When you own a warehouse, you want to do everything that you can to ensure that your warehouse functions properly. Part of that will be working on the efficiency of the workplace and ensuring that you are paying attention to the right areas. From the warehouse costs to the facility operations, it’s important that you are working on bettering these areas of concern.
From choosing to buy quality forklift attachments to ensure your machinery is up to date, to adopting LEAN processes for your warehouse, you can work on improving productivity in your workplace. Taking the time to get to know how to do it all is key, and you need to make it simple for your employees to motivate themselves, too. Below, we’ve put together ways that you can improve your warehouse efficiency.
Reduce time-wasting. It’s so common in every office environment: time is easily wasted because of people moving around. If you rearrange your warehouse in a way that makes sense for processing and production, you can reduce the time wasted moving between stations. You can even ensure that you have placed items and shelving in a way that access is easy for staff. You can ask your staff, too, what would make their life easier! You can incentivize your workers, too, to beat their times. No penalties if they can’t, but rewards if they can!
Motivate. Be the type of manager to motivate others and give people more space to be their best selves on the job. Offer rewards and bonuses, help and advice and even training! If you know that your staff are happy in their work, they’ll work better and you benefit as a result.
Use technology and track your inventory. Tracking products by hand can take a lot of time and effort. You want to be the type of modern warehouse that ensures that people are moving efficiently, which means adding the right technology to make life easy for your employees.
Use warehouse management systems. If there is a way to improve efficiency, it’s with the right warehouse management systems. Your systems can create the best means of picking inventory and the system can even add lists that direct workers to the fastest routes for product selection, making life simple all around.
Improve your energy efficiency. Warehouses eat a lot of power and yours could be very different! Save money and efficiency by having the best machinery that works in a way that’s more up to date than ever before. You can even cut your costs by ensuring that you have a lot of natural lighting in your facility.
Downsize. Lastly, if you can, downsize. You don’t need a bunch of overspill workers who aren’t doing anything but are still on the job. Pay those who are working and cut the fat in those who aren’t doing much at all. You’ll be shocked at how quickly you’ll find people working well in the worry they won’t be needed. You’ll save money this way, too!
