All businesses like to save money wherever possible to improve profits, and the warehousing sector is no different.
The last ten years since the financial crash and its impact on the retail and construction industry has made this even more pressing. Increased productivity is another target and the two go hand-in-hand.
So how can warehouse operations tackle the search for the best way to improve profitability over the next twelve months?
Cutting down on mistakes
Improving the efficiency of warehouse operations will boost the bottom line. By keeping a record of errors and noting ways of avoiding the same mistake in the future, you can help reduce expenditure. Having a target for reducing such transgressions in the future will also help, and rewarding employees for reaching these targets will help maintain concentration in the workplace.
Conditions
Goods can be damaged within a warehouse if they are sensitive to temperature and climatic conditions such as humidity. Even in safely covered conditions this can be problematic, and costs can accumulate quickly, affecting profits.
Labour costs
The increasing automation of warehouse operations has seen a fall in the workforce in recent years and that trend is likely to continue with a consequential impact on costs in the long-term. Indications of worldwide trends can be found at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Reducing handling time
By introducing cross docking handling, costs can be cut and customer service improved. The process takes place in a docking terminal with in and out doors on opposite sides of a docking space. Products are received at one end and transferred out on another truck with minimum time in the docking area.
Space optimisation
This can be seen as the holy grail of warehouse management. Land costs are so high that whatever the floor space available it has to be used to maximum effect. Efficient pallet storage will play a crucial part in this and the racking within the warehouse must optimise the height of the building.
There are numerous solutions to this. Industrial shelving in Ireland has a market leader in solutions such as those found at https://www.rackzone.ie/shelving/industrial-residential-shelving.
The layout of the warehouse and the access through aisles will also be key to efficiency and cost-cutting, as will the choice of machinery used to move goods.