How to Use Your Warehouse Space with Top Efficiency
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How to Use Your Warehouse Space with Top Efficiency
14 Feb 2019
Some warehouses can be a bit of a nightmare when space runs out. However, a warehouse need not run out of space if ordered efficiently. Efficient warehouses are warehouses that service more customers and of course, turn healthier profits. Here are some ideas to help maximise the efficiency of your warehouse space.
Reduce inventory
It seems like the most obvious choice, but sometimes the hardest one to make. At your next stocktake (or schedule one for as soon as possible), look at what inventory you have on hand and see if less popular or seldom ordered lines can be sold off or ordered at reduced quantities. It may take a while to see the results but reducing your inventory to the items that are ordered on the regular will help your profit margin buy reducing capital spent on inventory you cannot convert easily into cash.
Use cross docking
Cross docking large releases of back orders or single-line orders to reduce the amount of inventory is also another method to consider.
Re-evaluate existing space
You’ll have to scour your entire warehouse for it, but it’s there – unused space. Shelving, walls, and even the ceiling. If you can condense shelves or pallets together without compromising safety, inches in one area will add up across your entire floor. Look for areas where you can condense space or even add new storage areas.
Use vertical space
If your vertical space is underused, it might be worth investigating if you can add more space vertically. Of course, don’t go overboard and make pallet racks or shelves unwieldy at the top. But if your warehouse can fit one more row above what you’re currently using without making things less safe, you should consider it.
Improve materials handling and efficiency
Installing materials handling improvements such as conveyor systems or mezzanine floors not only improve safety but also increase efficiency. You should also conduct safety checks and maintenance schedules, which can also reveal savings in space. By increasing the flow of products out the door using a barcoding system, you can also find more space opening just because less stock is sitting in inventory.
Pictured: Pallet Cages
Reduce supplies
If your warehouse needs to house supplies such as packing material or boxes, see if you can reassess how much you need at any given time to reduce reliance on it at site. Some storage suppliers can keep inventory at their site and deliver when required.
Automate retrieval
Consider investing in an automated retrieval and storage system or a warehouse execution system. These can store vast quantities of materials and eliminate human errors. It reduces travel times for goods and will mean more shelf space is free more often.
To find out more about warehouse space solutions that are both safe and economical, contact the experts at Backsafe for a comprehensive range of warehouse storage and safety solutions.
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