The Three Most Common Warehouse Efficiency Issues.

We all have the best intentions with the space we have to work in but often when businesses expand and busy periods hit, that space becomes cluttered and the workforce around you find it increasingly difficult to find the right stock / parts or inventory when required.
When speaking to our customers we have found there the a few common inefficiencies within a warehouse environment.

Wrong Pallet Racking

Have you actually checked out how well your pallet racking is performing for you recently? It could be that you are taking the efficiency of your racking for granted. We often find that customers don’t have the right pallet racking installed as their warehouse storage solution. Sometimes, we have found that pallet racking has already been installed when in actual fact, a better alternative could have been used to improve efficiency and yield greater product volume such as utilising the height or aisle space better
It is also very important to make sure that you carry out regular pallet racking inspections – this will keep your warehouse and employees safe and improve your warehouse efficiency.

Outdated Warehouse Shelving

Time flies and very often it can be years and years since your warehouse shelving has been replaced. Shelving can very often be inefficient as there can be issues with wasted shelf space and poor utilisation of correct product storage, this together with ergonomic and safety concerns should be considered . Take some time to think about your space requirements and speak to an expert who can address your issues and work with you to create the perfect warehouse storage solutions.

Floor Storage

In theory, any storage solution is better than floor storage – you can and will come up against some issues when using up essential floor space for example; limiting space for employees to move around, stacking boxes which could fall and injury an employee…If possible, you need to stay away from using floor space as a storage area. This could become a health and safety nightmare for you.

Solutions

There are a few options to fix the above issues, but all will depend on your budget and timeframes, however getting the right solution for your business will ultimately improve your warehouse functionality and efficiency.  A solution that may work for your operation is an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) such as vertical lift modules, horizontal carousels and vertical carousels. These systems are ideal for smaller items or high value items, as tracking and security aspects are enhanced and they have been designed to deliver inventory or parts to an employees ‘golden zone’ – the area of the body between the knees and shoulders.

Finally, another solution which may work for your operational inefficiencies is a mezzanine floor, if you have enough headspace within your warehouse, mezzanines can be customised to your needs and will double or even treble your square footage. Worth a very serious consideration.