Evaluating usability, functionality, and usefulness of the warehousing error prevention tool

This paper presents an evaluation of the usability, functionality, and usefulness of the Warehouse Error Prevention (WEP) tool that consists of seven modules. The WEP tool is framed in a simple yes/no form, which can be used to identify human factors related to sources of pick errors in a warehouse. Thirty-three participants in 27 organisations from three different countries participated in a trial application and evaluation of the tool. The evaluation included a survey study and semi-structured interviews. Survey results show that participants agreed on the usability and functionality of the WEP tool. In the interviews, participants generally reported the WEP tool as being both accurate and functional with the potential to support engineers, ergonomists, and warehouse managers to improve order picking quality. Further quantitative field testing of the WEP tool's potential to identify costly warehouse errors is needed.