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Keeping Your Storage Warehouse In Good Condition

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Storage Warehouse|Keeping Your Storage Warehouse In Good ConditionWhen we think about managing our inventory properly, we often think of the range of processes that need to be taken care of in maintaining, preserving, securing, and organizing that stock. This may mean storing our goods on strong palettes that can be easily moved by machinery like forklifts and easily loaded onto trucks, using long straps to hold this in place, as well as making sure it is stored properly, without overly stacking goods on top of one another.

In some cases, industrial storage areas require certain conditions to be met. For instance, refrigeration or freezing may be essential for some products, and not necessarily just for food items either. Yet it’s also true that while keeping your inventory in good condition is essential for preserving its value – none of this could be made possible if your warehouse is in shoddy shape.

In this post, then, we’ll discuss a few means by which you can keep your storage warehouse in good condition. With this approach, you’re sure to benefit by keeping your staff safe and your inventory in an ideal environment:

Floor Cleaning

Your floor must be in good condition, stable, free from obstacles at all times, and of course, clean. You can use industrial floor cleaner services to make sure that years of movement, heavy objects being transported, drops, scrapes and other debris that may have effective the floor over the years, not to mention millions of steps, is totally undone and that the space is rendered safe and stable once more. This way, you’ll be sure to improve safety while also keeping your inventory in good condition.

Secure Shelving

Of course, when storing inventory, it’s essential to make sure that actual installations in your building are equipped to handle that weight, and constant use. Flimsy industrial shelving units can cause real problems, as can ill-maintained equipment, as can overused palettes in need of replacement. Constantly making sure your investments to this degree are properly aligned can aid you in preventing a small issue from becoming a big problem, and perhaps even accidental damage from causing internal infrastructure to fall down.

Fire Safety

What’s the most important part of your warehouse? The assets and inventory you store within it? The shelving units and structures you invest so much in to make the logistics of the space necessary? Perhaps the building itself? Not at all – it’s the people within it. Your staff need to be safe at all times. Making sure that fire safety protocols are always handled maturely, that evacuation procedures are trained regularly, that signage is properly placed, that reporting systems are installed, and that proper procedure is followed is key. Ensuring this as standard, never leaving it up to chance, should be the foremost effort we make before we even care about storing a single piece of inventory.

With this advice, you’re sure to keep your storage warehouse in good condition.

8 Easy Ways Any Company Can Improve Inventory Management

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution ArticleProper inventory management is one of the keys to keeping your business running smoothly and remaining profitable. Make mistakes here, and you may run out of best sellers, buy products you don’t need, and waste resources you can’t afford to lose. Here are eight essential inventory management tips every business should follow. We’ll focus on universal advice that almost any firm can implement.

Manage Inventory via Software

Don’t rely on spreadsheets to track software. Spreadsheets can be deleted. Cell values could be deleted or overwritten. Formulas may be altered, scrambling values elsewhere in the spreadsheet.

One of the best ways to manage inventory is by using software designed for this task instead. The ideal case is switching to inventory management software that integrates with your accounting system. Then the inventory is automatically updated as you sell items or buy more. That is why a QuickBooks Inventory management tool is invaluable – it is already tied to software you already use. QuickBooks lacks serial numbers, scanning barcodes and shipping. An inventory management tool can handle all of this. There are several tools that will allow you adjust stock levels in inventory checks and automatically remove inventory from stock when you receive orders so you don’t accidentally sell more than you actually have on hand. They will also help you track items reserved for sales orders and you can track inventory status, such as when you’re waiting for products to arrive so you can fill outstanding orders.

Have Clear Product Names

If you want to avoid problems with customer orders and internal inventory management, have a clear product naming system. You could use manufacturer part numbers, though this may be confusing if different manufacturers use similar part numbers for very different products. The ideal situation is creating internal part numbers that make it very obvious what someone is picking up. Instead of CRAY008 and CRAY016 for crayons in boxes of 8 and 18, label them “crayons, set of 8” and “crayons, set of 16”.

Set Minimum Stock Levels

Nearly every inventory management system allows you to set minimum stock levels, and most have reorder points. This ensures that you won’t run out of items. The best inventory management systems allow you to calculate reorder points based on historical data so you can order items based on how quickly you actually consume the product. You can still set low inventory alerts to ensure that you never run out.

