Warehouse Improvement Ideas: 7 Top Tips for Operations

Warehouse managers across all industries know they need to improve their productivity and efficiency. It's hard to focus on warehouse optimization when labor challenges and fulfilling orders are taking priority. Now is the time to review how your warehouse works and plan ahead instead of just reacting to daily changes. Take a look at these warehouse improvement ideas that you can implement to improve warehouse efficiency and overall warehouse performance.

Create an Ergonomic Warehouse:

Provide sufficient lighting in your warehouse to reduce the amount of time spent searching for items and eyestrain on your associates. If team members will be standing in one spot for most of the day, invest in anti-fatigue mats to reduce the risk of strain on feet, legs, and backaches. Place signs around your warehouse reminding workers to stretch at various intervals. You should also incorporate regular breaks into work schedules to keep people sharp and improve labor productivity.

Plan for the Full Year:

As companies rush to automate, they often focus just on what’s going on at that point in time instead of thinking long-term. When companies use warehouse automation during peak periods, they may have equipment that is too large for the rest of the year. This can result in wasted money on conveyors or other structures.

This can lead to wasted money on conveyors or other structures. These fixed structures can lead to poor space utilization if they do not align with the warehouse's actual needs throughout the year.

If you bring on automation during a non-peak time, you’ll find yourself struggling to keep up with orders at peak. The best warehouse automation solution is one that will adjust and scale for peak season, ensuring optimal space utilization and stock levels year-round.

Establish a Clear Process Flow:

Help your warehouse associates understand how the entire warehouse works, advises JP Lichtenberg, Warehouse Design Engineer. Organization charts are helpful for managers and associates to see the workflow as a whole for warehouse optimization.

As you look at the flow, you might notice that one department is receiving less than it should. For example, if your packing associates receive from picking and don’t take action right away, any productivity gains from an improved picking time there are lost in the overall warehouse productivity.  Reviewing how each employee works within the process can help identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement. Additionally, ensure that each area is organized so that employees can easily access necessary materials and information, streamlining the process and reducing delays.

Cross-Train Associates:

Warehouse associates are typically trained only for the specific tasks for their job. Steve Branch, a Senior Director of Sales Engineering, recommends not doing that because your warehouse will have call-outs.

You don't have to have every warehouse worker do every task. It's important to train them on tasks outside their area. This way, they can help out when needed.

Think of the Four Walls:

Warehouse managers are working to solve order fulfillment problems by finding efficient ways to ship ecommerce orders on schedule. They mainly concentrate on the putaway and picking process. However, they often only focus on the putaway and picking process.

Mike Johnson, Locus’s President, advises warehouse managers to “Think about how you can improve productivity throughout your entire warehouse, not just in one area. If you pick faster, you also want to pack faster to get the orders onto the trucks and out the door. Otherwise, the operational efficiency is lost.”

Minimize Work in Process:

Most warehouses work in the model of picking multiple orders at the same time, putting them into one main batch, and then sorting at the packing and sortation section into various outbound cartons. There are a number of ways to implement warehouse optimization. One suggestion is to pick directly into the box that is shipped out, which eliminates the need for separate packing and reduces the number of touches. The other is to do batch picking for a single-unit pool.

Automate with Robotics:

AMRs such as those from Locus Robotics will help improve warehouse operations in all areas, from putaway to packing; each (or piece) picking to pallet transportation and case picking with pallet moving and heavy payload robots.

The Locus solution can greatly increase worker productivity. This leads to higher pick rates, lower labor costs, and faster cycle times. Your warehouse employees can quickly switch between picking and restocking tasks. This can help increase efficiency and reduce labor costs.

Ready to learn how our Locus solution increases efficiency, helps employee productivity (and overall productivity)? Locus' automated system integrates with warehouse management software and can help you optimize your warehouse automation, improve efficiency and ultimately improve customer service?

Let’s talk!