Spring Clean Your Warehouse (Warehouse Management Tips)

Spring is a time for renewal. You know the drill; as the weather improves, the need to clean and reorganize hits us. One of the most important components of a spring clean isn’t the cleaning itself but rather the organization and rethinking of what you have, where it goes, and how to use it.

This reimagining is just as essential to the operation of your warehouse. Sure, keeping a clean facility is great, but when was the last time you thought about your workflow or even how you utilize your warehouse space? In honor of spring, we thought we’d provide a few warehouse management tips to give you a fresh start and a renewed outlook.

Streamline “Touch Points”

What is a touch point? In warehousing terms, it’s the amount of time that a product is handled. The rule of thumb is that the fewer touch points in your process, the faster and more efficient your handling becomes. Most of all, fewer touch points drastically reduce wear and tear on inventory.

Automate Your Workflow

When it comes to logistics, warehousing, and inventory, manual input is prone to errors that will reduce productivity and could even cost you money. It’s best to avoid manual input as much as possible and to invest in strategies for automating input through digital inventory management solutions.

Standardize Picking

Picking or taking inventory off the shelves (usually once an order is placed) is perhaps one of the most important processes in a warehouse. How you pick has a lot to do with your efficiency and lead time as a warehouse, which ripples out to impact the customer experience directly.

Standardizing picking removes human error. Whatever your strategy (we suggest a warehouse management system that picks in batches), ensure it becomes the standard. Once everyone is on the same page, productivity will pick up.

Follow the 80/20 Rule (ABC Analysis)

Speaking of picking—you shouldn’t be organizing inventory arbitrarily. Instead, we suggest you conduct what the industry calls an “ABC analysis.” That is to say, analyze what inventory moves the most and keep those products towards the front.

Have you heard of the Pareto Principle? Otherwise known as the “80/20 rule.” The rule states that, in most situations, we put most of our focus on just 20% of what is in front of us. That holds true with inventory; find the 20% that is most accessed and bring it to the forefront.

Concentrate on Warehouse Safety

This might sound obvious; sure, you should run a safe warehouse. However, we’re proponents of going above and beyond when it comes to warehouse safety. A safe and secure warehouse is a productive one. You might think that increased safety measures would bog everything down, yet the opposite is true; productivity will skyrocket when everyone works intentionally and practices the same safety procedures. Furthermore, happy, healthy, and safe employees will work harder.

Take Baby Steps

Is there such a thing as a perfect warehouse? We haven’t seen it. However, we’ve grown to appreciate the pursuit of perfection and the endless benefits that brings us. As you reimagine your warehouse and its operations, commit to becoming a little better than you were last year. This iterative approach eventually, becomes exponential. Soon enough, you’ll look back at 2022 and be amazed by the improvement.

Are you interested in working with us? Reach out today to discuss your requirements.