Tips and Strategies for a Safer, Less Expensive, and More Efficient Warehouse

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Often, what’s best for the safety, happiness, and productivity of a business’s employees is also what’s best for the company itself. That’s definitely the case when warehouses are efficient, streamlined, and organized. More efficiency means more uniformity of tasks for the employees, less traveling back and forth on the floor in vehicles, and a better understanding of tasks and responsibilities. Upgrading the safety and efficiency of a warehouse means a better, more efficient working environment, which in turn can mean a more profitable business. The following represent just a few examples of how to accomplish warehouse improvements. 

Upgrading Material Handling Equipment

Dragging your feet on upgrading the material handling equipment that the warehouse staff is using could be costing a lot more money than you realize. If pickers or other personnel are relying on a traditional hand truck to awkwardly wrestle a variety of loads across the floor, how much time and labor could a U-boat cart or a convertible hand truck save? U-boats can carry considerably more stock than traditional hand trucks. And convertible hand trucks, which can be used in the traditional vertical position and a horizontal configuration, provide versatile and convenient material transportation options.

Keep Safety Tools and Processes Up to Date

Upgrading and organizing the equipment, the inventory system, storage process, and software are solutions for warehouse optimization, but safety should also be a primary concern. A safe, confident workforce is more productive, has fewer staffing issues, and benefits the whole company.

Run audits of personal protective equipment (PPE) use and lock out/tag out compliance. Tighten up any lapses in best practices. Have extra, high-quality PPE on-site in case replacements are needed. Loading docks can be one of the most hazardous sections of any warehouse, so implement strict loading dock safety protocols. And if you’ve upgraded equipment or incorporated those earlier-mentioned motorized hand trucks, be sure the warehouse crew is familiar with the new tools and when to use them: using a powered hand truck if the load size requires it, and so on.

Organized SKUs, Organized Warehouse

Strict, precise, and unwavering organization of the SKUs into specific placements is one of the most critical measures that can be taken to improve efficiency. Organized SKUs also mean less travel across the floor. That means less time spent in transit, a considerable decrease in accident risk, and less fuel use. Even if several SKUs can be categorized in the same group, don’t mix them. Every individual SKU should have its own space. If the warehouse is responding to orders as they’re placed, keep the fastest-moving products near their delivery destination. The less time the pickers have to spend traveling and searching for stock is more time they have for other tasks.

Upgrading Warehouse Management Software

Upgrading technology is too broad a subject to be covered in full in one article, but software is an important factor in an efficient warehouse for tracking inventory, making new orders, scheduling, and all sorts of daily operations. Every warehouse should employ a decent automated data collection program, an effective inventory management software program, and should be implementing cross-docking. Consider the more low-tech upgrades that could help improve productivity, efficiency, and safety as well. Sometimes something as simple as updating the lighting can make a world of difference for the pickers’ productivity.

About Magline

Magline is easily one of the best-known and most trusted names in the material handling industry. The name is such a byword for trusted and valued material handling equipment that any hand truck, no matter its original brand, is often referred to as a “Magliner.” Unfortunately for those brands, being called a Magliner is no substitute for the real thing. Magline has been engineering and producing the sturdiest, the most reliable, and the easiest-to-use material handling equipment in the industry for over 70 years. Along with their renowned classic hand trucks, they offer a wide selection of more specialized options, including a heavy duty hand truck line, a stair climbing cart selection, a motorized hand truck series, and a whole lot more.

Move your business forward with a fleet of Magliners, at Magliner.com
Location: United States

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