When thinking in terms of optimizing warehouses, there are some little tips that are often ignored and that will usually have long lasting benefits.

Training

It is often underestimated that training employees and having established and agreed upon rules of operations is an inexpensive way of significantly increasing and improving the performance and ensuring that the work is standardized and doesn’t fall through the cracks.

Tools

Make sure that the necessary tools needed for your employees to perform their job are readily available and easy to find. Otherwise, they will be wasting their time trying to find tools or tools will be lost and need to be replaced. Make an inventory of all the tools and their corresponding departments and put them away accordingly

Low-cost equipment

There are many low cost equipment that increases productivity in the warehouse operations. Look through warehouse catalogues and identify some equipment that you think would benefit your operations. Also look around the offices for ways you could improve the operations at a low cost and look at ROi with a warehouse optimisation software package.

Equipment maintenance

Maintaining the equipment and ensuring that everything functions properly is very important for both safety and productivity in the warehouse. Maintaining the equipment will always cost less in the long run because it is ensuring that the equipment does not undergo great damage and hence you would not need to replace them. Furthermore, it is ensuring the safety of employees.

Cooling

Increasing heat in warehouses reduces productivity, which is why it is important to have a cooling process properly set. Although very few warehouses use air conditioning, sometimes you may find that this is an important addition. Otherwise, use ceiling fans and make sure your employees get enough water to avoid dehydration.

Housekeeping

Ensure that the working area is cleaned once a day. Furthermore, make sure that any hazardous material such as glass or sharp objects get picked up immediately and that slippery areas gets labelled as such. This is important to ensure the safety and productivity of employees.

Identification

Label everything properly so that employees know clearly and immediately where the products need to go.

Forms and paperwork

Create forms for all the required documentations and ensure they are properly filled and so that everything is properly tracked.

Managing miscellaneous storage

Do not keep clutter in your warehouse, that will only take up space and reduce efficiency. Go through the items and decide what should be discarded.

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