Warehouse owners have a wealth of challenges to deal with, but there are several ways in which life could be made far easier and that often involves making sure that your warehouse storage is up to scratch. In addition to ensuring you have the right solutions available, it’s paramount that you’re subsequently organising the storage and stock you have to make unloading and picking a quicker, more efficient process. So what do you need to bear in mind for the organisation of your own warehouse? Let’s take a look:
1. Choose the right storage solutions for your warehouse
First and foremost, you need to make sure that you have the right storage solutions implemented. Think about the industry you work in and the nature of the stock you’re dealing with in order to make an informed decision about the storage you need. Most warehouses will be content with traditional storage solutions, such as
warehouse racking and
mezzanine flooring, both of which are available from us here at Multy Lift.
You need to ensure that everything is organised on the racking, especially, safely and with productivity and efficiency in mind. Place heavy items on the bottom of the shelving and lighter objects at the top. You should also consider the popularity of your items, so place that stock on a shelf that’s easy and straightforward to access. When organising your racking, keep your employees in mind, both in the sense of making their job easier and keeping them safe.
2. Label racks, shelving & containers accordingly
This is something that you need to do in order to make your warehouse as efficient and as organised as possible. Label everything that is necessary to make stock easier to find and even more easy to put on the shelf in the first place. Again, do this with your employees in mind. Keep the labels both short and concise, leaving little-to-no confusion about what’s placed where. This is especially important if you’re working with food and other items that have short shelf lives. This is all part of the customisation of your warehouse. Other customisation options include the following:
- Long-range retro reflective labels
- Cold storage labels
- Hanging warehouse signs
- Multi-level rack labels
- Outdoor dock
- Door signs
3. Devise a more efficient floor plan
If you’re looking to completely overhaul our warehouse storage systems or are wanting to start again with regards to organisation, then devising a new floor plan would be a good start. If you’re finding that your current warehouse layout is making things more complicated or if it’s suddenly made your warehouse operations more inefficient, then rearranging your warehouse layout is something that you should take the time to do.
Think about your popular items and make sure they’re put somewhere in the warehouse that is quick and easy to access. You should also think carefully about your warehouse equipment and whether or not they can still be used, especially if you’re looking to make aisles more narrow to maximise storage space overall.
4. Implement partition walls where possible
Your storage solutions can be easily optimised and maximised through the use of partition walls. This is because it’s a sure way of creating different sections of your warehouse that is both quick, easy and cost-effective. You can cordon off parts of your warehouse either for organisational purposes or for safety purposes.
You’ll be able to easily block off dangerous areas from your staff and/or visitors with partition walls, among other things. Use partition walls, also, to make storage more straightforward, sectioning off different inventory types from others, for example. No matter how you choose to use your partition walls, they’re a great way of organising your warehouse storage.
5. Perform regular checks & audits of your storage
In order to make sure that your warehouse storage stays organised, you need to keep on top of it. You, or someone you employ, should go around and check that everything is still being put back in its place and that items aren’t being thrown somewhere just because it’s easier and quicker to unload or pick.
6. Make sure your employees know about your organisation rules
You can’t expect everything to stay organised if you’re the only one who knows about the new organisational rules. Ensure staff and employees are trained on your new initiative and check that they know where everything goes. Part of that also involves making sure everything is clean and tidy. Not only does this make organisation easier, but it also looks a lot nicer, it’s more straightforward for people to find things and, most of all, it keeps everyone safe.
Multy Lift have over three decades of material handling industry experience behind us. We understand exactly which pieces of warehouse equipment a warehouse needs, together with any storage solutions and cleaning machinery, no matter the industry you work in or the budget you’re working with. If you would like further information about how we can help you today, get in touch with a member of our friendly, professional team – we’re always pleased to hear from you, and can serve clients throughout the UK.