Keeping the warehouse clean is key to running an effective and high-productivity warehouse. The reason? It will have the capability to move more products in less time with much fewer safety issues or accidents. Also, it will inspire higher morale and a better working environment for the employees.
Meanwhile, a dirty and disorganized warehouse will be more prone to causing accidents and being less efficient. On the other hand, your employees will adopt an attitude of lower morale. Caring less about your working area will affect the picking accuracy, efficiency, and overall performance.
If you own a warehouse and want to extend the life of your warehouse, then stay on this blog. You will learn about things that you can consider for the longevity of storage systems and keeping the work environment better in your warehouse.
Maximizing Your Space By Using Racks And Shelving:
Whether you have a warehouse, workshop, distribution centre, or office, all spaces can benefit from well-thought-out racking and shelving. This will increase the ease of accessibility, safety, and inventory control. The added benefit you will get from these steps will save you from relocating to a bigger warehouse. Just use the space in a more efficient and optimal way.
Speaking of racks, you can get the best shelving and racking solutions in Australia from OZI Racking.
Using Floor Labelling For Keeping All Available Space Organized:
Floor labels and marking systems can do wonders for you. These are the most cost-effective ways to organize your warehouse, whether it’s all about marking the traffic flow or the forklift routes.
You can designate fixed parking areas for your forklift once they are not in use or pallet positions on the warehouse floor to avoid dumping stock in different places.
Using Barriers For Safety And Organizing:
Barriers can be used for several different reasons. One is protecting staff from heavy-duty vehicles as they will be moving around the workplace, and the other is preventing stock from cosmetic damages or cordoning off certain parts of the building when not in use.
A portable expanding scissor barrier is ideal as you can use it for easy transportation from place to place.
Using Ergonomic Equipment:
Ergonomic equipment will be the best investment you will ever make for your company. It will help your company meet its objectives by keeping employees happy and healthy. The success of a business relies on the well-being of its employees.
Using ergonomic equipment in your warehouse will reduce liability issues and the employees’ exhaustion and overall stress levels. If your employees are overworking, then this will lead to less productivity. As we know, higher productivity means higher sales, higher quality of work, and fewer mistakes that cost you money.
Putting Plenty Of Waste Bins And Unloading Them Regularly:
Warehousing includes cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, papers, and so on, which must be properly disposed of to prevent packing materials from gathering and leaving a big mess behind after a few days or few hours.
The best warehouses have plenty of garbage bins and recycling bins that you can find throughout the warehouse. This will encourage the employees to dispose of paper waste properly.
Clearing out the waste regularly will lead to a clean warehouse. Make sure that you are emptying garbage bins before they are full.
Creating A Cleaning Plan And Schedule
A cleaning plan will address higher traffic areas like docking areas, where packing materials tend to gather. Once you have identified the most cluttered zones, you can assign priority daily, weekly, or monthly cleaning tasks. If you can pull off this cleaning plan, you will see a better working environment in your warehouse.
Assigning Zones And Employee Responsibility:
Make every employee responsible for their assigned zones. Most of the employees will specialize in their specific pick zone. You have to make it a rule that the zone needs to be cleaned regularly before the employee leaves the workplace.
This can be garbage picking, sweeping, dusting, or washing floors or equipment. Tell your employees to clean up on the slow shipping days. Inspect the areas, use a rating sheet, and assign certain times during the week or month so the employees can fully and thoroughly clean their assigned areas.
Recycling:
Keep these 3 x R in your mind: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. It is simple to implement and will ensure better organization of your business. It is the simplicity of running a ‘green’ warehouse where most items are readily recyclable.
Reduce: Cleaning out all unnecessary clutter and waste.
Reuse: More than 50% of pallets are thrown away after just one use. Reuse the products for a sustainable environment.
Recycle: Many items like paper, pieces of wood, parts of metal, and glass are recyclable.
Review And Evaluating Your Design:
No matter how organized you may be, if your company’s sales are increasing each year, you will eventually need a new warehouse design layout or a whole new warehouse, which you can relocate.
As your space requirements will naturally need to be revised over time, it is highly recommended that you evaluate every 3 - 5 years, depending on the rate at which your company increases sales!