Your business needs a well-organised warehouse to work smoothly. As your business grows, make sure your warehouse keeps up. If it's messy, your staff might take too long to find things, leading to late orders and lost profits.
Following good warehouse improvement plans is important to avoid these problems and keep your customers happy. There are ways to improve your warehouse and make it work better for your growing business.
Below, you will read about the six ways to improve warehouse efficiency to get everything running smoothly.
Map Your Warehouse Into Zones
To improve your warehouse, consider its layout for better organisation and efficiency. Divide it into zones to save time, grouping similar products together or based on order frequency. Ensure clear pathways and designated areas for restocking and inventory checks.
For picking items, there are various strategies like batch picking for similar items, zone picking for one order at a time, or wave picking for multiple orders within zones. Discrete picking is for smaller warehouses.
You might also create zones for different seasons or products, or separate areas for manual and equipment-assisted picking. Choose the picking strategy that best suits your business needs.
Improve Your Supply Chain Operations
Keeping track of what you have in your warehouse is super important for making sure everything runs smoothly. With all the challenges in getting stuff from suppliers these days, you need to think ahead to keep your shelves stocked.
One way to do this is to predict what your customers will want in the future based on what they've bought in the past. This can help you know when to order more of certain things.
It's also smart to have backup suppliers for important items. That way, if one supplier can't deliver something, you have another option.
Customers want their orders fast, so having a strong supply chain is key. You might focus on promoting products you know you can deliver quickly, while making sure you have backup plans in case something goes wrong.
It's a good idea to have a plan for what to do if things go wrong. Think about how you'll keep shipping orders if your usual way gets messed up or how you'll handle a sudden increase in orders while still sending stuff out fast. Planning ahead for these kinds of situations can save you a lot of trouble later on.
Follow The FIFO Inventory Method
Using the First In First Out (FIFO) method is a smart way to manage your inventory. It helps you in three ways:
- It reduces waste: Items sitting in your warehouse for a long time can go bad or get damaged. By selling the oldest items first, you lower the chance of them going to waste.
- It helps deal with price changes: Selling older stock first lets you adjust your prices to match the current market, which helps deal with inflation.
- It maximises profits: Since the cost of inventory generally goes up over time, selling older stock first means you end up spending less and making more profit.
FIFO is especially useful for businesses that sell seasonal items or products with expiration dates, like clothes or food.
To use FIFO, organise your warehouse by batch numbers. This way, you can ensure items with earlier expiration dates are sold first before moving on to newer batches.
Introduce Digital Pick-lists
Digital pick-lists, also known as pick waves, are great tools for warehouses. They help reduce mistakes and make it easier for staff to know what to pick for each order. Instead of using printed lists, everything is on a digital device.
This also speeds up order fulfilment because the pick-list is automatically organised for the quickest route around the warehouse. Since many customers want quick service and delivery, digital pick-lists can really speed things up.
You can even include pictures of each item with a digital pick-list. This helps staff pick the right item faster and reduces mistakes. It is especially helpful if you have many similar products, like cosmetics.
When choosing a warehouse management system, you can customise how the pick waves are grouped.
For example, you can group items by specific bins or group orders based on their number of items. You can also decide whether all orders should be in one pick wave or whether there should be a limit on how many orders each pick wave has.
Set Up Barcode Scanning
Using barcodes on all your products is a simple way to keep track of what you have and avoid mistakes in your warehouse. Barcodes are usually paired with SKUs, which are codes that identify each product in your inventory.
Barcodes can also help you identify specific places in your warehouse, like shelves or bins. This makes it easier to move things around if you need to.
To start using barcodes, you'll need to organise your products into categories and create detailed labels for each one. For example, if you sell clothes, you'll need labels for different colours and sizes.
You'll also need a way to make and print the barcodes, a scanner to read them, and a system to understand what each barcode means. Some systems can even make barcode labels for you, which saves time.
Once your barcode system is set up, you can monitor your inventory in real time, which helps prevent mistakes and allows you to track everything accurately.
Use A Warehouse Management Planning System
You need a warehouse management solution to bring everything together and make your warehouse work smoothly. These software programmes help you manage every part of your business, from getting supplies to sending out orders.
Customers want their orders fast and easy, so how you pick items is really important. Many warehouses used to use paper lists, which can lead to mistakes. Using the right software can make your operations more efficient and help your business grow.
By using strategies like organising your warehouse well, using digital pick-lists, and scanning barcodes, your staff can find things faster and get orders out quickly and accurately.
You can choose between a warehouse management system that works on its own or one that's integrated with other parts of your business. Integrated systems give you a big picture of how your business is doing, but also let you focus on specific parts when you need to. If you need shelving and racking in Australia, check Ozi Racking for it!
Final Thoughts:
An efficient warehouse improvement plan is vital for business success. To streamline processes, reduce errors, and meet customer demands, use strategies like zoning, improving supply chain operations, the FIFO inventory method, digital pick-lists, barcode scanning, and warehouse management systems.
These tactics enhance productivity, maximise profits, and ensure customer satisfaction. Align solutions with your business needs for long-term success in warehouse management.