It’s no secret that managing your warehouse inventory can be tough. This task involves managing both inventory and the personnel who maintain the inventory. In order to optimize your inventory, you need to improve the efficiency of the warehouse. These tasks go hand in hand. The warehouse needs to operate in a way that allows workers to complete their tasks as quickly and easily as possible. Here are four tips for optimizing your warehouse inventory:
Real-Time Inventory
Real-time tracking gives your company to the most up to date info as items are moving in and out. In other words, your data is current with the actual items you have in your location. Without real-time, your employees will be scanning items out of stock, but will not upload the data into the system until later. This means the system will not be accurate until they get a chance to batch upload the data. As a result, it may not be in sync with your actual inventory.
When it comes to real-time tracking, there are three main boxes to check off. A cloud-based system, mobile devices to input data, and an internet connection. This way, as items are scanned your system automatically updates, more accurately reflecting which items you have in stock. Mobile devices are great for scanning on the go. This gives your company better visibility into your inventory levels, which will help you forecast demand and other reporting metrics. Real-time means you can be sure of your data at all times.
Tracking Items On Demand
Your company can determine which items are in high demand through data analysis. These metrics can help you determine the layout of your warehouse. You can save employees a great deal of time by having common items at the front of your warehouse, while less frequent items are at the back. This will make the products in high demand easily accessible to your employees, and optimizes their time. With this, they will be able to do more throughout the day. As a result, you can also reduce your labor costs.
Layout and Organization
Making sure high demand items are easy to access is just the start. You can also organize your warehouse by which items are sold together. In order to maximize your employee’s efficiency, you need to strategically organize your layout. What will save employees the most time? Grouping items that are often in the same order is one way to save time. This will make it much easier to pack orders.
How’s the layout of your warehouse? Do you know if employees are frequently picking two items on opposite sides? Organizing your warehouse includes removing barriers that are restricting employees from taking the quickest possible route. Determining the obstacles in your warehouse can help your employees do their jobs quicker and more efficiently. Talk to your employees, see how you can make their jobs easier.
Finding a Competitive Edge
Your company should always have new innovations and processes on its radar. This way, you’re always on the cutting edge of new technology, and can stay competitive. For example, a process such as cross docking which stores inbound items directly onto outbound trucks. This takes out the need and holding cost to store them in your inventory. Saving time and space, this could be a good place to cut costs.
In conclusion, optimizing your inventory can be tough. But, it’s not impossible. Be sure to keep efficiency in mind and find what works for you. Keeping real-time, tracking, layout, and competitors in mind… what can you do to improve your warehouse?
