If you manufacture or distribute products, you probably have a warehouse where you store them before shipping or moving them to your retail shop. However, if you don’t organise your warehouse well, it can be hard for employees to find certain products. Moreover, most workplace injuries are linked to poorly organised warehouses.
Therefore, it is vital to learn a few tips on organisation to use. Here is how to organise your warehouse.
Use the Right Shelves
You should not put your items on the floor as this can lead to accidents and inconveniences. Thus, you should invest in shelving that can work for your type of product.
First, figure out the right dimensions of your products and choose shelves that can hold them. With so many types of shelving systems, you should work with professionals to choose a reliable one. Long-span shelving is strong, durable, safe, adjustable, and easy to maintain, and it can easily be integrated with various types of equipment. Therefore, you should consider investing in heavy-duty long-span shelving to enhance warehouse management.
Also, come up with an effective arrangement formula and observe proper spacing of the shelves to avoid cluttering one side. For example, you should have a system that ensures products with an early delivery date are easily accessible.
If your business usually delivers multiple items at once, for example, if you typically supply appliances to retail shops, keep things that are for a particular shop in one area. This will make work more manageable for your employees when loading them on the truck.
Besides, it would help if you had employees ready to pick items from the suppliers to the shelves immediately. Placing items on the door usually leads to a disorganised warehouse. Moreover, your warehouse should have a different door to remove the items from the warehouse during shipping out. It is also advisable to hire a warehouse manager in your warehouse to oversee these processes.
Use Colour Coding
You can benefit from colour coding as it will help your employees locate items quickly. For instance, if you have different types of products, you can use red on one kind, yellow on another, etc. Also, you can colour-code your products based on size, weight, or model. This will reduce the chances of sending the wrong products to your clients.
Only Keep What You Need
Most warehouses are cluttered because they have so many products than needed. It is important to have products that meet your demand. For instance, if you have a retail shop and usually sell about 200 doorknobs a month, you have about 100 in the shop and around 150 in the warehouse. You can order another inventory once they are gone.
This will help you organise your warehouse without difficulties. Ask your suppliers to deliver smaller loads frequently rather than a huge supply once in a while. A lean inventory makes work easier for many business owners.
Having an organised warehouse will significantly benefit your business. Pay attention to these ideas to keep your warehouse safe and well-organised.