Implement FIFO

FIFO is first in, first out inventory management. This is one of the oldest inventory management techniques, and it remains one of the most popular. A major reason of this is that it minimizes spoilage and the associated waste, since you’re selling the oldest items first. This isn’t limited to perishable goods that can spoil; it is applicable to other products, as well. Move your oldest products first so that they don’t become obsolete due to changes in packaging or industry standards. It simply requires setting up inventory so that the oldest items are on the front of the shelf and picked by employees, though you’ll want to train people to check expiration dates. You’ll also have to train staff to ensure that the FIFO system is properly maintained, instead of someone hurriedly stocking the front of each shelf with the newest products.

Keep the Warehouse Organized

If the warehouse itself is disorganized, how can you reasonably expect your staff to keep your inventory organized? Don’t let crates of packaged inventory pile up in aisles; have them immediately emptied and the shelves stocked. Keep work surfaces as clean as possible. Make certain that items are clearly labeled.

Also, make sure that you have formal processes for each task. Document how people perform tasks like placing purchase orders, receiving items, fulfilling orders and checking stock levels.

Do Regular Checks

Inventory management systems don’t eliminate the need to do inventory checks. People may make mistakes when checking in deliveries or in their data entry. Theft, spoilage and property damage may erode your inventory, too.

There are two main ways to check inventory. One way is with a complete physical inventory – checking all inventories – usually done at the end of the month. The other way is with cycle counting, counting small sections of the inventory on a particular day. You can mix and match with these tactics, such as doing surface area cycle counts for particular aisles in the warehouse each day but checking large physical item inventory every quarter or year.

Prioritize with an ABC System

An ABC system allows you to prioritize inventory checks and product maintenance. The “A” items are high value items that have low turnover. “B” items have some value and sell at a steady rate. “C” items have low value but sell in large numbers. “A” items should be checked for spoilage, maintenance and theft regularly, since you have so much money tied up in them. “B” items are a lower priority, since they don’t cost you as much but do move steadily. “C” items require little attention since they move quickly and cost very little, though you’ll want to make sure you have enough in stock.

Only Order with Purchase Orders

Only place orders via purchase orders. Don’t let employees place orders over the phone with your vendors. They may order items you don’t really need or can’t afford to buy at this point. By requiring people to order via a purchase order, it forces every purchase to be checked against inventory levels and the budget. No one orders an item that’s already on its way from the supplier. It creates a paper trail so that no one is surprised by a delivery of widgets. There’s no confusion regarding the payment terms or rush to figure out how to pay for something that just hit the dock. It ensures that inventory knows when to expect delivery and gives management a chance to negotiate purchase prices.

You cannot afford for the gap between accurate inventory numbers and bookkeeping to grow. This knowledge gap prevents your firm from being able to plan for the future or know the true state of operations.

Executive Briefing Cost Reduction Opportunity: Inventory Optimization

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution WhitepaperGET THE FREE WHITEPAPER…
 
Economic demands place increasing pressure on executive and managers to reduce costs while maintaining high levels of operational safety, reliability, and efficiency. For Work Management and Supply Chain leaders, areas of potential savings lie with…

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How to Optimize Your Maintenance Spare Parts Inventory

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Economic demands place increasing pressure on executives and managers to reduce costs while maintaining high levels of operational safety and reliability. For Work Management and Supply Chain leaders, areas of potential savings lie with:

  • optimizing inventory levels while reducing associated carrying costs,
  • minimizing or eliminating expediting costs, and
  • eliminating losses incurred as parts become obsolete in the warehouse

… while providing the highest level of parts availability.

While every company’s circumstances are unique, StrategyDriven Advisors observe significant avoidable expenses incurred because of work management – supply chain program misalignments, including:

  • inventory reduction of 10 – 25 percent
  • near elimination of expediting costs
  • significant reductions in warehouse spoilage and obsolescence

As a complimentary supplement to this video, StrategyDriven’s Maintenance Inventory Optimization, Work Management – Supply Chain Interface Barriers whitepaper presents the sixteen most commonly occurring work management – supply chain program barriers our advisors have identified when helping clients optimize their inventories. We believe these barriers represent an excellent starting point to evaluate the sufficiency of your company’s spare parts inventories.

Download StrategyDriven’s Maintenance Inventory Optimization whitepaper – It’s FREE!

About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

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