ways to improve warehouse efficiency
Think about your warehouse for a second - how does it run? is it smooth? is it efficient？ Can there be improvements? There are many ways a warehouse can increase efficiency: the ratio of work done to hte amount of time and energy invested. or in warehouse standards, how fast and effortless can inventory be moved off the shelf and into a customer's hands?
n some cases, productivity can be the difference between a profit and a loss. Companies will often believe that if their product rolls out on time warehouse efficiency of operations needs no more investment – but product can be moved faster, and customers can be happier. In the long run, this will help you gain more business. If there is money to be made, productivity CAN be increased.
In this article, we will be covering the following ideas to improve your warehouse efficiency:
Take advantage of cubic space
Set up performance metrics
Build a warehouse inside your warehouse
Streamline receiving
Adopt enabling technology
Evaluate storage solutions
Maintain equipment
Use louvered hanging systems
Optimize containerization
Measure and analyze performance
Cross-train employees
Never stop improving
Take advantage of cubic space
A big mistake in warehouse optimization is not sufficiently using all available cubic space. Studies have shown the cost of space and utilities ranges from 25 to 30 percent of the cost per order. Inefficient use of cubic space leads to an increased cost for additional space you don’t need. Use pallet racking, mezzanines, and multi-level order picking concepts to increase your efficiency. Be sure you know how to properly organize your warehouse as well.
Set up performance metrics
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used in general business to evaluate success. Warehousing KPIs usually focus on external performance factors that impact customers directly, such as one-on-one shipments. This is a good measure, but we can make it more specific. For example, the receiving department has critical measures like cost per line item received, truck time at the dock, volume per man hour, and accurate receipts.
The simple act of measuring and reporting results to your employees will yield improvement: most employees just want to know their performance. Setting a bar then telling them how to reach it will improve productivity.
Build a warehouse inside your warehouse
Every warehouse wants to cut down order fulfillment time. One way to do this is to build a warehouse…inside your warehouse.
What this entails is grouping together your most popular inventory to make it easily accessible. You can increase efficiency by grouping together 20 percent of your SKUs that make up 80 percent of your orders, reducing travel time for your pickers.
Streamline receiving
The receiving area in a warehouse is often frantic. Employees from varying departments as well as delivery people may pass through this section of the warehouse. Create a system to organize the flow of traffic and devote plenty of room for receiving. Cluttered and disorganized conditions can lead to errors.
n some cases, productivity can be the difference between a profit and a loss. Companies will often believe that if their product rolls out on time warehouse efficiency of operations needs no more investment – but product can be moved faster, and customers can be happier. In the long run, this will help you gain more business. If there is money to be made, productivity CAN be increased.
In this article, we will be covering the following ideas to improve your warehouse efficiency:
Take advantage of cubic space
Set up performance metrics
Build a warehouse inside your warehouse
Streamline receiving
Adopt enabling technology
Evaluate storage solutions
Maintain equipment
Use louvered hanging systems
Optimize containerization
Measure and analyze performance
Cross-train employees
Never stop improving
Take advantage of cubic space
A big mistake in warehouse optimization is not sufficiently using all available cubic space. Studies have shown the cost of space and utilities ranges from 25 to 30 percent of the cost per order. Inefficient use of cubic space leads to an increased cost for additional space you don’t need. Use pallet racking, mezzanines, and multi-level order picking concepts to increase your efficiency. Be sure you know how to properly organize your warehouse as well.
Set up performance metrics
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used in general business to evaluate success. Warehousing KPIs usually focus on external performance factors that impact customers directly, such as one-on-one shipments. This is a good measure, but we can make it more specific. For example, the receiving department has critical measures like cost per line item received, truck time at the dock, volume per man hour, and accurate receipts.
The simple act of measuring and reporting results to your employees will yield improvement: most employees just want to know their performance. Setting a bar then telling them how to reach it will improve productivity.
Build a warehouse inside your warehouse
Every warehouse wants to cut down order fulfillment time. One way to do this is to build a warehouse…inside your warehouse.
What this entails is grouping together your most popular inventory to make it easily accessible. You can increase efficiency by grouping together 20 percent of your SKUs that make up 80 percent of your orders, reducing travel time for your pickers.
Streamline receiving
The receiving area in a warehouse is often frantic. Employees from varying departments as well as delivery people may pass through this section of the warehouse. Create a system to organize the flow of traffic and devote plenty of room for receiving. Cluttered and disorganized conditions can lead to errors.
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