21 November 2021 Managing a warehouse requires a set of skills to develop strategies aimed at optimizing processes, managing people and equipment, preventing losses, anticipating failures, reducing costs, maintaining inventory accuracy, managing transportation, resolving conflicts, and, of course, fostering good relationships with suppliers and customers. All these factors influence the competitiveness of the company, as logistics increasingly impacts the company’s performance with its consumer audience, especially when it comes to e-commerce, where customers prioritize fast and accurate deliveries. However, it is not easy to handle such complex management, where various processes occur simultaneously, and any deviation in one of them can affect the operation as a whole. Control or registration errors can cause warehouse discrepancies; disorganized addressing leads to poor use of space and resources, as well as hindering inventories; people who do not receive proper training can make mistakes that impact the operation and generate costs with losses and rework; unmonitored processes are equally susceptible to errors; the lack of performance analysis hinders assertive decision-making and so on. In this way, Discover 8 tips to make your warehouse management more effective: #1 Make Proper Planning There is a saying that “a goal without a plan is just a wish.” And it truly makes perfect sense. You can’t know where you want to go without having in mind what it takes to achieve that goal, hence the importance of good planning. In the case of logistics management, proper planning must consider how to acquire goods, how to set up a good infrastructure for storage, and how to deliver products to the exact location and within agreed times. In addition to these points, other parameters to consider in management are timing, transportation, and costs. The goal of the plan should be to achieve maximum productivity in the shortest time possible and maximize gains. And not only that: it is important to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances, which may be related to transportation unavailability, internal organizational issues, missing or excess stock, lack of specialized labor, equipment failures, unexpected demand, among other common situations in the supply chain. Hence the need to have plans linked to business objectives, as well as an emergency plan. #2 Use Technologies to Achieve Performance In the age of automation, technology plays a fundamental role in increasing warehouse efficiency. An example is the WMS (Warehouse Management System), which automates tasks, helps make better use of a DC’s resources (people, equipment, and area), allows real-time monitoring (ensuring that failures are anticipated), and increases inventory accuracy. The use of barcode scanners or radio frequency (RFID) collectors can improve transaction accuracy and reduce picking errors. In fact, research conducted at the University of Arkansas showed that using RFID increased inventory accuracy by 27% in just 13 weeks. The use of robots has also proven extremely effective in increasing safety, making activities more agile, and reducing failures. With a wide variety of technologies available, it is essential to plan investments considering their acquisition. Innovations have been developed precisely to reduce manual errors and ensure greater productivity. Those who already use them surpass the competition. #3 Invest in and Value Human Resources The fact that a company has automated systems does not mean it should not pay attention to human labor. On the contrary: preparing people to perform their tasks with excellence is fundamental for the growth of a business. Whether you are a delivery person or a warehouse manager, everyone must perform their job perfectly so that the operation is not subject to failures and deviations. For this to happen, it is necessary to invest in training. Regular training initiatives keep employees up-to-date with the latest trends in the logistics sector. This helps increase efficiency and customer satisfaction. It is worth noting that training should not only focus on operational skills but also on other competencies inherent to the position. A manager must have interpersonal skills to deal with teams, especially when something unexpected happens. In situations like this, instead of panicking, they must have balance and a good relationship with employees and suppliers to solve the problem with maximum efficiency. So, the reminder is: empowering the team is part of the success of your intralogistics management! #4 Share Goals and KPIs In the last topic, we discussed the importance of training the team. But more than training, it is essential to motivate! This means that the company’s purposes and goals must be shared so that everyone can self-manage and do their best to achieve them. All employees, from the CEO to operators, must understand what their company needs to do to survive and grow. For this, an interesting tip is to display daily, monthly, and even annual production data to the entire team. This can be done on boards or monitors placed in strategic points of the DC (Learn more about Visual Management). This small gesture does a lot of good for all involved: it gives senior management clarity on the needs of customers and suppliers and gives workers a sharper sense of what they should offer in terms of speed and presence. #5 Optimize Spaces: Think Vertically! Every square meter of a warehouse is valuable, so it must be well-managed to make the most of it. For this, one of the recommended points is stock verticalization. Using vertical columns increases storage capacity, providing, for example, the possibility to expand the activity with a much lower investment. Another advantage is the ease and speed in handling products, not to mention the reduction in distance traveled by operators and the better use of equipment, with a reduction in the need for maneuvering spaces for machines. In addition to all these advantages, stock verticalization facilitates visual monitoring by both managers and operators. For this solution to be well-utilized, you can rely on software that helps in process management and product addressing, as a vertical warehouse has its peculiarities. An example is related to the picking process, which must always be done in the lowest positions to avoid competition for forklifts. Higher positions must be reserved for excess. The WMS is a good example of a system that works on this line, aiming for the best use of warehouse resources (people, equipment, and area). #6 Prioritize Efficient Transportation We have mentioned several points that can ensure efficiency in the internal processes of a warehouse, but for the entire logistics to be effective, it is important to seek the best transportation, one that guarantees delivery speed, merchandise safety, and the best cost. After deciding whether your company will have its own route or outsourced services, it is important to evaluate factors such as: – Determining the best delivery route: choose the shortest and safest route. This is useful for saving time and money. – Economical packaging that ensures a contained investment and merchandise safety: optimize product packaging so that it occupies less volume and does not significantly increase its weight. #7 Always Evaluate Your Operation’s Performance It is useless to implement a series of improvements in your DC if you do not measure and analyze the operation’s performance. When new strategies are implemented, it is necessary to evaluate their performance. This is important as it will show the success or failure of the changes implemented. Performance evaluation tools (KPIs) offered by management systems (like WMS) should be integrated into your operation to organize data according to each indicator. Evaluate metrics related to different operations, such as: cycle time metrics, productivity metrics, cost metrics, or service metrics. Additionally, receiving feedback greatly aids management. Employees’ ideas and suggestions should be recorded periodically. It is worth remembering that maintaining good communication with the entire team is essential. #8 Keep Up with Logistics Trends and Be Open to Change Consumption is constantly evolving. With the digital age, omnichannel was inaugurated: the customer goes through different sales channels before finalizing a purchase. Additionally, fierce competition in the market has forced companies to constantly strive to offer the best shopping experience. This means that logistics processes must be agile and efficient so that the company remains in the market and all customer expectations are met. To meet all these needs, innovations have emerged in the supply chain, not only in terms of tools (blockchain, IoT, AI, cloud, robotics, drones, virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing, nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, autonomous vehicles, among others), but also in the ways processes are executed. For logistics specialist Felipe Trigueiro, CEO of FTLOG, the most important thing at this moment is “to understand and think about the relationship of a product or service with the user.” It is from the consumer’s perspective that the best path to follow is guaranteed. Therefore, it is crucial to follow trends and be open to innovations. Companies that stand out in the market are precisely those prepared and open to rapid transformations and that continuously invest in people, processes, and structure. So, here’s the recommendation: make smart progress, always putting the customer at the center of all your decisions. Warehouse Management Made More Efficient: 8 Essential Steps Deagor WMS per ecommerce può aiutarti!