Is your warehouse organized? When it comes to inventory management, many businesses – big and small – are lacking in this department. There are many reasons for this and each company has its own, but one thing that business owners need to know is that an organized warehouse is a vital component of daily operations. If you are sick and tired of products and inventory getting broken and if you are tired of orders always being late, you need to get organized. Not only that, but an improperly stored warehouse can present injuries and a number of other issues that can wind up costing your business more money and time.
Here are five tips for organizing and storing inventory in a warehouse.
- Make sure that you have a set of protocols in place. Depending on what industry your business is in, your warehouse should have a blueprint that covers basic standard procedures when it comes to palleting inventory, marking inventory and making sure that inventory is updated. Not having a protocol in place can wind up creating a foundation of disorganization inside your warehouse. So, it may be wise to collaborate and work closely with warehouse managers to devise this protocol system.
- Make sure that your warehouse is laid out accordingly. It is critical that you have a place for fast moving products, or products that are quite literally flying off the shelves, and products that aren’t, like older models or sale items. It is also critical to arrange these items according to the layout of the warehouse floor. For instance, you want fast moving inventory in the front, because it can make it easier for your warehouse employees to box it and ship it out. If you keep all these items in the back, it will be chaos and orders will always be late.
- Make sure that you use the right pallets, shelving and other essential warehouse equipment. For instance, if you are selling tires or any other product that you would like to keep safe on the shelves, you may want to think of heading toMaterial Handling Exchange and stocking up on new pallets. Not only can you get palleting equipment, but you can also get a consultation to find out what the best palleting system is for your warehouse.
- Make sure to place heavy items on the bottom and light items on top. To avoid injury and frustration and to increase efficiency, you want your warehouse workers to be able to easily slide heavy stock from the pallets. If these heavy items were on top, it could cause a serious injury. So, for the sake of making it easier for your warehouse workers, place lighter items high and heavy items low.
- Make sure to schedule weekly inspections. To prevent old habits from coming back and to make sure your warehouse is properly organized, you want to schedule regular inspections. If you don’t take this simple step, your warehouse will slip right back into the old way of doing things, which is certainly something you don’t want, especially after spending so much time and money on revamping your warehouse.
