Excellent ways for you to improve the productivity at your warehouse
If you operate a commercial warehouse you will know how important it is for you to try and keep your employees motivated. You will also understand how important it is for you to keep them focused as well.
If you aren’t able to do this then your statistics will suffer and you may even find that your team are not as productive as you would like them to be either.
If you want to avoid all of this then you can find some helpful hints and tips below to try and get you started.
Employee comfort should be a priority
Warehouse work can be tiring to say the least, and it’s important that you understand this. After all, your team are on their feet all day and this can take its toll. It’s your job to try and make them feel as comfortable as possible and it is also your job to make sure that they have somewhere to rest as well. If you can you should also provide them with access to some kind of kitchen. This will give them the chance to take a break and grab a bite to eat without breaking the bank and it will also make them feel much more valued and respected. If you want to try and give them some extra support when working then consider investing in things like anti fatigue mats. This can really help you to keep them comfortable when working long hours.
Upgrade your tech
There are so many different types of technology out there and this is a great way for you to help your team work much more efficiently. It can also help them to get the job done much faster as well. If you have a standing station then your employees will have to walk back and forth from their station in order to make the changes required. If you give your employees a mobile cart however then they can scan and take their computer with them, saving time as well as energy. You may also want to look into voice activation and even a conveyor belt system rather than just a stationary system. Sure, upgrades like this cost money but they also have the potential to make you a ton of money as well so this is something that you really do need to take into consideration.
Your warehouse layout
It’s so important that you are able to change up your warehouse layout to suit the needs of your team. Any items that you have should be stored in a logical order. You also have to make sure that the right items can be retrieved with ease as well. If you know that your team find it hard to get to certain items then do something about this and consider automated storage as well. This will bring the products that are ordered most frequently to the front and it is also a great way for you to make sure that they can be picked faster as well.
Task maximisation
If your team have to carry their items with them then they may have to make several trips in order to fulfil a single order. This is the last thing that you need because it wastes your time and their energy. If you want to get around this then consider having an order picking cart. This will give your team the chance to fulfil more than one order at once without making the whole thing confusing, not to mention that it can also make it much easier for them to meet their deadlines.
Management and staffing
You need to have management who are able to understand the needs of the company. If you have management who walk around the warehouse and make sure that everything is alright with your team then this will make them feel much more secure and it will also make them feel as though they are going to be recognised for the hard work that they put in. if your workers feel as though they are not going to be appreciated for the work that they do then they won’t be willing to work hard in the future and this is something that you will want to avoid if possible.
Warehouse system
If your warehouse is slow and you want to speed things up then you are already taking a step in the right direction. It’s always a good idea for you to have some kind of sortation system in place so that you can optimise picking and so that you can also organise your packing waves as well. The system you’re taking should come from a trusted company such as Modula. Modula.us automated storage solutions are one of the leading manufacturing automated storage concern solvers that can help you improve productivity and performance in your warehouse with immense accuracy and speed. When you are able to do this, you can then make sure that you are performing the right steps when it comes to being more efficient. It’s also important that you look into things like RFID as well. This will increase your operational accuracy and it will also increase your efficiency. It will provide you with a much higher level of visibility and it will also help you with your inventory management, if this is something that you are struggling with at the moment.
Give your workers incentive
It’s so important that you are able to use data collection tools so that you are able to track labour and even benchmarking as well. When workers know that the work that they are doing is being measured, they will be much more likely to try and improve their accuracy and they will also be much more likely to try and improve their pick and pack rates. Of course, if you do have one worker who stands out from all the rest then try and make sure that you reward them for it. If you have a worker that is not being rewarded for the work that they are putting in then there is a high chance that they won’t try as hard for you in the future and this can cause you to lose out on time, effort and even productivity as well.