The internet has a huge impact on our every day lives, with many of us opting to shop online instead of leaving the comfort of our homes and going to a shop. To cater to these new demands, businesses have emerged providing almost any product you could imagine. What you may not often think about, though, is where all these items are stored before they are shipped out to you. More often than not, they are stored in warehouses or stock rooms. With online retailers offering so many different objects, these stock rooms can get quite full and easily become disorganized; this is why warehouse inventory management is so essential. However, even with a system in place it can often get overwhelming, so here are some tips for effective warehouse inventory management.
Tip 1:
This first tip is so essential if you want to keep your stock room anywhere close to organized. Effective warehouse inventory management really revolves around upkeep, this basically means that the space needs to be kept tidy and organized. In a busy environment, it can be easy for things to get out of hand and become disorganized, so make sure you keep on top of this. Inspect the space regularly and see if it is still tidy and ensure it meets the standards that have been set. So, rather than waiting for the entire space to become dysfunctional, tidy as you go and ensure that it is still easy to navigate. This is far more efficient than having to reorganize every few weeks because the entire space is a mess; assign the task of the upkeep of the space to a member of staff to ensure the job is done properly and on a daily basis.
Tip 2:
This tip is another way of ensuring the space remains organized. Any workspace is likely to become untidy throughout the day, so a simple way to remedy this is by cleaning up at the end of each day. A great way of implementing this warehouse inventory management system is by assigning the last half an hour of the day to tidying the space. This not only makes sure all stock is in the correct space, but it means it will be much easier for any workers the next morning. A clean space is a functional space and this is why it is such a crucial part of warehouse inventory management.
Tip 3:
Any retail business will have top sellers or items that are more popular than others; this obviously means that pickers will be looking for these products more regularly. A great warehouse inventory management technique revolves around ensuring these items are easily accessible and close to the shipping area. This will get rid of a lot of unnecessary labor time and will help your pickers find the items quicker. Not only does this make the life of your employees easier, but it also means items can be shipped out quicker, and more profit will be generated.
Tip 4:
A common issue stock rooms have is that many employees struggle to find products; and often this is because the products aren’t labelled. This makes their job so much harder, and more time consuming than it needs to be. It is clearly an easy fix- just ensure that everything is labelled, and labelled correctly. There are many different software options that will help with labelling items, so it really doesn’t have to be a huge job in itself. However, it will certainly help with the general structure and organization of the space.
