It’s easy to think that making a warehouse more efficient means investing in robots or doing a full layout redesign. Especially when it comes to order picking — the task that eats up the most labor and walking time.
But that’s not always true.
In fact, many warehouses can cut pick walk distances by 30% to 55% without adding a single robot or changing the layout. That’s a big deal, considering how much time your workers spend just walking.
The trick is picking optimization, and there are four key factors that decide how much you can gain.
1. Warehouse Layout Complexity
You might assume that a well-organized layout always leads to better efficiency. But when it comes to optimization, complex layouts often mean more room to improve.
Here’s why:
- A layout with many aisles, cross aisles, and pass-throughs gives more path options.
- That also means more possible combinations of how pickers can move — and more chances to find a smarter route.
If your warehouse is a simple grid with few choices, the optimization potential is smaller. But if it’s a maze of paths and intersections, algorithms can find clever shortcuts that save your pickers a lot of steps.
2. Order & Item Profiles
The second factor is what your orders look like.
- Are you picking many items per order?
- Do you have large pick waves with many orders grouped together?
If yes, there’s a lot of room for efficiency.
That’s because bigger waves and more complex orders give the system more chances to rearrange routes, group items together, and reduce backtracking.
Why complexity helps.
The more items you’re picking, the harder it is to do it manually in an efficient way. But an algorithm can quickly test thousands of possible pick paths and find one that cuts the distance — even if it’s not obvious to a human planner.
Simple logic.
More orders = more combinations = more optimization potential.
3. Cluster Restrictions
This is one of the biggest levers for saving time.
Clustering means bundling multiple orders together into one pick run. Instead of walking the same path three times, your picker walks it once and collects everything at once.
But there’s a catch: some operations place restrictions on which orders can be picked together.
- Maybe items from different customers can’t be mixed.
- Maybe there are size or packaging rules that limit what can go in one tote or cart.
The fewer the restrictions, the more you can bundle. And the more you can bundle, the more steps you save.
Real-world impact: If you allow even small levels of clustering, you can often cut walking distance by 20–40% right away.
4. Current Optimization Level
This one is all about where you're starting from. Many warehouses still use basic picking rules in their WMS (Warehouse Management System), like:
- “Start at Aisle 1 and go in order.”
- “Pick items by location sequence.”
- “One picker, one order.”
These rules are simple and easy to implement, but they often lead to a lot of unnecessary walking.
If your system doesn’t do smart route optimization or clustering, then you probably have a lot of room for improvement.
Good news: This doesn’t mean you need to replace your WMS. Today, tools like digital twins can sit on top of your existing system, simulate your operations, and show exactly how much you could improve with better logic.
Model it in Warehouse Digital Twin
What’s great about modern optimization tools is that you don’t need to make a leap of faith.
Using a warehouse digital twin, you can create a virtual copy of your warehouse, simulate picking operations, and test optimization strategies before rolling them out.
In a few clicks, you can:
- Compare current pick paths to optimized ones.
- Test batching and clustering strategies.
- Estimate how much time, labor, and cost you’ll save.
It’s a no-risk way to build your business case.
- No disruptions to daily operations.
- No expensive experiments.
- Just data-backed simulations.
Bottom Line
A lot of warehouses are trying to speed up picking by pushing workers to move faster or by adding expensive automation. But often, the biggest wins come from something simpler:
Making sure they walk less.
Optimization doesn’t require a new layout or robots. It just requires a smarter approach to using the space and systems you already have.
So before you break the bank on automation, take a closer look at how your orders are picked. Chances are, there’s a lot of hidden efficiency just waiting to be unlocked.
Curious how this might apply to your warehouse? Sign-up