Of all the workspaces, it is the warehouse that’s more likely to run into efficiency troubles. After all, these are large rooms, usually with plenty of nooks and crannies for things to get lost in, and more items that can be accounted for without serious planning. If you’re in charge of ensuring that the warehouse runs smoothly, then you’ll know that it’s no easy matter. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. By integrating some of the useful tips that we outline below, you can get bring the efficiency levels of your warehouse up.
What’s number one?
You’ll have a lot of goods that need to be picked by your staff throughout the course of the day. But here’s the thing: it’s unlikely that all of your goods are being selected an equal number every day. You’re going to have a best-selling item, for instance, which your staff may be retrieving all the time. Take a look at your best-selling items, and make sure that they’re all easily accessible. Keep the items that you rarely sell at the back of your warehouse. This is an easy way to ensure that your staff aren’t spending more time walking from A. to B. than is necessary.
Using the space wisely
And to take this one step further; are you using your space wisely? If you’ve adopted an ‘ad-hoc’ approach to the layout of your warehouse, then you may be working in a cluttered, disorganised, and highly inefficient space. Instead of thinking of your storage in terms of available floor space, think in times of height. It’s much better to use the ‘dead space’ between floor and ceiling, rather than fill the wall to wall floor space with goods. You can do this easily by getting a scissor lift from a company like High Reach. Once you’ve made the switch, you’ll have a much more spacious, efficient warehouse in which to work. Perfect.
Stay on top of inefficiency
You don’t just need to focus on fixing your inefficiency just once. It’s something that needs to be reviewed, amended, and updated over time. It’s important to measure your effectiveness, and then see whether it’s going up or down over time. You might find that some of your small changes boost your efficiency exponentially; others may slow things down. It’s all about seeing what works best for your company, essentially.
Keep things organised
Now, we know that it’s not easy keeping everything in its right place when it comes to any business matter, let alone a warehouse. But it’s actually extra important in the warehouse, purely because there’s so much space for things to go missing! Keep things neat, tidy, and you won’t have to spend your afternoons crawling around looking for that all-important piece of paper. And talking of paper: try to keep it to a minimum, and opt for cloud storage. It’s much easier to keep track of the important details when they’re recorded digitally, and not just on a piece of paper.
