How to increase profit and improve your warehouse efficiency

Automating your warehouse will take a lot of planning and often requires a business to review and change their current methods of working. Therefore you need to approach it with an open mind and remember this may involve adapting current methods and for your staff to accept and buy into system changes. 

The need for businesses to utilise warehouse automation is growing due businesses having to respond and meet the demand of online trading, increasing customer requirements for next day delivery, and legislation  requiring greater and more visible traceability of products and their history.

You will want to review the technology you use when considering a warehouse management system. Investing in the right system for your business will ensure a more streamlined process delivering efficient procedures and considerable return on investment.

To successfully improve your warehouse efficiency the projects goals need to be determined before starting. You should research the different warehouse management systems, their setup installation and configuration and factor in the time needed to run a test environment before going live (this can be months) to ensure the project is able to stay within the time frame, budget and management expectations.

The aim of an automated warehouse management system is to remove the paper elements of the process using technologies such as barcode labelling and hand held barcode scanners. It should also significantly improve sales order picking, packing and dispatch speed and accuracy, as well as stock control and reduce labour costs. These are sustainable processes which aim to improve profitability and performance by guiding warehouse staff to the correct locations giving enhanced visibility on stock status.

A key feature of this automation is it happens in ‘real time’ meaning the company systems are up to date with the most recent product informationand actual stock availability within the warehouse; this is often done by utilising barcode scanning which reduces errors especially when items are similar in appearance or product number.

Automation is only real-time if the WMS system is integrated into the core business system. Many WMS are stand alone or use batch scanners. 

• The main steps to increased efficiency include:
• Good warehouse organisation and maintenance
• Review current processes
• Warehouse Management system using barcodes and handheld barcode scanners

Implementing changes can ensure your company realises its potential by investing in the right system and using best practices to meet the specified goals to increase productivity and make substantial cost savings for the business.

The adoption rate of companies implementing systems seems to be held back only by the perceived cost of implementation and how complicated companies view changing their current practices to be. However most companies offering warehouse management systems offer comprehensive pre site surveys and will recommend the best practices to improve efficiently and meet your desired targets. These enhance the understanding of processes which will be changed giving users time to prepare and confidence in the system you will be implementing. The return on investment will come from the increased efficiency which enables higher productivity. For example doubling the number of orders which can be picked and dispatched each day.