How Should You Organise Your Warehouse More Efficiently?
There are several reasons why a business needs a warehouse. Some do not have enough space at their shops, while others want to provide space for those companies that do not have a place to store their products. Well, whatever reason you have in mind, know that keeping different items in one place is never an easy thing to do. There are many factors to consider before you can maximise the space the warehouse storage has.
That is why when you have a warehouse of your own, you should get the most out of the space it has. Note that as a business grows, the demand for their goods increases along with their growth. In other words, they will have more products and orders to handle to keep up with the request of their customers.
Just imagine this situation.
For seven days a week, employees have to work harder to meet the demand of their customers. They have to push a 3 tier stainless steel trolley back and forth to the trailers and deliver the orders within the day. If they do not send out all they have on that day, they have more items to dispatch the next day. As such, their logistics and supply chain management becomes slower. By then, customers would protest about how late they receive their orders.
Sometimes, if you do not use your warehouse that well and continue to give poor customers services, that would negatively affect the image of your business. That is why you need to prepare, plan, and manage your warehouse more efficiently. Make sure to use steel rack shelving units and follow the tips below. Doing so would help you get the most out of your warehouse and improve your logistics more.
HAVE A LAYOUT PLAN.
Just like in a war, you cannot win without a strategy. If you let things go that way, many soldiers will die, and their efforts will be in vain.
The same logic applies to managing a warehouse. If you hastily set stainless steel racks for storage everywhere, you might not be able to store everything safely. Your staff might not be able to remember where the needed boxes are, and that could cause a delay in delivering orders to your customers. That is why warehouse layout planning is a key to successfully logistic operations.
Here are the things you need to do to make that happen.
CALCULATE THE WAREHOUSE SIZE.
- Once you get there at your warehouse, measure how many square feet it has. That is the first step you need to do so you can create a warehouse layout plan.
- After you have the total warehouse size, subtract the space you will use for the office, restrooms, and other rooms that are not for storage.
- Next, multiply the remaining space by the warehouse height. It is the distance from the floor to any overhead object.
- The result you will get is the total storage space you can use to store your products and orders from your customers.
For example:
The total warehouse size: 10,000 square feet multiplied by 30 feet warehouse height equals 300,000 cubic feet.
DETERMINE THE STORAGE AREA SIZE.
- Multiply the dimensions of your steel rack shelving unit by the height of the highest part of your warehouse.
- Note that the height of the entire warehouse may be different if the roof is not flat in the first place.
- In the end, the space you will get is for your storage area size. That is how huge space you can use to store things.
For example:
(10 feet high multiplied by 3,000 square feet high) plus (13 feet high multiplied by 1,500 square feet high) equals 49,500 cubic feet.
Just in case you have not bought any stainless steel racks for storage yet, ask the supplier for their dimensions first before buying them. Doing so would help you do the calculations for the storage area size.
EXTEND YOUR STEEL RACK SHELVING VERTICALLY.
Extending the steel rack shelving units up is the best way to create more space, even if the warehouse is small in size. Usually, new warehouses have ESFR. This acronym means Early Suppression, Fast Response. It is a fire suppression sprinkler system that automatically turns on as soon as it detects smoke and potential fire hazard.
Nevertheless, you can use this part as a storage space as long as it is within the 18 inches area. But be careful since some pitfalls might happen if the steel rack shelving is not upright and the base is not well in place.
To prevent any unfortunate events from happening, ask a structural engineer to help you and be sure to coordinate well with the storage solution supplier. Here’s how you can work with them efficiently.
- Let them know about your warehouse layout plan.
- Mentioned how many stainless steel racks for storage, chrome wire trolley, and steel table in Singapore you will use.
- Provide an overview of how many products you will store every month.
By giving these, you would not have a problem extending any steel rack shelving units for your warehouse.
INSTALL A MEZZANINE ABOVE A FLOOR LEVEL.
Another way to get the most out of your warehouse is to build a mezzanine above a floor level. This structure helps expand the usable storage area without establishing another warehouse. Plus, you would not have to set a steel rack shelving as high as the Eiffel tower because this mezzanine will serve as the base of new stainless steel racks for storage.
If you are having trouble imagining how it looks, it is similar to the Blackstone Library of Chicago. Inside, you will find a mezzanine where some books are. They made this structure to store more books and help readers not have a hard time reaching them.
The same logic applies to organising a warehouse. Adding a mezzanine makes the area more spacious than it is. That is why if you are interested in including this structure in your warehouse, here are the things you need to do.
