It is critical to implement simple techniques to streamline your workflow in the warehouse.

Having too much or too little of a product in the warehouse can have a negative impact because it causes extra work, lost time and strained resources to fix the issues that arise. The key to a successful workflow in warehousing is to streamline the production process at every available opportunity.

Best Practices will not only improve warehouse management and function, it’ll also make the job more rewarding. Here are a few tips on streamlining workflow in the warehousing sector.

How to Streamline Workflow: Some of the Best Practices for Your Warehouse

Warehouse Operations Managers regularly face three major hurdles in their daily routine. They are:

• Finding the true balance of the flow of goods in and out of the facility
• Structuring the warehouse in a way that maximizes the building’s design and layout
• Realizing new ways to meet their client’s satisfaction for smooth order fulfillment

Thinking how to overcome these hurdles?

We have some effective tips on offer that will make your job as a warehouse Operations Manager smoother and easier.

Switch to Automation

Successful warehouse operations managers are increasingly using bar code and radio frequency identification to get the job done at a fraction of the cost.

The trick here is to do the math:

• Does it make sense to replace multiple shifts of workers with a $200,000 robotic palletizer?
• Does the cost even out and get you ahead in the game, or will it set you back? Knowing your own value will help make the automation decision easier.

Automation can also be used in warehouse distribution, picking, packing, and shipping.

Understanding Bin Locations

Best Practice: Don’t lose sight of your products at any time.

Bin location software can help with that – and more. Bin location software allows for immediate, accurate location of products within your warehouse zones at any given time.

Sort product searches based on sales volume to cut out the extra steps between the customer and the sale.

Appropriate Staffing

Streamlining functions in any workplace often means making labor adjustments to best fit the growing needs of the company.

Best Practice in the warehouse setting may mean taking extra responsibilities away from the top laborers (supervisors, managers and decision-makers) and funneling them down to customer service representatives and other non-management roles.

Optimizing workflow in this way saves time, money and valuable resources in the long run.

Additionally, warehouse operations managers may want to consider utilizing labor management software that can help them gain control of costs and take command of the labor situation as it really is, not as you think it is.

Inspire Your Employees

Look, work is work, but when the warehouse becomes a uniting force instead of a dividing one, productivity skyrockets.

Thinking how to achieve it?

Provide your employees the time to get to know one another and put their best foot forward every day. The best practice here is making sure that managers, employees and contractors are all on the same page when it comes to setting and updating expectations.

Sharing information throughout the warehouse and across the company helps foster community which, in turn, helps create a more inviting workplace.

When the environment is pleasing, employees feel they can offer their own ideas to make workflow better – and that’s a win-win for everyone.

Set Up to Receive

Plan for upcoming shipments with receiving software and cut out the guesswork.

Whether you have regular vendors or one-time customers, delays happen – and the warehouse operations manager should be ahead of the game.

Take the time to work with vendors to establish advanced shipping notifications that will help minimize disruption and allow for better planning. Notifications can be linked to warehouse operations software to create a smooth workflow.

Here’s the Deal

The best practice in any warehouse operations scenario is to think about what makes the experience a streamlined success for your warehouse – and do that.

Choose to control inventory with a real-time multi-warehouse management system like Jazva or hand-pick your products as orders come in.

Limit overstocking and understocking and you’re ahead of the curve almost immediately.