Filling out paper forms is a waste of time. A warehouse management system is one of best tools you can have for optimizing your warehouse. This software helps you track inventory levels, movement of product and materials, transactions, and more. It can work with barcodes, scanners, mobile devices, and RFID chips to keeps tabs on who’s doing what, how long it takes, and where to quickly find specific SKUs or equipment. You can also use reporting tools to help make crucial decisions and reorganize layouts or redefine job roles to make improvements.

Some companies fail to appreciate the importance of storage solutions that maximize space and make material handling easier. Look for high density solutions. Minimize the space used for low-density items. Install pallet racking to utilize more of the space overhead and clear floor space for equipment at the same time. A well-planned pallet racking system organizing goods into rows and columns allows faster order picking by reducing the distance needed to reach stock. Of course, you will also need an adequate fleet of lift trucks to fully benefit from it.

Establishing separate zones for each product line can also help boost productivity. For instance, a primary zone adjacent to the loading dock could be established for high-volume or bulk items and a regular crew assigned to receiving, picking, and shipping these items. Make sure equipment is always available and aisles allow room for traffic. Other zones are established farther away as items become less difficult to handle or less urgent. This way there is always a priority to follow in conserving time and effort.

If you aren’t planning out the efficient picking paths for your entire stock, you’re limiting your own pick rates. This means slower time to customer, longer supply chain cycles, and needless labor costs through wasted time. It can be difficult to create optimized picking runs in the face of changing demands, but teams should be able to complete order selection near the dispatch area, or have the tools to communicate quickly.

Clean and organized doesn’t ensure a safe environment. Proper management of health and safety issues means looking for potential risks as well as identifying the usual ones. Often, health and safety get overlooked as long as things are running smoothly, raising the odds that some kind of accident will occur. Encourage your employees to report any conditions they feel are unsafe, whether it’s a slippery floor or a poorly stacked pallet. Near misses should count as accidents. Take measures to see they don’t happen again.

Managing a warehouse effectively requires coordination of all these factors. Continuous tracking of assets, employees, procedures, and both the cultural and physical environment must take place. By avoiding these pitfalls you can implement a sound platform and refine or adjust processes for further improvements. If your warehouse design is poor, you’ll find yourself in crisis management mode almost daily instead of being in the driver’s seat.

One good rule of thumb in businesses is to stay within 85 percent of total capacity; otherwise the next problem could become a breaking point. The same is true of warehouses and distribution centers. If you’re typically using 85 percent of your storage volume or more, you can run out of room at any time. If you start to see pallets full of product or materials sitting in the aisle because there’s no more room, it’s time to cut back on order quantities and reallocate your storage space.

Inventory that can’t be turned over in the expected time frame can become a problem. Check your order histories, and if you have parts or product that haven’t been used in months or years it’s time to get rid of this obsolete inventory. Often this can amount to waste that the business just doesn’t want to accept. But if it will help lower costs on handling better sellers, you can try returning it to the manufacturer, selling it off, or donating to charity. Even trashing it is better than tying up valuable real estate for years ahead. You can use the space for something more in demand.

Some warehouses can get swamped with excess inventory because some purchasing agent found a great deal on buying a SKU in bulk and ordered way too much. While this saves the company money, when it happens frequently it’s a nightmare for the warehouse manager. Ask your purchasers to arrange for these large orders to be delivered in increments rather than one big load. This should keep your inventory at more reasonable levels.

Many businesses have rapid-turnover items that seem to always be taking up less than 10 percent of the space allocated to them. You can either start ordering more, or if the sales projections aren’t there, such as for seasonal items, consider segmenting those yawning gaps into multiple cubicles in the same area for these low-density SKUs. That way you’ll economize on the space needed, and free up locations to store other goods.

There are many ways to optimize floor space with some material handling organization and equipment . Storage bins that allow you to keep tiny parts or items inside will save space over leaving them in boxes and stacking them on pallets. Look for empty space overhead that can provide additional storage with the introduction of shelving, platforms, or higher pallet racks.

Many companies thrive on sales of certain items during the holidays. This usually requires a flurry of ordering during the weeks prior, and a lot of empty space in the weeks afterward. Instead of wasting all that space for the greater part of the year, consider contracting additional storage you can keep on site during the peak season. This might be temporary aluminum structures, trailers, large portable cubicles, or more. Just be sure they’re secure. Once the holiday rush is over, you can send them back, and in the meantime you have the extra space to accommodate your regular merchandise.

Insufficient storage and cluttered aisles can create confusion, traffic congestion, damaged goods, and safety risks. When any part of your warehouse starts to look cluttered and disorganized, it’s time to strategize on ways to free up floor space.

If a driver can see clearly then the chances of causing an accident are low. Adequate lighting in the store increased visibility, so the driver can safely negotiate the aisle with a clear view of the racks.

Driver training should be a priority. All forklift drivers must be certified and go through a safety course. Drivers must also receive training in the maintenance, the racking system, operational limits, and characteristics of their forklift.

Pallet racks are prone to wear and tear. Improper loading, collision with forklifts, normal use, and climbing by employees put stress on racks. Therefore, trained personnel need to inspect frames often for row alignment, structural integrity, overloading, corrosion, and floor condition.

Forklifts will eventually hit a rack. Therefore, safeguard racks and prevent loss from the impacts by using safeguarding options available. Some options include low profile rack guards, end of aisle rack guards, and post protectors.

Make sure racks are properly labeled with defined load tolerances. Drivers ought to be trained to balance and stack loads on shelves while keeping weight centered. Heavier loads can be placed on lower rack levels to reinforce upright columns.

Make sure you repair or replace damaged racks as soon as you realize they are faulty. Continued use of damaged racks leads to failure, which results in a greater cost of fixing the fault.

Warehouses must ensure that they have safety accessories installed in their forklifts to prevent accidents. Some of these accessories include auto park brakes, motion alarms, panoramic forklift mirrors, and flashing lights and backup.

Warehouse management should consider painting forks brightly because it increases visibility. You can paint your forks bright colors so that drivers and other technicians can quickly notice the forks. It prevents forklift accidents and the losses resulting from damages. More safety tips on guidance on the Safe Work Australia website.

Your store design is essential. When developing your warehouse, make sure you get a design that favors the use of forklifts to prevent accidents in the store. You can consult design experts to help you come up with the most suitable design depending on the kind of equipment you intend to use in the distribution center.

With the above tips, you can be sure to avoid equipment damage in your warehouse. However, note that you cannot eliminate product damage. Training your employees on warehouse safety would come in handy too. Contact One Call Warehouse today!

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1300 305 460

1D, 136 Canterbury road
Kilsyth ,
VIC 3137

Hours:
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