Wave Optimization

ShipHawk WMS’s wave optimization processing begins by profiling every candidate order released. Various optimization “hashes” are computed for each order to represent attributes such as unit quantities, line quantities, specific items, packing requirements, and other order or item attributes.

An order “affinity hash” is a singular value that defines an order’s items and the allocated quantities. If multiple orders share the same “affinity hash” value, they are identical orders and can be identified with extreme efficiency. This facilitate a very high performance optimization of common orders in the order processing queue.

Once all optimization “hashes” are computed, ShipHawk WMS will then group orders into batches according to the rules and thresholds defined by the operation. As noted above, there are five types of batches:

Order (basically a batch of 1)
Batch
Wave
Cluster
Super Batch
Consolidation

Each batch is uniquely optimized to maximize commonality among orders. Batches, Super Batches, and Clusters and are then further optimized to minimize travel distance in the pick tour.

ShipHawk WMS is fully capable of processing orders in real-time as they are received from the ERP, and releasing them to the shop floor for picking immediately. However, by using this practice, the opportunity for batch pick tour optimization is diminished. In this context, a “batch” is not a “bad word”, and, in fact, the larger the order pool is to draw upon, the better the optimization outcome is likely to be. Hence, it is always a “balancing act” to define the best window to “collect up” orders from the ERP to maintain responsiveness to customer service while also achieving optimization-driven efficiencies on the shop floor.

Once wave optimization is complete, all result are presented on the ShipHawk WMS Wave Release page to the authorized operator responsible for work flow on the shop floor. Any or all batches can be released with a simple click. Valuable performance metrics are shown for each batch including a basic labor estimates, container, picks, items, units, and more. Samples are show below in the Operations and Usage section.