9 Common
Back in the 90s, warehouses were mainly used for one purpose: to store and keep the products safe.
Fast forward to a few decades.
And now, warehouses carry out all procedures, from picking to packing and delivery.
Managing all these procedures at once is not everyone’s cup of tea. Despite strategizing, some people may still need assistance running warehouse operations. But where do they go wrong? Well, you may be making mistakes in managing the warehouse.
We provide a guide to common warehousing mistakes you should avoid to make your warehouse operations effective and well-organised.
Firstly, warehouse management includes managing all the operations from receiving an order to delivering it to the consumer's doorsteps, which includes organising, picking, packing and then delivering.
Many of these operations are automated so that they are error-free. But you're mistaken here; each warehouse operation is prone to minor mistakes, which can become more significant if ignored.
According to a report, warehousing companies spend billions of dollars on managing warehouses efficiently, and this cost does not include rectifying an error. In the warehousing industry, a small mistake can cost you a lot of money.
For example, what would be the consequences if your employee made a mistake picking the suitable parcel? Of course, the first and foremost is customer dissatisfaction. Second, you must deal with the return policy and send another package on time. This all adds up to your final budget.
Looking for the warehousing mistakes and rectifying them will lead to the following:
Efficiency in work
Saving some money
More productivity
Seamless operations
All warehouse operations are connected, i.e. a chained process. In most cases, people don’t know about the errors by the end of warehouse operations. By this time, it is too late to reduce the damage cost.
So here are some common warehousing mistakes you should be aware of and tips to avoid them.
Inventory is the heart of warehousing. Every warehousing operation revolves around inventory, from receiving it to sending it to the doorsteps of the consumer or retailer. You may have faced three mainly three problems regarding inventory management:
Has it ever happened to you that you have overstocked some products just because they were in demand then, and now those products are sitting on your shelves?
Or you have gone through a situation when you are ready to deliver a product but know you are out of stock. Now, you must back-order the merchant and wait for the delivery to go further.
Do you deny any order because you thought you were out of stock but then came to know that you have them completely intact in their position and ready to be delivered?
If you have ever faced any of the above-mentioned situations, you must look at your inventory management process again. This is one of the most common warehousing mistakes that owners make.
Pay more attention to inventory to avoid holding excess stock or, even worse, understocking the inventory.
Holding Excess Inventory
Having buffer stock is okay! But stocking extra for the future “just-in-case” situation is not a good step. It will end up in a corner taking up the excess space.
Lack Of Inventory
Every warehouse owner’s nightmare is “the product is out of stock.”
Lack of goods happens when you are not managing your inventory accurately. Do you know that almost 40% of small businesses fail to deliver their product because of inventory problems?
How To Avoid:
The best way to manage your inventory is by installing WMS (Warehouse Management System) in your warehouse to eliminate the headaches you have to deal with while managing inventory.
WMS will give you all the information about your inventory, location, and status. That means you will know when you are running out of specific inventory and when you have enough of them.
Embracing technology gives you a competitive advantage and a chance to be in trend.
We live in the age of digitisation, where you can connect with anyone, anywhere, through the internet. And if your warehouse is still stuck on the old paper-pen process in this era, then you are missing a considerable amount of time.
Yes, many mid-size and small-size businesses opt for the traditional process in their warehouse to keep everything simple but lag behind their competition.
Moreover, hanging on paperwork is the most common warehousing mistake that small and mid-sized warehouses make. This method is quite old-school. What if they get misplaced? Do you have a backup plan for that?.
Incorporating warehouse management software can solve all the problems mentioned above. And make warehouse operations more efficient, faster, and stress-free.
How To Avoid It? Yes, warehouse management software is expensive and complicated. Many small and mid-sized businesses don’t have enough capital to invest in them, do not try to jump on 100 but take small steps.
Essential warehousing tools such as barcode scanners, mobile printers, warehouse management systems, wearable computers, intelligence dashboards, and AI can make your warehouse progress with digitisation.
Remember, do not try to install everything but choosing the right tools is enough to make your warehouse more efficient.
A proper layout is what you need to run your warehousing operations smoothly. Of course, you don’t want to have long travel time between racks, insufficient space, or unwanted extra space, as this will end up in your month-end budget.
You need a good area for every operation to work smoothly, but in warehouses where space is premium, you will think about designating certain areas specifically as luxury.
Rising storage costs, as well as needs, have made warehouse managers push their boundaries to make ends meet and make use of space efficiently and wisely.
With more storage, you also need to reduce your travel distance, have an evaluated inventory flow, and have an accurate size of your warehouse pallets. A proper warehouse layout can help you achieve it.
How To Avoid It? No, you don’t have to rebuild all the things once again. But, you need to optimise the space and use it best. Here are some tips:
Start using pallets
Use every inch of space
Use vertical space as much as you can
Separate your receiving and shipping doors
Make you pick an area next to the storage
Keep your shipping and packing area separated from the rest of the areas for better traffic flow
Each warehouse has different requirements, but the above tips are universal. Also, optimise your space before planning and mapping out your designated areas.
Like your home, the warehouse also needs proper maintenance. Messy warehouses look bad and make warehouse operations slow and inefficient. How?
What do you do if your loading docks are messily arranged or all the wraps are lying on the ground between aisles, increasing your travel time? Or you have overfilled pallets which are on the verge of breaking?
