Management of a warehouse depends greatly on the warehouse itself and the nature of its supply chain, combined with the type of flex storage solutions you use: flexcart, flexstands. Here are eight common mistakes in warehouse management that should avoid if your warehouse is still properly managed. You can also seek ways to remedy these problems if they are already present.

1. Holding Excess Inventory

Inventory reduction is a good practice in the warehousing field. Reducing the levels of inventory as much as possible will give you a leaner supply chain. Moreover, you will have less money stuck in stock.

One way to reduce inventory is to receive large orders in smaller batches.

2. Not Optimizing Picking Paths

You will handicap your picking rate if your picking paths are inefficient. Due to suboptimal productivity, you will incur excess labor costs and disrupt the supply chain cycle.

Try to complete every picking run somewhere close to the area of dispatch in your warehouse.

3. Sticking to the Paper Process

Paper-based workflows are inefficient; embrace technology. Documentation loss may cause your process to lag.

You can get effective software applications in the market. The money you spend on consumables will be reduced and you will also be environment-friendly.

4. Neglecting Housekeeping

The mess in a warehouse causes obstruction to flow of goods and people, reducing productivity.

Remedy this by enforcing a housekeeping regime. Tidying and cleaning can be done after every shift. This will enable the next shift to be more productive as they start working in a tidy environment without being delayed in doing the cleaning themselves before commencing their duties.

5. Insufficient Health and Safety Management

Health and safety are often neglected most often because accidents rarely occur. When they do occur, they can be quite fatal.

A warehouse is inherently a dangerous place to work. To make it safe, you can report accidents and potential hazards. You can also eliminate their cases promptly. By doing this, you will not only reduce costs or injuries, but possibly save a life.

6. Neglecting of Goods-in Process

Pressure to dispatch customer’s goods can be overwhelming, leaving the goods-in-process to lack attention.

You can assign dedicated staff to ensure that the goods-in-process is efficiently maintained. Ensure you have enough operatives to handle the goods being received.

7. Neglecting Staff Development

Your employees are your most valuable assets. Neglecting their development will most likely lead to a high staff turnover.

It is cheaper to retain existing staff through motivation and engagement than to hire new ones. You can devote some time for employee training and development; provide opportunities for their individual growth.

8. Failure in Measuring the Right Things

Many organizations fail to measure their warehouse operations properly, overlooking important key performance indicator.

Taking, for example, the goods receiving process. It can sometimes be a bit of a backwater, but with the correct KPIs in place, the performance here will be of focus along with another process like picking and dispatch that receive more attention.

In summary, good warehouse management requires close attention to warehouse environment, people and process. Avoiding or preventing these mistakes will ensure you have a sound foundation for continuous improvement.