What is Throughput?

Throughput measures the rate at which your operation processes work from start to finish. In warehouse and fulfillment contexts, throughput is typically expressed as orders per hour, units picked per hour, packages shipped per day, or similar time-based productivity metrics. It is the single most important measure of operational capacity and efficiency.

Why It Matters

Throughput determines how many orders your operation can handle in a given time period. If your peak daily demand is 2,000 orders and your throughput is 1,500 orders per day, you have a structural capacity problem that will result in growing backlogs, missed SLAs, and customer dissatisfaction. Understanding and improving throughput is essential for meeting demand, controlling labor costs, and scaling operations.

How It Works

• Measurement: Track throughput at each stage of the fulfillment process: orders processed, items picked, packages packed, and shipments loaded per hour/day. Identify the stage with the lowest throughput—that is your bottleneck.
• Factors: Throughput is influenced by labor availability, process efficiency, technology (scanners, automation), warehouse layout, order complexity, and system performance.
• Optimization: Increase throughput by eliminating waste (unnecessary steps, excessive walking), automating repetitive tasks, improving workspace layout, batch processing similar work, and investing in technology.
• Scaling: When demand grows beyond current throughput capacity, scale through additional shifts, temporary labor, warehouse expansion, automation investment, or 3PL partnerships.

How Nventory Helps

Nventory tracks throughput in real time across all fulfillment stages, providing visibility into how fast your operation is processing work and where bottlenecks are forming. The system’s automation features eliminate manual steps that limit throughput, and its analytics help you forecast when throughput capacity needs to increase based on demand trends.