6 Tips for Better Warehouse Management – Blog

By: Larry Rausch – Vice President of Sales and Marketing

This post is intended to provide useful tips on better warehouse management. We hear this frequently, as managing a warehouse is not easy, and it takes a substantial amount of work and effort. However, it can be made much easier when you take the time to explore these six tips for better warehouse management.

Our Top 6 Tips for Better Warehouse Management

1. Integrate a Warehouse Management System with Mobile Features

Managing a warehouse takes a tremendous amount of work. However, you can make your management more effective when you utilize a warehouse management system. These systems can help you understand your inventory better, make it easier for your employees to find items in the warehouse, and can even help to speed up the shipping process. Many of the best options on the market today will have mobile features, so your employees can simply use scanners when checking inventory or picking items for orders.

Be sure to put these tips for effective warehouse management into action in your warehouse sooner rather than later. You will want to be sure that you start with a WMS that can help to facilitate better control of your warehouse from the start. Learn all of the features and how to use them properly, and you will find that proper management of the warehouse is easier than you might have thought.

2. Warehouse layout is the Key

Plan the layout of your warehouse space. If you utilize dollies, forklifts, or other machines to help reach and retrieve items, there must be enough room for them to operate efficiently and safely in the warehouse. There should be a space for everything that is needed, and anything that is not needed in the warehouse should be removed.

You will also want to plan so that it will be easy to take inventory if needed. While you will have a warehouse management system that can help you keep track of your inventory, you may also need to do manual counts on occasion. It should be easy for your employees to do so.

3. Keeping Organized Keeps Your Sanity

You must keep your warehouse properly organized once you have the layout established. It can be easy for employees to put items in the wrong location which will drive you crazy. Putting items in the incorrect places will cause a lot of trouble when it comes to finding those items later. The warehouse must always be organized properly, and supervisors should check on this regularly.

4. Use Bin Locations and Labeling

To make it easier to find what is needed, the use of bin locations for certain items will be crucial. Barcode labeling is essential, too. These techniques will help to ensure that you know exactly where all of the items are supposed to be, making it faster and easier for your employees to pick the times and fulfill customer orders.

5. Focus on Safety

The safety of your employees should always be of the utmost importance. They need to understand all of the safety protocols that you have in place, and they need to follow the rules. They also need to know how to safely utilize all of the equipment that they will be using for picking items, such as forklifts, dollies, ladders, etc.

6. Training. Training. Training

In addition to training the staff on safety protocols and how to use equipment safely, they also need to be trained on how to pick properly. They need to know how to use their scanners, how to complete orders, and how to work as efficiently as possible. Human error is one of the most common problems in warehouse inventory management, and the only way to reduce these errors is with proper training.

Conclusion

Applying best practices to managing your warehouse space is key in leveraging efficiencies and lowering your overall costs. From better space planning to using bin locations and labeling, maximizing your warehouse space will save you time, money and reduce your headaches.

We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to understanding how best to manage your overall warehouse space. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.