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With the rise of the cost of living in full swing, it’s never been more difficult for business owners to grow and develop their company without spending copious amounts of cash. Warehouse owners, especially, will be looking out for new equipment or to hire new staff members.
Training courses are also needed if they have workers who are unable to operate certain pieces of machinery, but the aforementioned comes at a huge cost. So how can a business be successfully grown without breaking the bank?
Consider your site location
Make sure your site is located in an area that’s easy to get to and simple to find. This helps in terms of cutting shipping and delivery times, which is a major selling point for customers, especially in an age where online shopping has taken off. However, you might be stuck with the location you’re in. If that’s the case, make sure you increase signage to your warehouse to ensure you can be discovered in good time.
Make sure your team is trained & experienced
Having a well-trained team from the offset can be cost-saving for many warehouse owners. If you’re feeling the pinch financially, then look to hire staff who are experienced rather than relying on the fact that you’ll have to train them up on the job.
Workers who already have the training, knowledge and experience working in the warehousing and distribution industry will save you money on training courses as well as save time when it comes to the smooth running of warehouse operations.
However, if you have the time and money to focus on training those who are new to the job, then you should look to hire a mixture of trained and not-so-trained members of staff. This could help, financially, because you wouldn’t have to pay an apprentice the same amount as a senior forklift operator, for example.
Be smart with packing materials
Reusing certain packing materials can be a great way to save money. Save the paper and plastic that come on pallets you unload and use them to pack up pallets that are due to be shipped out. You could even use old packing paper to pack out boxes that are delivered to customers to help protect the item inside, something Amazon have started using instead of bubble wrap.
You’ll also find that some packing materials are cheaper than others, so make sure you choose the most cost-effective option that’ll suit you, your operations and the products you’re selling. It might even be that you’ll be able to recycle old packing materials and be paid in the process.
Many companies offer initiatives to warehousing and distributing companies whereby they’re paid for recyclable materials that come in at a certain weight. Look into this and get some money back on the materials you’re buying.
Conduct regular maintenance checks
This might seem a little counter-intuitive,but making sure that your machinery is up to scratch and working correctly can save money in the long run. If you catch and rectify issues early, you won’t have to face complete breakdowns of equipment when you need it most. Buying replacement warehouse equipment can be a huge financial outlay, but it’s very much avoidable with the right maintenance checks.
Optimise warehouse storage solutions
Optimising warehouse storage solutions might seem like a large financial outlay at first, but optimising doesn’t have to mean forking out for new storage solutions. Instead, reorganise your stock, putting popular items in easy-to-reach places and less popular items higher up on the shelves, reducing the need to use heavy machinery, which also means burning fuel or reducing charge (if it’s an electric vehicle).
You might also be able to push warehouse racking closer together to allow for heavy machinery to pass where it couldn’t before, making for more efficient and productive operations and processes.
The more efficient you are, the more likely it is that your customers can enjoy quick service and delivery times which could then cause them to become repeat customers or recommend you to friends and family. This therefore means an increase in profit margins as your financial outlay hasn’t increased, but your customer base has.
Multy Lift are proud to supply new and used warehouse equipment to customers throughout the UK, including forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers, pallet trucks and more. If you would like further information about how we can help to provide you with the most ideal material handling solutions, including warehouse storage systems, such as warehouse racking and mezzanine floors, then get in touch with a member of our team today – we’re always happy to hear from you.
