Improving the operations of your warehouse can not only create better efficiency, but also increase your company’s profitability. At Erect-A-Rack, we’re the experts in warehouse storage solutions and we’ve compiled our best set of warehouse efficiency tips so you can improve your warehouse too. .
Have the right metrics
Having the right metrics with you can help you greatly in the long run. Whether it’s average shipping costs or measuring business critical KPIs, the right numbers help put your company’s operations into a better picture. This can also enable you to pay attention to what needs to change within your warehouse.
Improving warehouse storage
Online shopping has been growing rapidly over the past few years. With increasing demand for a wide variety of products, comes increasing inventory. Accounting for such changing inventory may be a challenge for your warehouse. As such, optimising your warehouse will mitigate these issues and improve overall efficiency.
This could be adding a cantilever racking system or creating alternating one-way aisles instead of two-way aisles. An alternating one-way aisleisle not only gives you more warehouse space, it also improves the stow and pick process.
Upgrade your mobile technology
Upgrading existing technologies can make a massive difference in company operations. This is a particularly true for warehouses efficiency tip. Mobile technology for warehouses goes beyond typical barcode scanners. For example, a reliable Warehouse Management System (WMS) can make notable improvements with receiving orders and picking routes. Adding mobile devices with touchscreens, cameras and RFID scanners would further enhance the existing processes within warehouses.
Compared to the traditional manual procedures, upgrading to technology can ensure a far less error rate, faster operations, and reduced costs, making it an ideal warehouse efficiency idea.
Audit your workflows
It goes without saying that your warehouse operations should have an established workflow. This applies from the arrival to departure of products/material and everything in between. But even if workflows have been standardised, there may be various bottlenecks that can cause problems. Audits can help identify these specific issues accurately and help with applying fixes.
It’s also important to remember that these workflows revolve around your employees. Thereby, effective communication with your employees regarding existing workflows would help achieve that operational efficiency at the warehouse.
Consideration for automation
Automation is another area you could consider. As businesses grows, manual processes become inefficient in dealing with larger volumes and workloads. Automation can optimise these to significantly improve productivity. Implementation can range from simply automated workflows to the picking process within your warehouse.
For example, automated workflows can enable standardised workflows to be implemented across the entire workforce in warehouses. Similarly, automating the picking process can translate to faster pick rates and efficient movement of inventory within the warehouse.
Bringing your warehouse improvement ideas to life
At Erect A Rack, we specialise in everything pallet racking and shelving solutions, from mezzanine floor systems in Melbourne to cantilever racking systems. If you’re looking to execute your warehouse improvement ideas, our team of experts is here to help. Feel free to reach out to us at Erect A Rack. You can give us a call on 1300 788 916 or make an online enquiry.