4 Suggestions for Organizing Your Warehouse
At the heart of an efficient warehouse is organization. An organized warehouse is one in which everything is in its place. It is one where things can be found easily and without too much searching. Best of all, an organized warehouse is a safer warehouse. People and equipment can move around with minimal risk of collisions.
Is your company’s warehouse clean and organized? If not, are you looking for helpful suggestions to get organized? Being recyclers of industrial scrap plastic, we know a thing or two about keeping an organized warehouse. We would like to offer you some suggestions. If they help, then we are happy to have contributed to improving your organization. If not, there are lots of other ideas out there.
1. Implement a Sensible Layout
It has been our experience that the warehouse layout can either contribute to, or detract from, efficiency and safety. Everything stored in your warehouse enters from one end or the other. Inventory is either delivered from the outside or transferred to the warehouse from interior spaces. Either way, consider the location of each type of item relative to its incoming or outgoing status.
Incoming items could be moved as close to the interior space as possible, limiting the amount of ground employees have to cover when replenishing their inventories. Likewise, outgoing items can be moved as close to the exit as possible.
Volume and product dimension also play a role here. Where you are talking bulky items for example, you must have enough space to slide pieces in and out with relative ease. This may require some creative storage solutions if you’re working with a smaller or oddly shaped warehouse.
2. Take Advantage of Height
Some warehouse managers spread inventory across the floor because it will only be housed temporarily. This is a mistake, especially if you are short on floor space. It is better to take advantage of the height your warehouse offers. Invest in racking that allows you to stack product. Now you’re not unnecessarily consuming precious file space.
Investing in mobile racks gives you the advantage of being able to move them around as necessary. This allows for multiple configurations based on whatever you happen to have in the warehouse at any given time.
3. Don’t Collect Waste
Speaking of moving racks around, we are reminded of how many warehouse managers eat up valuable space by collecting waste. You cannot imagine how much warehouse space we have freed up by purchasing scrap plastic pallets, totes, buckets, and even plastic purge.
Your warehouse should be utilized mainly for inventory storage. It shouldn’t be used to house your garbage. Don’t designate even a corner for waste collection. Keep waste in the warehouse to a minimum. Get rid of it as quickly as possible – whether that means recycling it or sending it to the dumpster.
4. Implement Technology Solutions
Operators of larger warehouses should seriously consider taking advantage of technology solutions to better manage shipping, receiving, and picking. Nearly every delivery that comes through your door has a label. A technology solution capable of scanning labels and organizing accordingly makes it a lot easier for employees to find what they need quickly. That means less digging around and pulling out pallets and racks unnecessarily.
Warehouse organization can be a major task. But getting it right, and then keeping the space organized, pays off in spades. If we can help by buying your clean industrial scrap plastic, do not hesitate to contact us. We buy plastic in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and four other states. We will come directly to you, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.