19 August 2023 Discover 7 essential tips to prevent losses and damages and keep your warehouse safe Having a safe warehouse, preventing losses, and avoiding damages are some of the major challenges faced by logistics managers. These actions contribute to ensuring the financial health of the company, as it is important to remember that stocks are one of the main assets of a company and represent an investment tied up until the sale of the goods or used in production. If the loss occurs within storage, what was part of the company’s capital becomes another expense, potentially disrupting the ideal balance between costs and gains/sales. However, it is crucial to also pay attention to what happens inside the warehouse, avoiding management errors, deterioration/damage of stock, expired products, or even theft and fraud. Given this scenario, to achieve a safe warehouse, managers must invest in strategies and resources that increase end-to-end control of the process, ensure an adequate work environment, and strengthen property security. In the following topics, we present suggestions that can help you achieve these goals. Check it out! 1. Organize reception and storage The first step to ensuring a safe warehouse is to provide an adequate structure for receiving goods after arrival at the dock. It is essential to have proper control and registration of all the specifics of the items received at the distribution center, such as weight, dimensions, and expiration dates. With this information in hand, it is possible to verify the best forms of preservation, respecting the conditions of each product and the storage methods. Once all the data is mapped, it is enough to aim for the correct address within the stock. In addition to understanding all the specificities and storage conditions of a particular product, it is the logistics manager’s responsibility to observe and ensure that shelves and gondolas are designed with adequate spaces for handling items, as well as for the circulation of employees through stock spaces. Details like these prevent risks of damage to goods and, above all, serious workplace accidents. > Tip from someone who understands the subject: When organizing stock, in the case of items of different sizes, always leave the heavier items at the bottom of the shelves. As for bulk goods or smaller individual products, the advice is to group them in specific spaces that facilitate handling. Finally, if goods are stacked, ensure they are kept at a safe distance from the walls. 2. Have a good work infrastructure In the previous article, we talked about storage and its specificities as the first step towards a safe warehouse. However, it makes no sense to understand all the information about the goods if the stock is disorganized and does not offer the ideal space for storage and good employee performance, right? Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that there is enough space for the circulation of products, avoiding collisions, promoting safe circulation of employees, preventing workplace accidents, and ensuring the integrity of stored items. In addition to the physical space dedicated to movement, special attention is needed to lighting, temperature, and ventilation, to guarantee the quality of stored items. Another important detail is environmental signage, as well as the direction of aisles based on each merchandise, aiming to offer ease of handling and transport. > More infrastructure, less losses: According to the Italian Association for Loss Prevention, 38.76% of losses and damages are related to operational stock failures, that is, the reflection on the logistics chain, in-depth analysis of stock infrastructure, adaptation of stock to the company’s operational reality, and offering a well-equipped (and safe) environment is essential to achieve good productivity rates. 3. Conduct regular inspections Once improvements have been made to inventory structures to receive and store goods correctly, it is time to ensure a safe warehouse on a constant basis. To this end, it is important to conduct periodic inspections that help verify and ensure the proper functioning of all measures adopted. During the inspection control: – The conditions of the general warehouse structures. – The operation of electrical, lighting, and ventilation systems. – The conditions of shelves, racks, and gondolas. – The conservation status of machinery and employees’ PPE. – Clean and organize the environment. – The conditions of the products, such as expiration date, tampering attempts, and packaging damage, for example. Regular inspections ensure the quality of storage of items in the warehouse and reduce the chances of operational errors, in addition to helping identify weaknesses and prevent criminal actions that may eventually occur in the warehouse. During inspections, if irregularities are observed, correction should be prioritized and carried out as quickly as possible to avoid any exposure to further damage and keep the warehouse safe. 4. Pay special attention to employees Professionals working in the warehouse have a great responsibility when it comes to preventing losses. Therefore, they must receive special attention. It is crucial that you, the manager, apply strategies aimed at improving the work methodology and guiding the conduct of employees, such as: # Invest in