Since putaway is less directly related to income or company operations than fulfillment, most businesses don’t pay it much attention. That means a lot of time and money is wasted on picking and packing without considering how putaway prepares the products and prepares the teams to perform at their best.
It matters where items are first placed in your warehouse. When done correctly, it speeds up and simplifies every other procedure. To keep things going well and increase your profits in the second half of 2022, your objective should be to optimize this warehouse putaway procedure. It has several distinct choices and criteria, but they all generally provide good results.
You might also like
We’ll divide our optimization ideas into these three stages in this section:
- Planning systems and processes
- Carrying out Changes
- Long-Term Points of View
Understanding your warehouse is the first step; therefore, let’s start by looking at your operations.
Article Content-
1. Planning for systems and processes
Getting your operations ready for optimization is the main focus of the first phase. It would help if you either started or reassessed your current data collection method. Track your team’s physical acts by keeping tabs on worker efficiency, warehouse putaway times, count accuracy, and other factors.
It’s also good to check that your system keeps track of the products in the orders you complete. Based on order volume, inventory levels, and order information, keep track of size, weight, and how often you need to refill.
Grab all you can to ensure you have the most excellent knowledge possible for maximizing operations and your actual warehouse space. Data needs to be easy to track down and evaluate. It may be time to improve your tools if you’re having trouble with these issues or other workforce and warehouse metrics.
Start by searching for warehouse management systems (WMS) that can assist you in keeping track of the required data. If you already have anything like this, consider updating it with something that records how long each employee travels and where the shelves are located. It also offers optimization help for where to place items and bins.
By integrating ERP and order management software, leading WMS technologies can automate activities like inventory counts and restocks. You may compare carriers, sizes, and other details with their assistance to lower your shipping expenses.
Review the location of your warehouse, your team’s procedures, and the personnel engaged in the whole putaway process. This will offer you a better understanding of your requirements and procedures, enabling you to guarantee that everything is measured and indicating potential modification points.
2. Carrying out Changes
It’s time to start implementing such modifications after you have your baseline data and can monitor changes. Remember that you should maximize your putaway efforts, including all touchpoints from the port through the ultimate warehouse storage site, where pickers will retrieve things for order fulfillment.
The primary objective of this process is to expedite putaway while preserving accuracy. Thus, you want to limit the distance that employees must travel and the number of steps required to bring things to their ultimate place, assure safety and make the most use of your available space.
According to research on the subject and customers we’ve worked with, up to 75% of a warehouse’s labor expenditure is spent on back-and-forth walking. Reduce this travel time as much as you can to maximize putaway.
You may utilize your WMS to improve product placement and even the general design of your warehouse. Long-term growth may be supported by it, and it is desirable. Here are some ideas for cutting down on travel and making the most of your efforts:
- Make a spot for inspecting items and storing broken goods close to your reception area.
- To make putting away and filling your most frequent orders the quickest, position high-volume goods next to where you pack.
- Use tools to direct staff along the quickest courses and routes across a warehouse.
- To lessen traffic, delays, and accidents, designate one-way routes and places.
- Avoid using staging locations whenever you can. Frequently put things away directly to save time and space by avoiding additional visits for the first putaway.
- Set up a regular cleaning schedule for your warehouse. It makes a massive difference in preventing accidents and having a simple place to utilize.
Here again, a clever WMS may start automating and streamlining parts of your activities for you. Find a system that enables your staff to scan each item as it is taken off a truck, verified, and then put on a shelf — or to check each item individually if it is damaged.
The ideal scenario is when your system mandates that customers scan the product and the shelf where it is located. This maintains precise inventory levels and enables you to refill once you reach certain thresholds.
Additionally, you may be able to see items that are often kitted in the warehouse and choose a place close to the assembly line to maintain the flow of goods smoothly and minimize touchpoints. There will be no more eyeballing inventory at the shift’s conclusion or counting incorrectly because the wrong item is in the wrong bin.
You can take things a step further using RFID tags and sensors by automating many of your inventory management checks. These procedures are subject to a lot of possible modifications. Go to your WMS and other tools to define them and monitor outcomes. How you train your personnel is an equally crucial factor.
- Work with them to address any modifications that need to be made, and then make sure that the new procedures are followed.
- Clarify the justification for the modifications, and then make sure that they are being carried out as planned.
- Keep an eye out for the new procedures to ensure they are followed correctly.
You must stick with your group until these transitions become routine. If someone attempts to circumvent the new adjustment or goes back to old habits, you won’t be able to preserve your gains.
3. Long-Term Points of View
Depending on your team, warehouse, and overall productivity, different warehouse putaway optimization techniques and technologies have different effects. While some solutions may result in significant improvements, others will only have minor consequences.
It’s up to you to identify the areas where you’re making the most strides forward and to build on those achievements. Monitoring warehouse putaway before, during, and after any change is where it all begins. Your initial objective is to create a monitoring and recording system in light of this fact.
Examine the KPIs your WMS can monitor and search for any improvements or time savings. For others, cutting a few seconds off of each operation might be just as crucial as improving inventory count accuracy. For many businesses, upgrading to brand-new technology, like a WMS, is part of modifying warehouse putaway operations.
Here, special attention must be paid to converting transient advantages into long-term ones. It would help if you continuously taught your personnel how to utilize the program. Review your operations’ processes and the utilization of tools.
Keep an eye on teams and activities to make sure people don’t try a fresh approach for a time to go back into old routines. Giving individuals power over reporting and other procedures while soliciting input is a top way to ensure this transition. Changes in components or approaches, such as who is responsible for the new reporting, may be noted.
- Involving employees in decision-making will promote employee engagement and help you get the most out of your improvements.
- Giving workers a say in decisions will help foster a sense of ownership and responsibility.
- When employees are involved in decision-making, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their work.
Your teams are more likely to follow through with updates and consistently provide an ROI for your efforts if you can manage your putaway process correctly in the beginning. Keep in mind that any increase in putaway may have a significant positive impact on your pick, pack, and other fulfillment tasks.
Conclusion
Those are just a few things putaway can do for your business. So, it’s time to stop putting putaway off and start making it part of your regular operations. If you need additional assistance getting rid of that outdated practice, contact an expert trained to make warehouse operations more efficient.
