Think about what happens if a warehouse lacks organization. Employees are running around frantically searching for items, and nothing happens on time. Managing a warehouse isn’t just about storing as much as possible. It is also essential to establish a sense of structure and order, consequently resulting in a more efficiently run warehouse.

 

 

To help you organize your warehouse, we will describe the benefits of an organized warehouse and some organization ideas to increase efficiency.

 

Benefits of Warehouse Organization

 

The primary reason to invest in organizing your warehouse is to save valuable time and effort. Organizing items to be in their proper location allows employees to locate items faster and more efficiently.

 

The efficient planning and organization of warehouse processes have been shown to result in a direct increase in productivity. A logical and consistent approach towards the processes make it easier and quicker for your employees to fulfill orders.

 

An unorganized warehouse is considered a breeding ground for theft, as it’s easier to mask these activities. According to a warehouse theft statistic by Loss Preventive Magazine, at least $15 to $30 billion is lost to theft every year. In this case, better organization and implementation of security checks can help reduce these numbers considerably.

 

 

One wrong move in a warehouse can potentially lead to a loss of both invaluable lives and valuable property. Neglecting warehouse safety and health management can increase the risk manifold. Ensuring that the warehouse is well-organized, with everything in its assigned place, can help prevent common workplace injuries.

 

Organized and well-managed stock with proper labeling helps staff identify and find items conveniently. This assists the employees in achieving a higher level of accuracy in their orders.

 

Organizing your warehouse can improve customer service. By having standardized inventory management processes, you can achieve higher levels of productivity and reduce errors, which helps ensure prompt order fulfillment.

 

• Workplace Organization is a State of Mind

Organization isn’t just about the physical aspect of the warehouse. It is a mindset that involves continuous work and thought. Creating a culture that promotes keeping the work space clean and organized is just as important as organizing the items regularly. This state of mind helps employees exert order in their own work life and get things done in a pragmatic and efficient manner.

Warehouse Organization Ideas to Increase Efficiency

 

1. Organize Inventory Using ABC Analysis

Storing fast-moving products near the shipping area can make your putaway and picking process more efficient. Using the ABC Analysis to organize your warehouse inventory requires you to sort them into three categories:

A-Items: Most profitable or best-selling items, which account for 80% of the total movement, or 20% of the entire stock.

B-Items: Mid-range items that sell frequently and usually account for 15% of the total movement or 30% of the entire stock.

C-Items: Slow-moving items for the remaining 5% of the total movement, or 50% of the entire stock.

 

2. Stock at the Right Height

Items that are popular should be placed at a waist-to-shoulder height to make the picking process more efficient. This also ensures that pickers don’t require additional equipment, such as forklift trucks, step ladders, etc.

 

3. Execute Labeling Effectively

Labeling everything can help maintain the warehouse workflow in a much more efficient manner. It helps reduce location confusion and risk of errors when employees don’t have to rely on memory when searching for items. Every SKU should be marked clearly and consistently during the receiving process to allow for easy identification.

 

4. Color Code Areas

A warehouse can benefit from color coding areas on the basis of product type, which helps pickers locate the general vicinity of the products more quickly. For example, blue racks for most profitable items, yellow racks for mid-range items, and orange racks for slow-moving items.

 

5. Optimize the Warehouse Processes Efficiently

Optimizing the various steps in your warehouse processes can directly impact productivity. Obtaining real-time information, automating processes, and ensuring quality control are some of the ways to streamline the processes.

To learn how to optimize the different warehouse processes more, click here.

 

6. Reassess Your Floor Plan

Reassessing your floor plan in a logical way, such as rearranging tools and equipment within reach of staff, can lead to an increase in productivity. According to the Motion Study by F.W. Taylor, it is essential to eliminate unnecessary and unproductive movements in the work space.

 

7. Go Paperless

Maintaining documents as electronic files can make organizing documents easy and quick. While the process of going paperless may seem exhausting when starting out, it makes backing up information more convenient and less expensive.

 

 

 

8. Utilize the Vertical Area

When looking for warehouse racking systems to organize your cargo, make sure to consider not only horizontal spaces but also vertical spaces. Investing in the right warehouse racking system can help organize inventory so as to utilize unused spaces.

 

9. Managing Wires

Using cable protectors, cord clips, covers, and ramps to manage wires can help keep your warehouse clean and organized. Also, using cable identification tags and ties can help identify which cord can be unplugged.

 

10. Clean Your Warehouse Regularly

Cleaning the warehouse routinely gives a strong sense of organization, which further leads to higher job satisfaction among employees. To learn more about this topic, click here.

Furthermore, here is a cleaning checklist to help you ensure that no area is missed while cleaning. Click the banner to download the checklist.

 

 

Summary

Organizing a warehouse allows you to establish a sense of structure and order, resulting in a more efficiently run warehouse. We hope that the benefits and techniques in this blog have been able to persuade you to organize your warehouse better and strive for a more efficient work space.

 

If you are ready to find the solution to organize your warehouse or increase efficiency, go to our Solutions Finder tool.

 

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