Warehouse Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Setting up warehouse operations and logistics isn’t rocket science, yet some flaws in design are frightfully common. Business owners and managers can cut costs and improve customer experience by avoiding the following all-too-common mistakes in warehouse setup.
Not Matching Location to Function
Failure to align the location with the task-at-hand leads to improper work flows and unnecessary stop-ups. For example, using the same dock to serve both shipping and receiving can lead to the following inefficiencies and mistakes:
· Outgoing orders can be confused with incoming orders and accidentally be re-shelved.
· Shipping and receiving trucks can bottleneck at your dock.
· People can become bottlenecked at computer terminals.
Warehouse Security Systems are Sub-Par
If you are serious about protecting your warehouse and the assets inside of it, you need one of the most up-to-date warehouse security systems available. Elite Interactive Solutions’ Remote Video Guarding Systems offer round-the-clock ‘digital guards’ which keep your property safe. In case of a threat, Elite’s highly trained on-the-ground professional security team will spring into action, working in tandem with the technology as well as local law enforcement.
Making the Receiving Area too Small
Receiving is a “fundamentally critical function” in a warehouse, and mistakes made there can spread throughout the entire operation. Receiving areas often face a ‘space crunch,’ which lead to inaccuracies that eat away at profits. To avoid all these troubles, make sure your receiving area has adequate space for the following:
· Holding inventory
· Performing quality control
· Labeling
· Breaking down larger pallets
· Staging items that might need to be returned or inspected
· And other receiving activities
Picking Paths are not Optimized
When picking paths are not optimized it leads to ridiculously long travel times, which means more time moving around the warehouse and less time preparing orders. Besides contributing to unnecessarily slow turnaround times, this also adds up to higher labor costs. To avoid these pitfalls, optimize picking paths in the following ways:
· Items which are often purchased together should be stored near each other.
· Order lists should be organized so that items are collected according to storage area.
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· Picking order should be linear, with warehouse employees completing their run near the final shipping area.
There are no Forward Locations
Forward locations are another way to optimize picking. They are an improvement on asking employees to travel to the far reaches of the warehouse to collect items for order fulfillment. The warehouse is set up so that a smaller supply of items is available towards the front of the warehouse which is regularly replenished when supplies run low. When an order for one of these items comes in, an employee can collect it from the forward location quickly and with minimal travel time.
There is no Plan for the Future
Good business planning should anticipate the next five-10 years of shifts in:
· Market demand, including seasonal changes
· Inventory
· Process changes
It should also outline contingencies for dealing with anticipated changes. Some examples are:
· Adding pallet racks
· Managing overstock space
· Shipping to a remote/long-term storage location
There is no Special Area for Dead Stock
Many organizations do not have a “dead stock management plan,” but they should. Items which would be considered ‘dead stock’ are:
· Returns
· Recalls
· Items that are no longer carried
The problem: dead stock is nestled among regular inventory, and it takes up valuable shelf space. At worst, it can be mistaken for live stock and reshipped.
The solution: set dead stock aside in its own devoted area, so it is noticeable at first glance.
Signage is not Recognizable
All inventory areas need to be clearly labeled. This includes:
· Barcodes for to mark items on shelves
· Large signs for different sections of the warehouse
· Color-coded areas for different sub-sections
Warehouse Security Systems
Leading logistics companies rely on Elite to protect their properties. Elite serves them with warehouse monitoring cameras and distribution center surveillance and monitoring. This eliminates vandalism, trespassing, theft, and makes their buildings safer overall.
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