How to Improve Your Warehouse Operations

Warehouse operations can be difficult enough to streamline at the best of times, let alone during periods of high-demand, such as Christmas or Black Friday. With so many things to think about when it comes to the smooth-running of a warehouse, it can be easy to let the following things fall by the wayside, but it’s actually quite simple and inexpensive to implement. Here’s how to improve your warehouse operations today:

Maximise your warehouse layout

The layout of your warehouse is imperative to how well it operates and performs. It provides a solid foundation upon which productivity can be encouraged and even rewarded. Making sure your warehouse is laid out in a way that’s easy and safe to navigate can also ensure your workforce is happy and can fulfil their roles efficiently and effectively. It might also help to eliminate some of the issues you could be having in and around your warehouse, including:

• Bottlenecks in shipping and receiving goods – you’ll know exactly where all of your items are within your warehouse and so will your employees
• Lost or missing inventory – you’ll be able to keep tabs on the status of your inventory, including where it is in the overall process (has it been picked, packed and shipped or has it, seemingly, disappeared without a trace?)
• Unsafe storage practices – it will enable you to store your inventory in a safe manner, protecting your employees and your stock in the process
• Picking times that take too long or are inefficient – if you find that you’re struggling with the time it takes to pick stock, then make sure you implement other solutions, such as order pickers instead of reach trucks, for example

Improve your warehouse storage solutions

There are many ways in which you’ll be able to optimise your warehouse storage solutions, and here at Multy Lift, we have a wide range of options available. From warehouse racking and mezzanine flooring to forklifts that are compact enough to navigate the narrowest of aisles, we’ll be able to help you in your mission to optimise your warehouse storage.

Warehouse racking comes in a variety of heights and widths, so they can even stretch from the floor right up to the ceiling. With the right preparation, you’ll be able to implement additional warehouse racking to put your ever-growing inventory on. However, this might well make your aisles more narrow, but there are solutions available that’ll mitigate this issue.

VNA forklifts and multi-directional forklifts are two popular pieces of warehouse equipment that are used by warehouse owners who have particularly small or compact premises. This means that your employees will be able to access the items needed, quickly and efficiently, without compromising on performance or robustness. There are also a wide range of different fuel types available, including LPG, diesel and electric models.

The aforementioned pieces of equipment can even be stored on mezzanine floors, to help you save storage space elsewhere. You’ll also be able to store things underneath a mezzanine floor, if you’re struggling for space elsewhere or if you have inventory that doesn’t need to be readily available on a regular basis.

Make sure you use all the latest tech available

Implementing warehouse management systems to help manage your operations is a highly-popular solution for warehouse owners across the country, especially in this day and age where a lot of shopping and orders are made online.

In a digital age, you need to adapt and that includes the implementation of digital warehouse management systems and solutions. A cloud-based warehouse management system is relatively new to the market and is commonly-used today, and for good reason. Some of the things a cloud-based WMS can do include the following:

• It provides warehouse analytics in real time
• It can track inventory to an exceptional degree
• It can streamline communications, even from a secure central hub
• It can schedule and automate accounting processes
• It can provide information regarding the whereabouts of an item in the warehouse, regardless of how big or small your premises might be

Streamline picking & packing processes

This part of the material handling process is paramount for retaining customers. It’s imperative that, when ordering goods, whether it be business-to-consumer or business-to-business, the time it takes from the order to go through to the items arriving at its destination is as minimal as possible.

Make sure that everything is in its place and can be retrieved with absolute ease and in a timely manner. This includes putting popular items at a height that’s quick to access, as opposed to asking a member of your staff to take out a machine every time a popular item is requested. You should also look to use warehouse management systems in conjunction with other methods to streamline picking and packing processes, as already touched upon.

Multy Lift have over three decades of knowledge and experience in the material handling industry. With extensive expertise to draw upon, you’ll always be able to count on our professional, specialist team to help you find the right solution for you, whether it be a piece of warehouse equipment, either new or used, or warehouse storage that’ll optimise your premises. For more information about our services or to enquire about our high-performing machinery, get in touch with us today – we’re always pleased to operate throughout the UK.