Managing a warehouse isn’t always easy. You have so many things stored in there that it becomes easy for the warehouse to become unorganized and cluttered. If this happens, you’ll likely find that your efficiency decreases and more mistakes start to occur. To prevent this from happening, you should look to keep your warehouse in order whenever you can. Here are 6 tips you can use to do just that.
#1 – Map it Out
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is come up with a floor plan for your warehouse. This will allow you to see your warehouse in a new way and you can make changes on paper before you make them for real. According to Universal Steel, a provider of metal barns, “make sure you find the best possible way to store your items, have employees move through safely and reduce the travel time for picking and packing. Time spent here will mean time saved and money earned.” Draw out the current state of your warehouse and label where everything is. You can then turn to this map if you have trouble finding something or if you need to make some changes.
#2 – Label Everything
It’s important to add labels to your warehouse floorplan, but you also need them around the warehouse. Adding in labels and signs will let everyone know where everything is supposed to go and where they can find things. Label each shelf and container within your warehouse according to what’s on it. Then add some signs around the warehouse pointing people in the direction they need to go. A few simple labels can make a big difference when it comes to organizing your business and its warehouse.
#3 – Make Use of Vertical Space
Renting a warehouse isn’t cheap and you only have a limited amount of space to work with. Rather than renting out more warehouse space you should look to maximize the space you already have. A good way to do this is by making using of vertical space. This means storing things on top of one another with shelves, rather than storing everything horizontally. Store things all the way up to your ceiling, then either get a ladder or hydraulic lift to help you move things around. There’s plenty of space in your warehouse, you just have to know where to find it.
#4 –Keep Your Warehouse Clean
A big part of warehouse organization is keeping it clean. If you don’t throw things out in a timely manner, they will only take up more space within the warehouse. To fix this, you should put a cleaning plan into place for your team. There should be a regular routine that you follow in which the warehouse gets cleaned out. For example, you could have the staff go through the warehouse at the end of each Friday and remove any garbage materials from the previous week. This will help to free up storage space and get you ready for the following work week.
#5 –Gather Feedback
Sometimes the best way to figure out how to organize your warehouse is by asking for feedback from the people who spend the most time there. Ask your warehouse workers if they have any ideas for how you can increase organization and efficiency. They may be able to offer you some ideas that you didn’t think of because you don’t spend every day there. Feedback can also let you know if the changes you made are working or if you need to try out something new. Keep an open line of communication with your warehouse workers and work together to find the best solutions.
#6 – Get a Warehouse Management System
Finally, a warehouse management system can really make your life a lot easier. This software is designed to help warehouse operators organize and make things more efficiency throughout the warehouse. Of course, this software won’t help much if your underlying systems aren’t strong to begin with, but once you’ve implemented some of the tips above, a good warehouse management system can help to make things even better. This guide has some great suggestions for warehouse management system applications.
Start Organizing Your Warehouse
Organizing your warehouse takes some time, but it is worth the investment. The more organized you can make this space, the more efficiently your business can run. So, stop wasting time and resources within your business and start organizing your warehouse today. Once it’s done, you’ll be glad you took the time to get a better system in place. Good luck!