2. Use Technology

Technological advancements can help virtually any company. When it comes to warehouses, technology can help you with your storing and picking processes. It’s much easier to get on with your day when you’ve got an automatic robot hand doing tedious work you would have been stuck on for the whole shift.

Technology can also help you track your inventory and stay on top of your orders. There are many apps and software designed specifically for this purpose – don’t be afraid to use them. Your mobile phone or work computer should have a digital inventory which you can easily manage and update according to what’s going on in the warehouse.

Even tracker IDs for products are widely available now, which means that you will be able to easily locate any product in the warehouse regardless of where it’s located. You won’t have to spend ages looking for a specific thing ever again.

3. Prioritize Inventory Management

Prioritizing can save you a lot of time and make it much easier for you to get things done around the warehouse. When it comes to prioritizing, it’s not about what client is more important, it’s about the size of the order. It used to be that warehouses fulfilled mainly bulk orders, but that’s not the only case today.

There are so many individual orders today, that a warehouse can practically be flooded by them. Even though these orders bring you more business and make you grow, they also take a while to process, and you need better organization and more people.

That’s why you should process these orders differently. Do all the bulk orders first as they’ll take less time, seeing that they’re all for the same client. Then you can have enough time to finish individual orders correctly. Also, store bulk orders and individual orders separately so as to have an easier time getting to the things you need and prioritizing.

4. Get the Right Equipment

Without state of the art equipment, you won’t get very far. When it comes to warehouses, especially big ones, good equipment can and will shorten order processing time and make the lives of the workers much easier. There are different parts of the inventory management process, and you can bet that there is equipment that corresponds to each part perfectly.

For a smooth operation, you’ll need quality hand trucks, long conveyor belts, sturdy hand trolleys, and maybe even a few reliable forklifts. These items will help you store, pick, and distribute items at a much higher speed with much better accuracy.

As well as that, don’t neglect the expansion equipment you’ll surely need when your business starts growing. This type of equipment serves a special purpose as it gives you more space to store things orderly. You can’t afford to not incorporate it into the design of the warehouse, as you’ll suffer great consequences from lack of space and order.

5. Hire More Workers

The number one misconception about warehouses is that you don’t need a lot of workers. This is simply untrue. Managing inventory and processing orders gets a lot harder when you’ve got only a few people running around the warehouse. You may not need a lot of workers in the beginning, but don’t be afraid to expand your workforce as soon as need occurs for it.

Also, don’t stick one person to a job that requires two people. The key to getting things done quickly and effortlessly but still correctly is to have the proper number of people assigned to a job. If one person does a two-person job, they’ll need twice the amount of time, they’ll encounter many challenges that would otherwise be avoidable.

As well as that, don’t waste your workforce all on one project. If the two-person job can be done by two people, there’s absolutely no reason to involve anyone else. Others can be put on different jobs and assignments, and thus you’ll effectively be on top of your inventory in all parts of the warehouse.