It’s in the best interest of any warehouse and/or business owner to reduce costs and increase their profit margins. Doing the former will help to maximise profits naturally, something every company owner is wanting to achieve.
However, not all increases in profit are quite so effortless – there are a few things you’ll need to do. With that being said, here’s everything you can do to increase your profits and reduce how much you’re spending overall.
Make sure your inventory is visible
One of the ways in which you can improve your profits and reduce warehouse costs is to make your inventory completely visible and accessible to your workers. It’ll help to streamline warehouse tasks and processes, as order picking, packaging and distribution will become far quicker and more efficient as a result.
Your warehouse workers won’t have to spend excessive amounts of time looking for items that they need. Part of this comes with effective inventory organisation. Some of the things you can do to organise your warehouse for easy access and visible inventory includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Placing best-selling products at the front of warehouse racking
- Implementing the correct machinery to make access quicker and easier, such as reach trucks, order pickers and diesel, electric or LPG forklifts
- Having mezzanine floors constructed to optimise storage
- Putting best-selling items at eye level rather than higher up on racking where a machine will need to be used to access the product(s)
There are several benefits associated with making inventory as visible as possible and they include:
- Accurate forecasting
- Increased efficiency
- Smart resource allocation
- Successful demand fulfilment
- Reduced warehouse costs
- Reduced stock-levels
- Improvement in supply chain transparency
Optimise your storage space
Optimising your storage space throughout the warehouse is integral to save resources, space and time whilst reducing errors and improving communication and flexibility in the process. A successfully optimised warehouse is essential to beat competitors and streamline supply chains overall. Some of the warehouse storage optimisation considerations you should take into account include:
- Physical structure
- Product placement
- Storage
- Retrieval methods
- Warehouse flow
The aforementioned considerations work to make up your cost-effective storage optimisation plan, which will help to reduce the amount you’re spending when it comes to warehouse inventory management and order picking processes. A fully-optimised warehouse helps to control the loss of stock, boost worker productivity and improve traffic flow throughout the premises.
Prevent & identify workplace theft
Theft in the workplace is a contributing factor when it comes to inventory shrinkage and it’s something that every warehouse owner will want to avoid. Where it’s not entirely preventable, there are a few things you can do to help deter people from committing warehouse theft., including:
- Installing CCTV
- Keeping an electronic count of stock levels
- Ensuring employees are working in pairs or small groups
Identifying theft in the warehouse is also paramount for preventing it as the necessary measures can be taken to deal with those workers who are taking things from your warehouse illegitimately. Some of the red flags to look out for include the following:
- Stock levels are no longer matching your sales record
- You’re experiencing a dip in sales when certain staff member are on duty
- Stock is being discovered in the wrong place, such as too close to exits or entrances
- Invoices are missing or seem out of the ordinary
- Staff are spreading rumours about people who they think might be thieving
Improve your picking processes
Create specific zones where picking can occur and be executed efficiently and in a cost-effective and productive manner. Order picking will be made far easier with the implementation of an order picker machine. This consists of a platform that a worker will stand on in order to be elevated to the right height, if needed.
Order picking will also be made far more simple using the right warehouse management system, where stock can be against a specific location. This makes the order picking process far quicker as a warehouse employee will be able to search for the item needed and know exactly where they’ll be able to find it.
Forklift Hire are experts in the material handling equipment, with a wealth of knowledge and expertise to draw upon in a bid to meet your exact needs and requirements, regardless of the budget you have. You’ll be able to rent everything you need directly from us for as long as you need it. For more information about the warehouse equipment we have for hire and the forklifts we have for rent, get in touch with a member of our specialist team today – we’re always on hand to help.
