What do shopping trolleys, bags and boxes have in common? That's right, they are used for transport, i.e. the temporary storage of things. An abstract thought, since it is perfectly logical for us to use these “tools” when we want to transport more than we can hold in our hands. The same actually applies to transport in the corporate sector. At least that's what you think. However, the reality in logistics is often much more one-sided. She often still counts on individual pieces here. It would be much more effective if there were a way to unify the components of a show. Because depending on the order, it can be warehouse management complicate the logistics unnecessarily.
Of course, we're not the first to think about it. That is why there is a so-called “Handling Unit” (HU for short). Handling units are the packaging (e.g. carton, but also a delivery made up of several components) and the goods contained in the packaging. One or more products can be contained in the handling unit. It is also possible that several HUs are nested in one another. For example, a container can represent an HU, but so can the pallets in the container. It continues with HU's in the form of boxes. Each handling unit is marked with its own identification number, via which the data on the HU can be called up digitally (e.g. with a classic scan) and in systems such as ERP software manage.
Handling units as helpers in and across the company
What initially only sounds superficially practical is really efficient for logistics companies. Warehousing is made easier because stocks can be recorded, checked and relocated more easily. In the outbound delivery, the number of an order can be managed more easily using HUs. The company thinks and communicates in handling units instead of in individual parts. Since the individual components of the packaging and means of transport (e.g. pallet) still belong to the handling unit, these do not have to be booked separately.
The HUs also have advantages in logistics across companies. The components of a handling unit are already defined by the supplier. In this way, the company can transfer the data to the system without any intermediate steps. In addition to the reduced administrative effort, this also reduces the susceptibility to errors of such transfers.
You can find out more about logistics in this article read.
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