A warehouse that isn’t accessible is an inefficient warehouse. And inefficiency leads to lost money.
According to research by Intermec, unproductive workflows in small- to medium-sized warehouses lead companies to lose an incredible 3,000 work hours per year.
In any business, time is money. If your transport vehicles aren’t accessing your facility with ease, then you’re losing both every day. Here are some foolproof ways to improve your warehouse design so that it is more easily accessible.
Expand Your Receiving Area
According to Adaptalift Hyster, supersizing your receiving area is one of the most efficient ways to improve your warehouse layout. The receiving area is arguably the single most important section of your warehouse.
Moreover, increasing the size of your receiving area will make it easier for your staff to sort out deliveries. Additionally, that will lessen the burden on your transportation fleet to get your stock to where it needs to be.
Use Omni-Channel Distribution Centers
It may be tempting to use separate warehouses for each of your channels (product ranges, brands, and so on.). However, there are far more benefits to using omni-channel distribution.
For one thing, it will help you to reduce your overall inventory. Further, it will allow you to better see your stock availability. That in turn will simplify your order picking. It also makes the process easier for delivery companies and other transportation vehicles.
Your employees will spend less time and money traveling from one warehouse to the other. Even if warehouses are close in proximity, the time and money you’ll save can be significant.
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Consider Improving Your Transport Vehicle Design
Sometimes there’s only so much you can do with the warehouse itself to improve efficiency. When this is the case, look to the transportation vehicles themselves.
A simple change like choosing roll-up doors for trucks can allow for quicker access to your precious cargo when it arrives at your warehouse. In transit, moreover, your goods will be secure as they travel from point A to point B.
As an added bonus, these types of doors also keep your staff safer. That’s because they eliminate the risk of accidents caused by swing-out doors.
Know Your High Volume Items
Take a look at your sales data and identify what’s moving out of your warehouse at a faster speed. By identifying these high volume items, you can make sure they’re strategically placed in your warehouse. In this way, your staff can get them onto your transportation vehicles more quickly.
Be sure to only do this with items that have been long-term high sellers. Otherwise, you’ll have to shift stock again before long.
Improve Warehouse Efficiency in Other Areas
Improve the efficiency of your warehouse in general and you’ll naturally improve the efficiency of your transportation as well.
The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply suggests a maximizing your space. To do this, adopt lean inventory practices. Additionally, adopt technologies such as bar codes or radio frequency identification. Further, organize work stations and optimize labor efficiency for a more productive warehouse.
Improving warehouse inefficiencies is the best way to improve your distribution efficiency. This will in turn improve your bottom line.
Try some of these easy changes and watch the extra minutes turn into extra dollars saved.
