Efficient Storage In Daily Life

Maintenance is the backbone of darn near any industry, and warehousing is no exception. Proper warehouse maintenance is the key to making sure your installations and product go undamaged, your workers can perform their jobs without delay or risk of injury, and things will just go more smoothly overall. While every warehouse is going to require different steps to keep it properly maintained and operating at peak performance, there’s some things that maintenance managers of any stripe can do to keep their warehouses in order to prevent breakdowns in either equipment or process. Here’s five of the most common (and most useful) tips to keep your warehouse at its best: Always Stay Proactive “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, as the old saying goes, and that applies to more than just doctor’s visits. The most effective warehouse maintenance workers are the ones that identify potential problems and stay on top of them to prevent them becoming real problems down the ...

Proper safety is one of the most important things about managing a warehouse for both the safety of your workers and your inventory. While the risk for damage and injury can be high, careful maintenance and planning can go a long way to reduce that risk – so long as you’re willing to put in the time and effort. We’ve written about pallet rack safety tips before, but there’s still a lot of ground to cover when it comes to safety and preventative maintenance information across all types of industrial shelving, from wire shelving to pallet racks. Here’s some further tips and information to keep in mind when you’re trying to double-check your warehouse for potential safety issues: Know how each shelf is going to be used before installation. A major component of shelving & storage safety is to make sure the design of the shelf matches your needs, and knowing how to use the specifications of each shelf. Some types of storage are better for certain items than others, and understandin...

We’ve tried to share a lot of information about the nitty gritty of warehouse design here, like ideas for providing facilities for your employees and improving warehouse traffic flow and more, but what if you’re just starting in the world of warehouse design and you need some pointers on where to start and what you should include? We’ve got a little experience in that regard, as you can imagine, and we’d like to share some advice we’ve found along the way for anyone looking to get started in warehouse, storage facility, or factory design: Identify the Type of Warehouse You Need To Be Sure, you’ve probably gotten an idea of the sort of products you’re going to be storing, but do you know what kind of warehouse that means you need to use? There’s a lot of different types of warehouses, and the sort of layout you use, equipment you install, and even the sort of building you use for storage will all change depending on the products you keep. General merchandise can be kept in a gen...

It’s not something anyone enjoys thinking about, but emergencies and accidents are an unfortunate fact of life for any business owner. And for warehouses that deal in long-term product and inventory storage, disasters can be particularly negative for both daily operations and your bottom line. Sadly, most warehouses find themselves pretty unprepared when it comes to dealing with any potential disaster or accident. If your warehouse doesn’t have an emergency management plan, or if you want to update and modernize your currently existing plan, here’s a few one-size-fits-all tips for emergency planning for warehouses of any size or industry: Identify Your Most Likely Emergencies: The first step is to take a look at what sort of potential emergencies your warehouse might face. Things like fire or electrical outage are things that any warehouse might encounter, but some other emergencies might depend on your geographic location, what kind of weather you encounter, and the like. An...

Ever feel like you just can’t get where you’re trying to go in your warehouse or factory ? No matter how much planning or foresight goes into your warehouse design and layout, the paths workers take to get where they have to go are never exactly first in people’s minds. That said, traffic management is one of the most important things a warehouse can plan for, even if they rarely do. Traffic management is more than just leaving enough space for the forklifts; a detailed plan needs to be put into place to make sure everyone can get where they need to be. If your warehouse constantly finds itself stuck in traffic, here’s a few tips to help clear up some space and get your workers where they need to go. Plan Vehicle Routes: More than just lanes for moving vehicles, vehicle routes need to be able to accommodate everything a vehicle might have to do, including stopping suddenly, passing other vehicles, going in reverse, and so on. The easiest way to deal with a lot of this traff...

No matter what industry you work in, selecting a warehouse can frequently be an overwhelming and confusing experience. Every business has their own individual and specific warehousing needs, and finding the warehouse that’s the best fit for your business can be a long process without a clear set of steps to take. If your business is trying to find a new warehouse location, whether for the first time or expanding into multiple locations, we’ve got a few tips to consider that might just make the process a little easier: Ideal Location: The considerations for selecting a warehouse location are fairly different than selecting something like a retail location. You need to consider the shipping locations of your suppliers to consider the impact of your location on shipping times, as well as how it can affect the delivery locations you’re setting up for your customers. Find out where the deliveries are being made, where you’ll be able to deliver to, and how accessible your locatio...

Safety is a top concern for any factory, warehouse , or storage facility, and so is keeping your products organized and together where they need to be. While everyone has their own strategies for keeping their workers and facilities safe, there’s actually a few ways to combine these two and help your facility get organized for both cleanliness and safety. Here’s a few of the most common safety hazards, and how you can both prevent accidents and keep your facility clean in the process: Working at Height One of the most frequently encountered safety issues in the workplace is stored items at an improper height. Using wire shelving or pallet racks and making sure items are kept at the appropriate height (shoulder height when possible, but above-the-waist at least) will both help free up valuable space for larger items elsewhere, and prevent strain & injury on your workers by keeping items at a safe height and posture. Cluttered Aisles Another big, common safety hazard i...

