If you’re the owner of an industrial warehouse it will be vital for your company and for customer satisfaction to have an efficient system in place that ensures your products are supplied as soon as possible. Get the process as streamline as it can possibly be should be your number one concern as it can cut costs and speed up your completion time. We’ve put together some expert advice to improve your system so take a look below at some of the best ways to improve your warehousing operation.
Optimise Your Space
Rather than expand the size of your warehouse – which could cost thousands – consider utilising all of the available space you have by getting vertical. Invest in taller storage units and purchase the right equipment to pick and store your product. This way you maximise what you have, without having to expand. Draw up a plan of all of your materials housed and consider what you need and where you need it. You can invest in different types of shelving options to store your various materials, rather than just have one standardised setting that eats up all of your space.
Assets Management
This point will tie in nicely with the tech section, but ultimately keeping your assets running to top performance levels will ensure that you can deliver on your daily goals. Things like ensuring your machinery is functioning correctly, whether it is servicing parts, checking stock or guarantying your forklift batteries are charged each night after work so that there are no interruptions the next day. Employ a manager to perform warehouse wide checks to ensure that your workers have everything they need to work at strong rate all day with no interruptions.
Trim Your Inventory
Like any business, stock management is that hardest but most important thing to get right. Over stock and you run the risk of not recuperating your expenditure back, plus wasted warehouse stock, under stock and you may lose out on sales. Therefore, you need to review your accounts and get in only what you need and nothing more. Cut down or get rid of safety stock and try to get your suppliers to deliver smaller amounts of stock more frequently than one big load.
Streamline Your Workstations
Getting your workstations into order is a guaranteed way of increasing productivity because workers have everything they need. Setting up an assembly line streamlines your workstations so that they are as organised as possible. Create a row of sort, set in order, shine, standardise and sustain. This system is designed to keep clutter at bay, reduce errors, improve safety and ensure consistently for the products you create.
Invest in Tech
A warehouse management system (WMS) or an ERP system with a strong WMS module can improve efficiency by suggesting the best routes and methods for picking or put-away. In addition, the system provides automated pick lists that can be sent to mobile readers and devices to help eliminate mistakes and reduce wasted time and paper. Your warehouse will be neater and will run more smoothly as a whole. Using barcode or radio frequency identification (RFID) readers can improve accuracy of transactions, and reduce picking errors. This way all of your team are on the page and you can divide work up between your workers. It also helps to identify poor performing worker, if their picks are low.