- Know the height of your warehouse from the distance of the floor to the overhead object.
- Next, ask the authorities about the local building code and make sure you follow all of them during construction.
- Most of all, think about how big your mezzanine will be. See what kind of items you can store in this area and if you have to spare the other half for bigger things.
REDUCE AISLE WIDTH BETWEEN STEEL RACK SHELVING UNITS.
If installing a mezzanine above a floor level is not your cup of tea, you can use this tip instead. Here, all you need to do is reduce the aisle width between the steel rack shelving units. By narrowing them, you would have extra space to store other things. Know how it works below.
- Once you have even numbers of stainless steel racks for storage, you can pair them by two.
- Next, separate them by two feet wide. With this, you can store more products and orders from your customers.
The only problem with this method is that the aisle is too narrow that your employees would have a hard time getting the item stored on the steel rack shelving unit.
STORE ITEMS IN TRAILERS FOR SHORT TERMS OR SEASONAL NEEDS.
You can do this trick if your warehouse does not have enough space, but you need to store orders from your customers. Through this method, your trailers or trucks will not be idle since they can become temporary storage for a while.
Sometimes, if you store every product wisely on each truck by destination, you can dispatch them right away. As a result, customers would be able to receive their order without delays.
On the other hand, you cannot set a steel rack shelving unit inside since a trailer does not have space as much as a warehouse. That is why when storing packages inside, do it from the farthest location to the nearest. Using this pattern would help your employee deliver everything in order and without trouble.
FOLLOW PARETO PRINCIPLE TO HAVE MORE SPACE.
As a business owner, you probably have heard about the Pareto Principle. It is a concept that many companies follow, including those that own a warehouse.
In other words, 80% of activity in a warehouse comes from 20% of the stored item. These things are fast-movers since they always run out and get replaced with new ones quickly. If you are interested in this method, take a look at the list below. It will explain how it works.
- Through the stock keeping unit, you would know the average inventory levels of your warehouse.
- If you have no idea what a stock keeping unit is, it is a measurement to know how many items are, such as cases, boxes, etc.
- Besides that, you have to consider other variables of your warehouse. For example, you place items on a stainless steel table in Singapore before transferring them to another location.
ADD LABELS AND SIGNAGES.
This tip will not only make the storage process a lot easier, but your employees will be able to find the right item without a problem. As a result, you could organise all of the products and orders by category.
Once you establish that, even new employees would not have a hard time looking for the said item. They can find it right away and makes your logistic and supply management a lot faster.
Just make sure when adding labels and signages, make the letters big, print them, and place them where anyone can see them. Ideally, you should install tags on every aisle of steel rack shelving.
BARCODE EVERYTHING.
Another way to make the storage process more efficient is to have barcodes of every product you store inside. This method will be helpful to your employees since they do not have to check every aisle to know where the stored items are. All they need to do is type the barcode in your warehouse storage system, and it will give out the exact aisle, steel rack shelving, and layer where it is.
Besides that, barcoding can also keep track of the quantities. As such, you do not have to count all of them, one by one. And that saves you time when checking your inventory.
GIVE OUT MAPS TO EMPLOYEES.
If your warehouse is too big for your employees, providing them with some maps will help. With these pieces of paper, they will know where it is, especially for seasonal items. Also, as long as your employees have a map, they would not get lost, and they can find their way out of every aisle of steel rack shelving.
Just make sure the map you are giving out has legends. These are titles or names that will help the staff know where they are and how they can go to this or that location.
Nevertheless, a warehouse map can help people find their ways and complete their tasks faster, even for new employees.
BE SMART IN OPTIMISING YOUR WAREHOUSE SPACE!
Being able to store items in a warehouse efficiently is what every successful business dreams of all the time. But with the misuse of chrome plated shelving units, storing many different things would be impossible. The warehouse might not have enough space to keep everything safe and sound. Some boxes might get misplaced, while others get damaged because of improper storage.
That is why as a business owner who owns a warehouse, you should be smart in optimising your warehouse space. If you need a hand, follow the tips mentioned above and know where to install the stainless steel racks for storage!
Just in case you have no idea where you should get steel rack shelving units and a stainless steel trolley in Singapore, go to Shelvings. They offer various storage solutions to help you manage and get the most out of your warehouse.
If you are interested in buying a chrome plated shelving at this shop, get a free quote from them here.