A vital part of any manufacturing or logistics business is the purchasing cycle. Whatever side of the production cycle your business falls on, whether you produce the goods, distribute them, or receive them for long-term storage, the purchasing cycle affects nearly every step of an item’s lifecycle before it arrives in the hands of the consumer. Befitting its important role in product distribution, there’s a number of different steps in the purchasing cycle, and it’s important to keep these in mind as a warehouse manager: The order is sent to purchasing: The first step is to send the order of needed items to the purchasing department. Orders generally include a description of the item needed, the quantity needed, desired delivery dates, and who (or what department) is requesting the purchase. It sounds a little obvious, but not a lot is going to get done until the order is officially on the books. A supplier is selected: After the order is made official, the purchasing department ...

Any business that produces and/or sells physical products relies on some form of manufacturing to create the products they sell. Small business might produce their own goods on-site or custom-make their products to order, while bigger corporations have massive manufacturing processes that can turn out thousands of items per day. If you’re considering scaling your manufacturing processes up or down to meet customer demand and product availability, there’s three different volumes and methods of manufacturing to choose from: high-volume, intermediate-volume, and low volume systems. Read on to learn more about each and find out which might be best for your business: High-Volume Systems: High-volume manufacturing is essentially the same as mass production, in that large quantities of goods are produced simultaneously over a short period of time with little-to-no variation. This method is typically best for large operations who can afford to employ a large number of workers and pay ...

Capacity planning is a vital part of any manufacturing or production facility, one that tends to get overlooked when it comes time to designing your facility and determining production methods. The term can mean a lot of things depending on how it’s used, but in the context of production and manufacturing capacity planning refers to the process of determining the production capacity needed to meet the demand for its products. Strong capacity planning can help control your businesses’ costs and stock in the long run, and if you want to start planning around your capacity, here’s a few things to keep in mind: Products/Services Offered : One of the biggest impacts on overall capacity is what your facility produces or the service you provide. Factories that manufacture smaller items of similar design will be able to produce higher quantities of item much more easily than factories that deal in a wide variety of items, or items with vastly different production techniques. Think of y...

In a number of industries and facilities, the most common activity the workers perform is the stocking of shelves . From pallet racks to wire shelving, stocking and retrieving items off various storage shelves is how most warehouse workers will spend their time. But this sort of repetitive motion comes with a number of risks. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released several reports indicating that workers in warehousing and/or retail are at the highest risk of musculoskeletal disorders, and that 33% of all workplace injuries are related to muscle issues stemming from improper posture, lifting, and the like. If you want to prevent this sort of injury in your workers by restructuring your current shelving installations and procedures, we’ve got a few tips to get everything started: Keep frequently used items in easily accessible areas. Any popular or commonly-needed items should be between knee- and shoulder-height to reduce strain when lifting. Heavy or oddly-shaped items ...

No matter how long your facility has been around, there’s always the chance your layout will have to change. Not every warehouse or factory design will meet every purpose, and it’s also entirely likely that your purpose will change over time as your business grows and develops. Here’s a few common situations that may require a change in layout – if you’re facing any of these, you may want to consider putting the time and money into renovating your facility: Streamlining Operations It’s always important to review your operations and processes every now and then to make sure there’s no bottlenecks and to make sure cost is being properly managed. If you find a point in your production process that would benefit from a redesign of your facility – a lengthy travel time for vital workers, lack of communication/interaction between related points in the production process, etc – it could very well be worth the time and cost involvement to redesign your factory floor to eliminate...

Fittingly so, considering the number of items it has to contain and the constant flow of products in and out, one of the hardest areas of any retail space, factory, or warehouse to keep clean and organized is the storageroom. There’s items of all sizes and shapes to hang on to, and sometimes it can get a little too overwhelming. If you need some help keeping your storage room cleaned up and properly arranged, we’ve got a few tips here to get started: Make A Good Floor Plan: Even more so than a lot of other areas of your retail space, making a clean and thought-out floor plan for your storageroom will help in a number of ways. Providing your employees enough room to walk and navigate the storageroom will help them remember where items are located and allow them to quickly get to the items they need without causing a traffic jam or having to get around a lot of excess fixtures. Nothing is worse than making a customer wait for an employee to be able to find something in the storageroo...

