Have you ever been bewildered when searching for an inventory in your warehouse? Do the saved records in your system not correspond to the actual arrangement? Does this kind of incident cause delivery delays to the customer? If the answer to these questions are ‘Yes’, then it is time you focus on improving your warehouse organisation practices.
Well-organised warehouse is crucial for every company that seeks to meet customer satisfaction goals. When the warehouse is arranged neatly and carefully, the inventory-sorting process will be easier such that the shipments can be sent on time and delivered as per schedules. Additionally, effective and efficient warehouse management helps prevent shipping errors caused by messy logistics storage.
If you do not want to waste hours hunting down particular items for shipment to no avail, here are several useful tips for effective warehousing organisation:
- Analyse the current picking method
The first thing you should pay attention in warehouse management is how you arrange the picking method to meet company’s needs. Be it single or multiple orders and zone, piece, case or pallet picking, evaluate how your current method fits with your company environments.
If you find that the current method has not been able to optimise productivity, then you need to review and redesign the method.
- Use automation systems
Nowadays, automation becomes more affordable than ever before, even for small-scale businesses. To save time invested by workers into order arrangements, you can use automatised systems such as conveyance or multi-level pick towers. These are not just more efficient, but the use of machines will also improve security of the warehouse operation.
- Provide training for the staff
There is no point if you update your system without updating your talent’s skills to implement the changes. Continuous training is crucial to ensure that every employee has adequate knowledge to carry out the job. Assign the right person with appropriate competence to carry out specific tasks, such that the business goals and targets can be met within the expected time frame.
- Optimise the available space
The key to effective warehouse organisation is how you can manage the space wisely. Even in a small warehouse, as long as you are able to arrange the inventories well, you can store more items in the limited area. It will be better to stack the items vertically, as it will save up more spaces and look neater rather than horizontal stacking.
- Use sticker and labelling
While it might sound like an old-school advice, using stickers and labels will help you store and track items easily. Stick an information label outside the boxes helps you spot it quickly, when needed. Furthermore, you also need to divide the inventory into groups.
Put similar items together in one place, such that they can be easily identified and discovered whenever you need them.
- Maintain adequate lighting
Security should be the number one priority in warehouse organisation. Hence, do not ignore the lighting arrangements in your warehouse. Arrange the indoor area in such a way that will allow proper lighting, so that employees can work safely. Adequate lighting also helps them staffers to do a better job, rather than working in a dim room with insufficient lighting to reflect on dull moods at work.
Effective warehousing organisation is the key to boost logistics productivity, while streamlining your business operation. When you implement the right methods and practices, it will guarantee customer satisfaction and help grow your business faster.
This article was first published here.