Source: freepik.com

The operations that take place in the storage spaces represent the engine of operation of any company that sells a large volume of products. As long as these operations are organized efficiently, the organizations keep costs low and customers are satisfied. However, only 26% of company managers see warehouses and distribution centers as an asset that can stimulate the growth of their business.

As the eCommerce industry becomes more and more competitive, retailers everywhere are forced to look for new ways to keep up with big players like Amazon, especially when it comes to well-developed fulfillment (an effective way to reduce operational costs) and fast shipping.

Recommendations to make your warehouse more efficient

To help you improve the processes that take place in your company’s warehouse, we’ve compiled a list of 5 of the fastest ways you can streamline them. In this manner, the chosen storage solutions will enhance your products, generating a natural workflow that will be easy to follow on its way to customers.

1. Carefully design the warehouse space

The careful arrangement of the warehouse is the first thing you need to consider. While automated systems offer significant advantages, it is first necessary to optimize physical space to increase operational efficiency. In addition to minimizing movement time between stations picking up and sorting products, maintaining an adequate distance allows robots, machines, and workers to move products quickly and smoothly throughout the warehouse.

No matter what kind of industrial shelves you use, whether they are metal shelves, storage shelves, refrigerated shelves, modular shelves, or cantilevers for oversized and heavy products, they must be connected to the systems and processes carried out periodically in the warehouse.

Of course, the design and installation of shelves, as well as the automation of activities that can exempt human staff will be done depending on the fulfillment strategy for eCommerce, the picking system, but also the type, size, and frequency of orders.

The total space available must also be taken into account so that it can be used optimally. Finally, it is recommended that you periodically review the structure of the warehouse to ensure that it meets your current operational needs and standards.

2. Maintain inventory management

The correct inventory made and updated regarding the availability of the registered stock must be performed on all the systems you have. The complete balance sheet consists of an optimal mix between your eCommerce channels, inventory management software, warehouse management system, and accounting.

Along with a clear record of goods entering or leaving the warehouse, it also helps a lot to place items in easily accessible storage locations, depending on how often they are requested by customers, by placing them next to other items that are sold together. This reduces travel time during pick-up operations.

3. Implement a simple product return process

Given that at least 30% of products purchased online are returned, return management has become an essential part of warehousing operations. The best way to efficiently manage returns is by implementing a return process as efficient as order fulfillment.

You will need software solutions that integrate the return processing part into your entire warehouse, which will thus become automated. At the same time, thanks to this system, you will be able to follow details related to the reason why a product was returned, who returned it, the refund due as well as other associated costs. This information is useful both in inventory management and understanding customer preferences, and in subsequent process planning and in making certain strategic business decisions.

Source: freepik.com

4. Use the right equipment and technology

It is important to automate your warehouse with customized software according to your needs. Before investing in the installation, operation and maintenance of such solutions, you should consult a specialist in the field who can review the existing infrastructure of the warehouse. This recommendation comes to avoid the costs of installation, operation and maintenance of automation equipment that may not be ideal for the operations in your warehouse.

Choose a flexible, scalable and accessible solution that does not require changes to the existing warehouse infrastructure. A good example of this is collaborative mobile bots, the implementation of which visibly increases the productivity and accuracy of operations.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated online sales and forced eCommerce retailers to streamline the way they store and manage their goods, so using technology in automated warehouses has proven vital.

5. Automate data collection

Automatic data collection and transfer are features of a modern repository, aspects that help optimize processes. In addition, in this way certain operations can be accelerated, data can be analyzed and precise information on the supply chain can be obtained. For example, optimizing shipping operations according to customer preferences requires the collection of several types of data, obtained from several sources: customers, orders placed, drivers, trucks and routes chosen.

By obtaining this valuable information in real-time, studies have shown that organizations make a higher percentage of on-time shipments to customers, with an on-time delivery rate of up to 97%.

If you own a business and need solutions to increase storage capacity and reduce delivery time, on ProfiCircle you will find top suppliers specialized in retail furniture, storage shelves and other systems and services to help you efficiently manage warehouse operations.