How to manage warehouse inventory?

Warehouses play a key role in running businesses efficiently. The better your warehouse is, the more efficient your business will be. Therefore, it’s necessary to have a warehouse that is clean, well-organized and ready to receive different kinds of merchandise, prepare orders, load and ship containers, and keep customers happy. However, keeping one unit organized is a challenging task, especially units that are as important as a warehouse. Because of this, we have prepared a guide for all of you who want to learn how to manage warehouse inventory successfully. Keep reading and you’ll learn the best tips of warehouse management! So, what are the most important steps of the warehouse management?

Reevaluate the design of your warehouse

Warehouses need to be designed in a way so that every inch of the space can be used. If you want to learn the ways of managing your inventory efficiently, you’ll need to make sure that your space is designed properly. The storage space needs to allow the quick and smooth carrying of goods. There must be enough space for different equipment, such as forklifts and weight carrying machines. All of the equipment needs to have enough space for moving around the warehouse. Both your machines and your employees need to have enough space! After all, when running a warehouse it is all about finding ways of running different operations quickly and smoothly.

Also, have you ever thought about maximizing vertical space in your warehouse? In most warehouses, space is not used efficiently. Fortunately, you can change this with ease. To maximize vertical space in your warehouse, place seasonal products or those that move less frequently in harder-to-reach areas. Do this every time and you’ll soon realize how a change this small can have a positive impact on your warehouse efficiency. Luckily, if these items are packed with the help of SMART packing Hong Kong, you won’t have to check whether everything is secured. Therefore, you won’t even have to deal with that.

Reorganize the unit to manage warehouse inventory with ease

If you want to manage warehouse inventory properly, you’ll have to learn how to organize items that are stored inside the right way. By following some simple rules you will do that with ease! Also, these organizational tips will help you organize other units that are related to your business, or even your SMART storage in Hong Kong. So, how to strategically organize your warehouse?

First of all, make sure to group items together based on size, seasonality, velocity, and other characteristics. This will reduce the time that employees usually spend searching for specific items. Next, consider creating zones in which you will group items based on pick type to simplify order picking. When doing this, place more important items in easy-to-reach locations so that employees can retrieve them quickly. And finally, recognize and eliminate poor performing products. This will reduce inventory levels and enable better employee efficiency.

If you want to manage warehouse inventory with no problem, consider reducing the number of shipping containers in the warehouse. We understand that because of the people that are moving their homes internationally, the numbers of shipping containers have increased. However, you should a better place for them.

Know your high sellers

As we have already told you, by placing important products in easy-to-reach locations, you will be able to retrieve them quickly. But, that is not all. This kind of organization will help you track orders and sales per client and per product. You will be able to identify high sellers! This is very important because you can benefit a lot from learning which of your sellers are big. In order to make them happier, you can position them at locations that will make picking and delivery extra-easy.

Label and you will manage warehouse inventory like a pro

If you have ever had to organize and pack a storage unit, then you’re already familiar with the importance of labeling. However, if you have something in your warehouse that doesn’t have a label, change that immediately! When the labels are on, your employees will be able to choose the right inventory with ease. Also, with labels, you’ll reduce errors, avoid future troubles and increase productivity. When it comes to labeling, there are no rules. Only you can know what will work best for your warehouse. You can either come up with your own labeling system, or you can choose from many labeling software. The choice is yours!

Invest in new technology and automate things

Let’s face it, we are living in the digital age. There are so many clever software, apps, and other equipment that can make warehouse management as easy as 1-2-3! For example, you can start with the Warehouse Management System (WMS). This is a software that is designed to support and optimize warehouse functionality. It can strategically organize execution systems, increase inventory visibility, and more to ensure peak inventory management warehouse performance. It’s wise to invest in this or other systems that offer complete customization to streamline your workflows and improve productivity.

Investing in new technology will give you a chance to:

• Automate essential operations, such as workflows, data collection, barcoding, scanning, picking and packing, shipping, inventory tracking and so on;
• Have greater security since it will decrease the risk of human error;
• Increase efficiency and save time and money on manual labor.

  

If you decide to automate essentials operations, don’t forget to reevaluate the systems that you’re using. If it is necessary, you can install new and better systems that will help you to manage warehouse inventory even more. With the help of technology, good employees, and quality warehouse, management will seem like a piece of cake. However, just to be sure, follow the tips from our guide. Use them to improve and upgrade your warehouse and get more clients.