| Course | MT437 Strategic Warehouse Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Warehouse flow map |
| Length | About 870 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT437 Unit 2
One Pallet of Brake Pads, Eleven Steps: An MT437 Unit 2 Warehouse Flow Map From Trailer to Store Tote
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT437: Strategic Warehouse Management
Unit 2 Warehouse Flow Map
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Lookout Parts Supply, its building and every time and distance are composite, recorded by following one pallet; the sources cited are real.
The Building
Lookout Parts Supply's distribution center has receiving doors on the east wall and shipping doors on the west, so product should flow straight through. Reserve pallet rack fills the middle of the building, forward shelving for picking sits nearer the west side, and a conveyor carries picked totes to a check station beside the shipping lanes.
The Eleven Steps
1. Unload from the trailer to the staging floor. Receiver with a pallet jack, 65 feet, 3 minutes. The pallet then waits 13.8 hours on the staging floor.
2. Break down the pallet and count cartons against the advance ship notice. Receiver, no travel, 18 minutes.
3. Restack and label the pallet. Receiver, no travel, 6 minutes. The pallet waits 7.2 hours for a reach truck.
4. Put away to reserve rack. Reach truck driver, 430 feet, 5 minutes. The pallet is then held in reserve storage, on average about nine days.
5. Replenish the forward shelf. Replenishment worker carts six cartons, 290 feet, 12 minutes. The cartons wait on the forward shelf until picked.
6. Pick one carton into a store tote. Picker, about 152 feet of walking for the line, half a minute of picking.
7. Convey the tote to the check station. Conveyor, 210 feet, about 4 minutes in transit.
8. Check and scan the tote. Checker, no travel, 1 minute.
9. Set the tote down in the store's shipping lane. Checker, 40 feet, half a minute. The tote waits 5.6 hours in the lane.
10. Lift the tote onto a roll cage. Loader, no travel, about 20 seconds.
11. Load the cage onto the store's truck. Loader, 60 feet, 1 minute.
Totals
The pallet and its cartons travel about 1,247 feet in all. Handling takes about 51 minutes, most of it in the receiving count. The three timed waits, on the staging floor, before putaway and in the shipping lane, total 26.6 hours. Storage in reserve, about nine days, is shown separately, because it reflects how much stock the building holds rather than how the flow is run.
Where the Product Waits
The longest single wait, 13.8 hours on the staging floor, comes before the count. Most trailers arrive before 10:00 in the morning, but the receiving crew counts every pallet carton by carton, so pallets queue on the floor for most of a shift. The 7.2-hour wait for a reach truck follows from the same cause: counted pallets pile up faster than the reach truck can put them away. The 5.6 hours in the shipping lane comes at the other end, because totes are picked early in the night while trucks load at the end of it.
The pallet spends more time waiting to be counted than it spends being counted, moved and picked put together.
Where the Product Is Handled Twice
Two steps add handling without moving the product toward the store. The receiving count breaks down and rebuilds every pallet, even from vendors whose notices are almost always right, which Unit 3 examines. And step 10 lifts each tote a second time because it was set on the floor instead of directly onto a cage, as the Unit 1 post noted.
Why Follow One Pallet
Following one pallet rather than averaging many keeps the map honest about waiting. Averages blur the waits between steps into a single lead time, while one pallet shows exactly where it sat and for how long. The brake pad pallet was chosen because it is the building's busiest part, so the path it travels is the one most stores depend on. A slow part would show the same steps with longer storage, but the same waits between them.
What the Map Does and Does Not Show
The map follows product, not people, so it shows the pallet's experience: where it waits and how far it travels. It does not show the receiver's whole shift or the picker's tour, which carries many other lines. Rouwenhorst et al. (2000) describe the warehouse as a set of processes, receiving, storage, order picking and shipping, each with its own design choices, and the map shows how the choices in each process add waiting to the next. De Koster et al. (2007) note that picking is usually the most labor-intensive of these, and the 152 feet of walking for a single line confirms it here.
What the Map Suggests
Three questions follow for later units. Can receiving stop counting every carton from reliable vendors, shortening the 13.8-hour wait, which Unit 3 tests? Can fast parts be placed closer to packing, shortening the 152-foot walk, which Units 4 and 10 address? And can totes go straight onto cages, removing step 10, which the Unit 10 layout includes? Frazelle (2016) recommends starting warehouse improvement from a map of this kind, because it shows the whole path before any single step is optimized.
