WMS, Warehouse Labor & Fulfillment worked example

Order Picking Labor Load at 7.2% setup, travel, and delay allowance: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop setup, travel, and delay allowance to 7.2%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Estimate order picking labor load for wms, warehouse labor and fulfillment using production-ready inputs so teams can plan labor hours, schedule the work, or check whether the job fits the available shift time.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Order lines to pick this shift: 120 units (held at the documented default)
  • Picks completed per minute: 12 units / min (held at the documented default)
  • Setup, travel, and delay allowance: 7.2 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 10)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Base order picking labor load time = order picking labor load workload รท order picking labor load completion rate.
  • Required order picking labor load time works out to 10.72 hr at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Base order picking labor load time works out to 10 hr at these inputs.
  • Order picking labor load allowance applied works out to 7.2 % at these inputs.
  • Order picking labor load completion rate works out to 12 pieces / min at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where setup, travel, and delay allowance sits at 10% and the headline result is 11 hr, this scenario comes in 2.55% below the baseline at 10.72 hr.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to setup, travel, and delay allowance, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It assumes one blended pick rate; mixed pick types (case, each, pallet) with very different rates should be modeled as separate loads and summed.

Results at a glance

  • Required order picking labor load time: 10.72 hr (headline result)
  • Base order picking labor load time: 10 hr
  • Order picking labor load allowance applied: 7.2 %
  • Order picking labor load completion rate: 12 pieces / min

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Order Picking Labor Load calculator, set setup, travel, and delay allowance to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.