technical and safety training Having a safe warehouse also means prioritizing the quality of your employees’ work. Professionals operating in the warehouse, such as forklift operators, for example, must be trained and constantly updated to perform their tasks correctly, respecting, primarily, company safety standards. Caring for the health conditions of employees is another important point, therefore, implement safety actions, promote meetings, and guide any employee on injury prevention and emergency care when necessary. Additionally, everyone must be instructed on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and collective protective equipment (CPE). # Optimize communication with teams It is not enough to have policies in place; they must be communicated effectively. Your warehouse should have clear rules on how to handle purchases and returns, access valuable inventory, restock products, manage damaged or returned products, and ensure data entry accuracy, as well as the consequences of not following the rules. Try to communicate effectively with all teams and motivate leaders to monitor compliance with policies and reinforce them when necessary. # Prioritize incentive actions Promote actions and incentives for your employees. Properly valued employees are more engaged in their work and the goals proposed by the company. In this way, it is possible to minimize errors, theft attempts, and, at the same time, increase the culture of integrity for a safe warehouse. 5. Control inventory from start to finish Inventory losses are directly linked to how inventory is managed. All inventory items must be identified and controlled from dock entry to exit from the distribution center and, if possible, monitored until delivery to the recipient. This end-to-end monitoring is essential to avoid and identify any security breaches throughout the process. Additionally, it is important to pay attention to some details, such as product seasonality. Merchandise that stays in the warehouse for a short time should occupy strategic spaces that allow easy movement, reducing work time and promoting safety. On the other hand, products with low demand must be constantly reviewed to ensure their integrity and maintain an expiration date. It is worth adding the rigor that must be adopted with high-value goods or those requiring special control. 6. Choose good transport companies Preventing cargo theft may seem like something beyond the warehouse’s control, but one way to reduce such events is to rely on partners with good safety ratings. To do this, look for companies that: – Train your drivers for possible eventualities. – Work with diversified routes that make monitoring difficult and break the registration pattern of gangs that tend to loot trucks. – Manage their drivers’ breaks and offer safe stops, as well as quality work. – Prioritize delivery during the day. – Have a regular communication and monitoring system. – Have risk management programs. – Invest in process automation, often through satellites. A good partnership and good load management are important and reduce delivery errors, which can lead to losses and many headaches. Additionally, you can rely on transport management systems that analyze each load and distribute each product according to the truck’s specifics, avoiding damage to transported items or vehicle overruns. Ensuring a good partnership and integration with transport management systems is essential to eliminate risks and losses that may occur along the goods’ route. 7. Bet on technology Investing in specialized management systems, such as WMS, is the most efficient way to ensure a safe warehouse, as the software monitors all processes taking place within the distribution center. With WMS, dockside merchandise control is carried out with maximum precision, avoiding the receipt of damaged or incorrect quantity items. The system also allows activating shelf-life control, establishing a deadline for the product to be accepted. Already upon arrival, it is possible to recognize the specifics of each item and direct it to the best position in the warehouse, considering storage rules and turnover. The WMS ensures high precision, allowing managers to have a broad view of inputs and outputs, identify real-time information errors, deviations, and process failures, as well as monitor productivity records and key rates of loss and damage prevention. Another advantage is the automation of inventories, which can be carried out both for quality control and stock updates. The system also helps reduce goods handling and reverse logistics, contributing to the reduction of the damage and loss rate. With the help of the solution, it is possible to have greater control over the operation and reduce manual activities, ensuring greater safety and precision. Have a safe warehouse with Deagor In this article, you have followed the main tips to maintain a safe warehouse and avoid theft, damages, and possible operational incidents as much as possible. Now it’s time to take the next step and discover the solutions to implement in your warehouse. Talk to one of our experts and discover the clients who have achieved excellent results in terms of safety and increased productivity and profitability in their activities. Safe Warehouse: How to Prevent Losses Deagor WMS per ecommerce può aiutarti!