Like many other operations in the industrial sector, warehouses are under pressure to perform.
To achieve optimum productivity and profitability, these built-for-purpose storage facilities require effective management. In this article, we’ll highlight the best warehouse management practices that can help companies maintain continuous positive outcomes – designed to decrease issues like damage and errors, and streamline workflow for greater output and efficiency.
Read on to get up to speed on the essential foundation of every successful warehouse.
Choose an order picking system
How an order is picked onsite can have a powerful impact on the effectiveness of a warehouse.
You can support staff and help them complete customer orders quickly by choosing the right type of picking system for your application. In simple terms, an order picking system is a strategy deployed to determine the items sourced first from the warehouse and reduce step counts while gathering sold inventory in the most efficient method possible.
There are a diverse range of order picking options open to warehouse managers, but perhaps the three most popular are wave picking, batch picking and zone picking.
Wave picking involves warehouse teams fulfilling multiple orders at once. Packing lists are effectively grouped together by shipping dates, inventory zone or SKU, and employees source products in “waves” during their shift.
In batch picking, the warehouse management system prints out a packing list for every order, and groups together customer orders that have similar or SKUs stored closely. The order picker then collects inventory from multiple packing notes simultaneously.
Larger warehouses use zone picking, a strategy that divides a facility into zones, with each storing a specific suite of items. An order picker stationed in each zone collects products from inside it and the parcel then passes on to the next zone for another pick, like a factory assembly line.
Optimise warehouse layout
As a rule, approximately 22 to 27 per cent of warehouse square footage is reserved for storing inventory. The remaining space is then allocated to packing areas, machinery storage and surplus goods. However, the layout of a warehouse has a serious impact on the speed that customer orders are completed.
Best practices for optimising warehouse space begins by storing your bestselling product in proximity to order picking areas. Keeping adequate space in between aisles so that forklifts and order pickers with trolleys can access them is also key.
It’s a wise move to establish a receiving area by the loading bay, so pallets of incoming inventory can be transported inside easily without disrupting workers.
Choose the right racking
Selecting appropriate storage racking for an application is also important. Strong durable racking made form steel can be constructed to stand at considerable height, allowing warehouses to maximise the available storage space without the risk of accidents and damage.
Ensuring racking is the right dimensions to hold the size of items you stock also makes certain no space is wasted. Irregular shaped items are notoriously tricky to store, but custom shelving is available designed to fit any products you require.
Measure warehouse performance
A warehouse is like a machine with multiple components in motion. Regularly test whether your facility is working at optimal capacity by paying attention to specific warehouse performance measurements.
This includes your order fulfilment rate – which is the percentage of orders undelivered labelled as shipped – and orders that are shipped on time, which is the percentage of orders you have shipped by the cut-off date to meet the promised delivery time.
Another key metric is to order accuracy, by examining what percentage of parcels are packed with the right items that match the packing list. Check how many orders you fulfil per hour, while considering order accuracy. Increasing your output is only valuable if the accuracy of orders does not drop.
Finally, check how many hours pass without any reportable accidents. Remember that a successful warehouse is a facility with minimal safety issues. The longer you operate without an incident occurring, the better.
Automate when possible
Automations and automated workflow can cancel out the possibility of human error. They also free up staff, allowing them to focus on tasks where they have a higher impact.
A wide range of technology is already seeing active use in warehouse facilities in the UK and beyond, from warehouse management systems and robotics to stock checking drones. Deployed effectively, they can reduce the number of repetitive tasks employees must perform during a shift, and provide up-to-date stock information at a moment’s notice.
It’s understood that every warehouse operation is unique, so select the practices that best match your site and processes to improve how you work.
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