Improving Your Warehouse Efficiency and Productivity
The center of any wholesale distribution system is the warehouse. It is a place where the merchandise initially arrives and is stored, packaged and finally transported to numerous stores or outlets for sale. The inventory is constantly in motion and tracking it properly is necessary for keeping your business running efficiently. Mistakes and errors in your warehouse’s operational management can lead to a financial nightmare and dissatisfied customers.
In order to improve warehouse efficiency, it is essential to utilize operational techniques that can optimize your inventory and shipping operations while maintaining a high rate of productivity.
As your business grows, it is easy to fall into a routine that, over time, starts to become ineffective and outdated. Make a conscious effort to regularly review the practices that your operation uses and tweak standards and processes to better suit an evolving business. Your main focus should be a high rate of productivity with little or no delays that cause the warehouse to run backed up. Make certain to eliminate any potential problems that may cause longer processing time. This will ensure you are reducing operating costs, improving service quality and saving space within the warehouse.
It is imperative that employees be trained to maintain a certain level of productivity that is consistent in delivering positive results and improves the overall quality of service. Well-trained employees follow proper procedures and adhere to the guidelines that will generate a higher rate of output. Management can supervise a well-trained employee easier when the associate has an understanding of what amount of productivity is expected.
The standards you employ in your warehouse can evolve over time to meet the various functions of the operators and employees who perform these jobs on a day-by-day basis. By allowing your standards to be flexible, you are running your business based on the changing work functions rather than what looks good on paper. It encourages feedback amongst your employees that can be used to determine future operational procedures.
It is essential to look over productivity reports to judge the effectiveness of your warehouse system. A productivity tracking report shows you data that can be used to assess performance, implement motivational programs and chart efficiency. Productivity software can provide this data for the many different aspects of a warehouse, from the department level down to the individual associate. The reports generated by the software can give you an overall assessment of the strength of your warehouse operation.
To be certain that your warehouse system is running at maximum efficiency, it is necessary to constantly be monitoring it’s standards, productivity and employee training levels. The efforts you make with process optimization will pay off in the form of a significant cost reduction and more organized, streamlined operations.