References
De Koster, R., Le-Duc, T., & Roodbergen, K. J. (2007). Design and control of warehouse order picking: A literature review. European Journal of Operational Research, 182(2), 481-501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2006.07.009
Frazelle, E. H. (2016). World-class warehousing and material handling (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Rouwenhorst, B., Reuter, B., Stockrahm, V., Van Houtum, G. J., Mantel, R. J., & Zijm, W. H. M. (2000). Warehouse design and control: Framework and literature review. European Journal of Operational Research, 122(3), 515-533. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-2217(99)00020-X
The Purdue Global MT437 Unit 2 instructions
Unit 2 asks students to map how one product moves through a warehouse, from receiving to shipping. Instructors expect the map to follow product rather than people, recording each step's handler, distance, handling time and the wait that follows. A plan of the building with the route drawn on it makes the flow visible. Waits between steps should be measured and separated from handling time, and storage should be shown apart from operational waiting. The map should identify where the product waits longest and where it is handled more than once without moving closer to the customer. Interpretation should connect these findings to the processes involved, such as receiving, storage and picking, and to the later units that will act on them, so the map becomes a starting point rather than a picture.
How the MT 437 Unit 2 example is put together
A description of the building's straight-through flow comes first. The eleven steps are then listed with handler, distance, minutes and waits. Totals separate travel, handling, timed waits and storage. A section explains where the product waits longest and why, from early-morning arrivals and carton counting to totes picked hours before loading, under a highlighted line comparing waiting with all handling. Two steps that add handling without progress are named. A short section explains why one pallet was followed. Another describes what the map shows and omits, with Rouwenhorst and colleagues and De Koster and colleagues, and the last passes three questions to later units, citing Frazelle on mapping before optimizing.
Where the points sit in the MT437 Unit 2 rubric
Flow maps are usually judged on whether they follow product rather than people, and on whether waits are recorded. A map that lists what each department does, without timing the product's waits, misses most of what the unit tests. Rubrics reward distances and handling times for every step, and waits recorded separately. Credit goes to identifying the longest wait and its cause. Spotting double handling earns analysis marks. Separating operational waiting from storage shows care. Connecting findings to later improvement shows purpose. A scaled building plan with the route drawn and a step table with labeled columns are the exhibits graders expect.
Common MT437 Unit 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
The most frequent weak flow map describes the receiving, storage and shipping departments in turn without following any product through them. Another common error records handling times but leaves out waits, so the product appears to move through the building in under an hour. Students often merge storage days into waiting hours, which makes the waits look absurd and hides the operational ones. Double handling is rarely noticed. Distances are frequently estimated rather than paced or measured on a plan. Before submitting, total the minutes spent handling the product and, in a separate line, the hours it sat still. Where the sitting total is not far larger, look again between steps, since most flow maps lose waits there.
Get an MT437 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Share the floor plan bundled with the Unit 2 case, name the product to be traced, and add the rubric. We return a composite map drawn along the goods' path, with touches, conveyance and waits marked and totaled, plus the double handles located. First custom sample, no charge, within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More MT437 papers and BS in Business Administration samples
- MT437 Unit 1: Night Shift Picking Board Post
- MT437 Unit 3: Receiving Process Review
- MT437 Unit 4: Slotting Analysis
- MT437 Unit 5: Pick Method Comparison
- MT437 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- MT437 Unit 7: Labor Productivity Study
- MT437 Unit 8: Cycle Count Plan
- MT437 Unit 9: Automation Business Case
- MT437 Unit 10: Warehouse Layout Redesign
- MT436 Unit 2: Spend Analysis
- MT435 Unit 2: Process Flow Analysis
- MT434 Unit 2: Freight Mode Comparison
- MT433 Unit 2: Landed Cost Comparison
MT437 Unit 2 questions, answered
What is the difference between a touch and a handoff on a flow map?
A touch is any time a person physically handles the goods: lifting, counting, labeling, placing. A handoff is where responsibility passes from one role to another, such as receiver to putaway driver. One person can make several touches without a handoff. Marking both matters because touches drive labor cost while handoffs are where goods tend to queue.
Should storage time appear on the map?
State it, but keep it apart from flow totals. Days spent in reserve reflect how much inventory the building holds, which is a purchasing and planning decision. Hours on a staging floor or in a putaway queue reflect how the building works. Mixing the two hides the waits a flow map is meant to expose, so a separate line for storage usually satisfies instructors.
My case gives no distances. Can I still map flow?
Yes. Estimate from the floor plan's scale, or count bays and multiply by a stated bay width, and say that is what you did. Where no plan exists, relative distance such as near, middle or far still shows which steps involve long moves. Waits and touches can often be counted even when feet cannot, and they usually carry more weight.
Where can I find a free MT437 Unit 2 sample paper?
You can read the complete MT437 Unit 2 flow map here, following one pallet of brake pads through eleven steps from trailer to store tote.
Where does the pallet wait longest in the MT437 Unit 2 sample?
On the staging floor, 13.8 hours, because most trailers arrive before 10:00 and every pallet waits its turn for a carton-by-carton count.