Learn how small changes can make a significant impact on your business.

Knowledge of your stock and the ability to locate a specific item quickly is one of the keystones to a successful business. It can both increase efficiency and optimise space, which, in turn, will maximise your capacity and increase employees’ safety.

Here are eight small changes that will improve your business’s efficiency, capacity, and your employees’ lives:

Process Flow: Whether you own a fully operational warehouse or are planning a new one, optimisation of the process is a must. A first step towards improvement of an already functioning storage and retrieval system is to ask your current employees what would they change? Seize on their knowledge and experience and use it as a component for change.

Maps and Labels: Label inventory and clearly identify the various work zones and hazards in your warehouse. This is critical for both efficiency and safety, especially when there is an influx of seasonal or a regular flow of new employees.

Storage Capacity: Regular assessment of your storage capacity can identify wasted space, space you may well be paying for. How ever you run the warehouse, ensure that an empty area forms part of the planned process and is not expensive dead space. Implementing automated storage methods can help you manage this space more safely and efficiently.

Classify and Compartmentalise Inventory: Inventory is what moves through the warehouse, so it is essential to maintain an accurate record of stock and its movements.   This will open a window into how your warehouse is operating. These records should not only focus on fast-moving items, but also on the slower ones. Classification and compartmentalisation of items according to their use will increase the productivity.

Slotting Inventory: Once you have labeled, classified, and compartmentalize your inventory you are ready for slotting. This is achieved by having as much data on your items and their locations as possible in order to reduce employee travel around the warehouse and thereby increase the overall efficiency. Technology that helps you better manage slotting zones can be a key improvement to your warehouse.

Document and Manage Procedures: Accurate documentation and management of your receiving and return processes is vital. Without a system to monitor how your procedures are working, your warehouse will not run efficiently. Making sure that what arrives is what you ordered, in good condition, labeled and placed in its appropriate zone is the first step to ensuring a productive warehouse. The same applied to tracking and monitoring of returns.

A Warehouse Management System (WMS), is an excellent tool for monitoring these procedures. Such a system will collect and organise data and provide the insight necessary to support and accomplish your business objectives.

Lean your Inventory: Organising your warehouse space and work-zones is a wasted effort if your inventory is overstocked. Aligning your inventory with Just in Time (JIT) practices will enable you to optimise space. It is also necessary to keep some safety stock in order to avoid shortages. Efficient organisation and accurate data are extremely important in ensuring necessary levels of stock.

Regular Maintenance: How do you keep your warehouse organised? You train your staff in organisation and efficient working.  You keep your warehouse clean which improves the working environment and increases the safety of both employees and products.  Last, but not least, you implement cycle counting. Whether on a weekly or monthly basis, this is the surest method of maintaining the organisation of your warehouse and reducing the costs and stress of year-end inventory counts.

Organising your warehouse is much more than just a way to care for your products. To read the full list of 15 ideas for warehouse organization, visit kardex.com and download this industry guide for free.

To learn more about warehouse efficiency view this new on-demand webinarfocusing on the four limits that impact warehouse efficiency.

 

  • Graphic