Your warehouse is more than simply a storage facility. It's an integral link in your logistics chain, which in turn plays a key role in your supply management system. That's why it's critical you and your employees manage warehouse challenges effectively and avoid encountering major problems.
Managing Inventory
Managing inventory is one of the key challenges warehouse operators face. Knowing what's in your warehouse and where it's located is crucial for boosting staff productivity, minimizing shipping delays, and keeping customers happy. A reliable inventory management system like Scanco can help you manage the products in your warehouse better. Workers use a mobile Scanco scanner to scan the barcodes of all goods received and leaving the warehouse facility. The Scanco system keeps an accurate inventory of all goods and their location in the warehouse. This inventory can be referred to at any time to reduce the risk of over-ordering or product shortages.
Implementing the Best Warehouse Layout
A well laid out warehouse allows workers to locate and retrieve goods faster. It also uses space efficiently. Without a good layout, warehouse workers may not be able to fit all the products they need inside the warehouse, or the business may pay for a larger space than they really require.
Well laid out warehouses take advantage of floor space and vertical space with good storage systems. They have clear paths which allow workers and forklifts to travel easily throughout the warehouse space. Best-selling products are strategically placed in the front of the warehouse where they're most accessible to boost employee efficiency.
Attracting and Keeping Good Warehouse Workers
Warehousing jobs have one of the highest turnover rates in the United States. Replacing warehouse workers is costly too, with employers spending up to 25 percent of a warehouse worker's annual salary advertising vacant positions, interviewing, and training new workers to replace those that quit. Once employed, most warehouse managers say it takes new hires one to two months of training to get up to speed.
As the warehouse industry expands with the rise of e-commerce, warehouses are also struggling to find good, qualified workers to fill their positions. With replacing workers costing so much and finding quality workers to replace them so difficult, attracting and retaining good employees is a key challenge for warehouses.
Warehouse managers can employ several strategies to find and keep the workers they need. Money talks, so increasing salaries can be a powerful attractant and motivator. So can offering flexible hours which allow parents to structure their work around responsibilities at home. Many warehouses also offer their workers great training packages which help them improve their skills and secure higher-paying promotions.
It's also telling that large warehouses have a greater employee turnover rate on average than small warehouses do. This suggests warehouse managers in large warehouses will retain more staff if they behave like small warehouses, taking time to get to know employees individually and offering plenty of training and support.
Operating a warehouse can come with significant challenges, but with smart strategies in place you can avoid these challenges turning into major issues for your logistics chain and supply management system.