected weight, the carton can be set aside for further examination.

6. Packing: Dimensional data can go a long way toward helping companies optimize their packaging. Shipping items in oversized cartons stuffed with filler can lead to enormous waste and inefficiency.

7. Pallet Building: Dimensional data can be quite useful when it comes to building stable pallets. Once the data has been entered into the WMS, the system can use it to determine how items should be stacked on the pallet.

8. Load Building: Dimensional data can help with building loads for trailers and other conveyances. it can feed the data into shipping, warehousing, or load building software, which then determines how to load the truck to make the best use of space while staying within weight limits.

9. Shipping: The advent of "dimensional weight" or "dim weight" billing has changed the economics of parcel shipping, but good dimensional data can help shippers avoid costly mistakes. If the dimensional weight exceeds the actual weight, that becomes the basis for the freight charge. By gathering precise dimensional data on their packages, shippers can ensure they're rating their parcels correctly and avoid chargebacks by carriers.