Even more so than their methods of construction, one of the biggest differences in shelving types if the material they’re made out of. And while most shelving can meet whatever your storage needs are, there are certain things that different shelving materials are better at than others. If you want to figure out what specific shelving type would best meet the needs of your business, read this brief guide: Wire Shelving Wire shelving provides a sturdy, open, and aesthetically pleasing shelving solution for a wide number of storage needs of various sizes and weights. Thanks to their open construction and design, wire shelving is frequently seen in retail settings and product displays, as they can hold a large number of items without the more harsh ‘industrial’ look of other shelving types (unless that’s what you’re going for). It isn’t just retail, though – wire shelving is sturdy enough to store outgoing packages, automotive equipment, or almost anything else you might have. Uses: ...

For any warehouse that has a lot of product turnover, such as retail or ecommerce, many warehouse managers consider carrying safety stock. But is it right for you? Safety stock, also known as buffer stock, is a term used to describe a level of extra stock kept on hand for certain items to prevent stockouts due to an increase in demand over a certain period of time. However, a lot of warehouses tend to leap right into carrying safety stock without considering the impact it may have on your business and your ability to carry and supply other items – after all, what’s the point of safety stock if you never sell it and it takes space away from other items? If your facility is considering safety stock for certain items, here’s a few things to consider first: Does Your Business Have A Lot Of Fluctuation In Demand? The biggest reason for safety stock is to keep up with fluctuations in demand across a number of different products. This is different from an item that’s constantly ...

For most consumer, pallet racks might all kind of look the same. They're very tall, and hold a lot of items. Why worry too much about it otherwise? You might be surprised to learn there are different kinds of pallet racks, and while one isn't necessarily better than the other. It's still good to know the differences when it comes time to purchasing a new one or maintaining a current one. The most important things to look for are the shape of the connections on the support beams: Teardrop Racks 'Teardrop' racks are the most common type of slotting, especially on older pallet racks, and will be the one you're most likely to encounter. They get their name from the unique shape of the connections, which start as a circle at the top and taper downward into a smaller endpoint. Most name brand pallet racks are designed for compatibility with teardrop racks, so whenever you encounter a pallet rack the chances will be good it will work with teardrops. ...

For all the discussion of employee safety in the workplace, including installing partitions, safety rails, and more, there’s one important aspect that tends to get overlooked – material handling. In many types of warehouse and factory settings, the deceptively simple act of transporting materials and supplies from one area to another can still carry its own set of risks and hazards. Luckily, there’s easy ways to minimize these risks with the use of proper equipment and best practices such as these: Reduce Lifting with Material Carts Material handling carts might sound like a given, but they actually provide a lot more benefits to workers’ health and safety than you might expect. Keep an eye on the size and dimensions of the cart you use – longer carts can help distribute the weight better to reduce strain when pushing, and longer handles will provide different heights for different people, to prevent back injuries from poor posture while operating the cart. Keep Work Areas Cl...

The Chinese market has always had a bitter-sweet taste. The proliferation of low-quality-cheap products diminished the buyer’s perception of the Asian country’s goods. In consequence, people tended to associate Chinese products with two main characteristics: bad quality and cheap price. However, that began to change several years ago. In 2017, China led the first position among the top ten exporter countries in world merchandise trade. Likewise, it held the leadership between developing economies in the same ranking. Although the tendency slightly fell last year, China keeps its position as the second largest economy in the world. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), broadcasting equipment represented 9.6% in terms of the overall export products in 2017. That was followed by computers (6.1%), office machine (3.8%), integrated circuits (3.3%), and telephones (2.1%), among other minor exportations. That trend kept the same features during the following period. A...

With the global warming crisis is rising, envirnmental protection we should care more about it. So how does the electri forklift truck will be an environment choice?  ​ Electric efficient machinery Within the forklift sector, electric equipment offers a great alternative to internal combustion (IC) engines. However, the popularity of this type of forklift is not simply based on environmental matters. The efficiency of this lifting machinery has been widely proven. The high quality of lithium batteries, now available, makes them a very reliable product. Alongside it, they are generally silent and as easy-to-use as a diesel or gas forklifts. Additionally, in the long term, the overall cost drops down due to its low amount of energy required to recharge the battery. Hence, gathering all the qualities and advantages, the electric forklift seems to have all the future requirements of industry. A lift truck for each application Each business has its own characteristics. Thus, they ...

When people think about ‘safety’ when it comes to storage of any type, they usually focus more on the safety of the employees. While that is an important aspect to consider, if you’re in the food business (be it a restaurant, a distributor, or anything) there’s another side to safety that’s just as important – the safety of the food and your customers! Keeping your food properly stored can help keep the food fresh and safe for your customers, as well as helping your staff work more effectively. Here’s some tips to help keep your food fresh and your diners happy: First In, First Out The first in, first out ( FIFO ) rule is important in many industries, and food service is chief amongst them. When new shipments of food arrive, make sure to place the newer food behind the older food. This way, you know the older food will be used first to ensure a constant rotation of fresh ingredients. Slanted wire shelving (or heavier gravity flow racks for more commercial purposes) c...