Your warehouse and the staff which work in it are one of your most important assets. Do you know how much an inefficient warehouse could cost your business? Is your warehouse costing you time and money?

Today I am going to take a look at various ways to make sure you are getting the best from your warehouse space, along with how you should go about starting to make the improvements you need.

What are the needs of your warehouse operatives?

The best way to gain insights into how your warehouse space is working is to speak to your warehouse operatives, after all, they are responsible for the daily running of your warehouse. It may be that they highlight different issues that you are unaware of. Such as, some storage areas are hard to get to or that some products would be better placed elsewhere for easier access.

Looking at your space

Have you really looked at the floor space you have available and if your current layout works for your business needs?

As your business expands quite often new products or stock are bought in and stacked without much consideration of layout, giving the impression that your current space is not adequate for your requirements and that you might need more space. The answer could in fact be that you need a smarter floor plan and even consider a pallet racking solution or a mezzanine floor if you have available space above.

Dividing your warehouse space

Dividing up your warehouse space is another consideration and can be done quickly and effectively without building works disrupting your organisation. Steel partitioning is a very effective solution and does not come at a great cost. Creating ‘zoned’ space can keep your warehouse operating efficiently.

Planning your storage

Storing your products effectively can take quite a bit of rearranging, different shapes, sizes and weights do not make storage easy and can often lead to wasted floor area. There are a number of racking systems available meaning you have the choice of getting the right racking that works for your needs. For further information on our racking systems click here.

Use colour

Have you thought about colour coding to help your warehouse operatives? Make life easier by colour coding or numbering bays for staff to access goods and products – if they know the aisle/bay number or colour they are less likely to waste time trying to find the right product.

Your money makers

You know what products make you money, so make sure you have these stored close to your packing and shipping areas to cut down on pick times. Consider the height at which these products are stored too, we all know time is money so keep these goods where they are easily accessible.

Seasonal products?

If you have a large turnover of seasonal products make sure you keep these in a separate space to your everyday products in storage. Ultimately it makes life easier for all and you can easily discard of any leftover stock.

Finally

Invest in your employees, provide training and ensure your warehouse is kept neat and tidy. Make sure all your processes and procedures are clearly explained and have visuals on hand if these are required.

Get in Touch with Advanced Handling & Storage

If you are interested in a pallet racking solution to help maximise your warehouse space or a mezzanine floor – whether it be new or secondhand, please don’t hesitate to give our friendly and knowledgeable team at Advanced Handling & Storage a call on 0800 345 7088 or please send an email to [email protected]

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