Warehouses are often dirty; you can even see a thick film of dirt from a distance. But these all things can create safety risks, plus by working in such an environment, your employees can get allergies issues and may even lose their enthusiasm for working.
How To Avoid It? Messy warehouses are common, but this problem can be easily solved. You have to make a strict regime for cleaning. Decide the shifts before or at the end of the day. In some time you will have a better and cleaner warehouse.
A cleaner environment encourages employees to work harder and give their best, increasing employee retention rates.
Warehouses face a lot of problems when it comes to employees. Warehouses have a high employee turnover rate.
An employee’s resignation can charge you a little, as you must hire a new employee and train them properly to start the operations. This process requires time, energy, and capital.
An employee with improper training is prone to making mistakes, leading to inaccuracy and inefficiency of work. It may also lead to some unwanted accidents.
How To Avoid It? It’s simple. Train your staff correctly and allow them to develop and grow with the company. Resignations are usually due to employees not getting the opportunity to develop their skills or inadequate training.
So, to overcome this barrier, organise different programmes for employees primarily dedicated to improving their skills and train them sufficiently to prevent any unwanted accidents.
Do you ever repeat an operation in your warehouse more than once? If your answer is Yes, you have faced accidental redundancy and consequences.
The warehouse conducts many operations at one time to create a workflow. But if that workflow is not managed correctly, it will lead to performing a single task more than once, which is not good news. It might add up your labour costs and time to rectify the error.
This often happens during picking in small warehouses, but this case is not the problem. They have only one person to handle all the picking tasks, but what about large warehouses?
Larger warehouses have more than one employee assigned to the same task, and these mistakes are inclined to happen.
How To Avoid It? It is a wiser choice to invest in technology at this stage. Software like Warehouse Execution System (WES) reduces this redundancy. Or, if you are tight on your budget, you can incorporate a barcode system to identify which item is picked and yet to be picked.
An efficient warehouse doesn’t mean a safe warehouse. Warehouses are areas prone to accidents, sometimes leading to severe injuries. Safety protocols are designed for the labour force to work in a safe environment; neglecting them is a huge mistake.
Workers' health and safety are essential, yet the most overlooked in various warehouse operations. Neglecting safety protocols is a costly mistake you must avoid at any cost.
Injuries also lead to workforce-related problems like litigation or unhappy employees resulting in slower warehouse operations and increased labour costs.
Make your employees’ safety your priority.
How To Avoid It? Proper risk management and corrective measures can lead to a safer warehouse. It is extremely important to avoid extra costs and litigation. Following the safety protocols is the only answer to ensure your workers' safety.
Is your warehouse prepared for future challenges? If your answer is no, you better be ready for the consequences.
As we all know, the market is unstable and fluctuates. One day, a product's demand may be high, but it may be low on the other day.
And you have to be future-ready. If you are not strategising for the plan, you are making another warehousing mistake.
Your company has to evolve with the latest trends. Otherwise, you will get crushed by your competitors. Remember Nokia, a cell phone giant, lost its list of shares just because it did not accept Android as others did.
Similarly, planning for the future is essential for any business in the long run. COVID highlights this situation. Remember how many problems everyone faced during the pandemic era.
Poor planning in the warehouse will directly affect your business or the entire supply chain. Yes, you can’t foresee or even prevent all future challenges, but you can equip yourself to navigate them.
How To Avoid It? Take your time and set goals for your warehouse. You can do it annually and decide what you want to achieve in a year with the warehouse and your business. Set goals, and draft out the strategy to achieve them. Schedule monthly or quarterly reviews.
This habit will help you see more opportunities and give you an idea of overcoming specific business challenges.
Most of the warehouses fail to measure their operations correctly, and this is where their warehouse operations get stuck at a point, and they have to face loss.
The main thing is warehouses have to measure all operations from receiving to shipping. If you are not getting the whole picture, it will lead to inefficiencies in the warehouse.
Understanding and establishing KPIs help many warehouses to lead their logistic operations seamlessly. These KPIs help to collect the data throughout the different processes, which you can analyse.
Measuring operations contribute to committing more errors and making it harder to differentiate between good and bad performances.
Are you aware of what is happening in your warehouse? How many items are picked and packed or received? Which employees have better performance, or are your products selling faster? If your answer is No, then you should start measuring things correctly.
How To Avoid It? Establish KPIs, and follow them strictly. There are at least 24 essential KPIs to run your warehouse efficiently. And in today’s world, where technology is everywhere, take advantage and install a WMS system to maintain your warehouse more efficiently.
WMS can help collect all the data and provide you with real-time metrics.
Mistakes lead to less efficiency, money loss, and sometimes tragic accidents.
You can increase warehouse efficiency and productivity by avoiding these warehouse management mistakes and exploring more business opportunities.
As our elders say, “precaution is better than cure” Similarly, avoiding mistakes is better than rectifying them.
Prime Associates know all the problems a warehouse goes through, and we keep ourselves updated with all the trends and technologies surrounding the warehousing industry. And we are glad to help you achieve your path of success.
We offer accurate, compatible, and quality logistic solutions to benefit both parties. We provide warehouses, industrial sheds, and factory spaces for rent at competitive rates in prime locations.
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