5 Simple Ways to Boost Warehouse Productivity
In any given year, modern eCommerce warehouse and fulfillment operations workers face a number of significant problems. However, when the epidemic prompted a rapid shift to online shopping last year, many businesses were dealing with larger stocks and more receipts, picks, shipping, and returns than they had ever dealt with before.
Meet the Growing Demands of eCommerce
Your back end operations, like most, undoubtedly got the job done, but at a higher expense, because "keeping up" with demand took precedence over fixing process inefficiencies.
But, as it turns out, the internet retail trend isn't going away anytime soon. eCommerce sales in the United States increased by 39% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year, and growth expectations are roughly two years ahead of forecasts.
Because demand is still high, any inefficiencies in your processes will be magnified (and thus more expensive), limiting your capacity to scale your operations to meet continuous eCommerce growth.
The good news is that when it comes to warehouse process optimization, minor changes can have a large influence on your bottom-line costs, profit margins, and even productivity – all without a lot of time, money, or costly tools.
5 Simple Ways to Boost Warehouse Productivity
Are you ready to reduce waste in your eCommerce operations? These five actions will help you achieve immediate results.
1. First and foremost, keep it clean
Never underestimate the significance of the word "clean." Scrap boxes and strewn paper constitute barriers and potential safety concerns that obstruct machine and human access, restrict production, and add extra steps as workers navigate to avoid blockages. Implement a "clean routine" job list for your warehouse to improve traffic flow and preserve your products – and your employees.
2. Cross-Docking Hack
There is a lot of demand in eCommerce to delivery products quickly. You can save time by avoiding the Put away Process if you have back orders or single-item orders for particular products. Instead, put up a mechanism to re-label them for shipping as soon as they arrive at the Receiving dock, and route them directly back out the shipping dock door.
3. Attach a Label
Labels have been used to transport inventory from point A to point B for decades. Despite their importance, labels are one of the most undervalued – and possibly inefficient – components of warehouse operations.
Take the time to audit and map your labeling process, paying special attention to wasted motion such as the number of mouse clicks required to adjust formats or the number of trips a worker must make to and from the printer.
Reduce the number of unnecessary stages and strive for an optimal labeling procedure of Scan, Print, and Apply. Check out our labeling blog for more information.
4. Location
Some of your inventory products may be more popular than others. Making SKUs with larger order volumes or seasonal surges more accessible also improves the efficiency of procedures. Prioritize certain items by placing them closer to packaging, for example – and don't forget to raise the bin capacity to avoid running out of stock.
5. Extra Steps
It may seem counter intuitive, but minimizing the number of physical steps an employee takes to fill an order can result in significant cost and time savings. Converting a stationary workplace to a mobile one is the simplest and most cost-effective approach to boost your present workers' and infrastructure's efficiency.
Powered industrial carts, such as those from Newcastle Systems, can hold and power printers, PCs, and other devices, freeing workers from the constraints of a stationary workstation and putting everything they need to get the job done right at their fingertips. Learn how firms are putting mobility into action by watching our video case studies.
Make every employee become a Super Employee
In contrast to the pandemic, eCommerce shows no signs of slowing down. Warehouse process optimization does not have to be time-consuming or costly. This increases warehouse efficiency and allows you to successfully scale your operations in tandem with eCommerce growth.
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