When you have a warehouse that is running out of space, you’ll quickly realise that this can create more problems if you allow it to continue. You may run into things like lost inventory, decreased productivity levels due to employees having difficulty finding things, and an increased risk of employee injury due to improperly stored merchandise.
Four Top Tips for Maximising Your Warehouse’s Storage Space
You don’t necessarily have to upgrade to a larger warehouse; you just have to maximise the storage space you have. You can do this by implementing these four storage space maximising solutions.
Tip One: Maximise Your Vertical Space
Rather than expanding how large your warehouse’s footprint is, consider maximising your available vertical space. By adding taller storage units and pallet racking, you can keep more of your stock in the same size space, and you won’t have to worry about additional costs to expand to a larger area. If you have well-designed pallet racks that are properly secured, you’ll have much more available space to house your inventory. It’ll also be safer for your employees to work around.
Tip Two: Organise Your Workstations with the “5S” Technique
If your workstations are neat and organised, your productivity will increase. Your employees will spend less time searching for their equipment and their various tools, and more time concentrating on their jobs. If you use the “5S” technique, you’ll be better able to keep clutter down, reduce errors and improve the overall safety of your employees. The 5S’s are:
- Sort
- Set in order
- Shine
- Standardise
- Sustain
Tip Three: Design for Your Current Needs and Your Future Needs
You want your warehouse’s redesign implementation to be accurate and feasible for both your current and future operation. Going forward, as your warehouse storage needs expand, so will your need for adaptable storage options. You want them to be flexible enough to meet your current needs and any future demand.
Pallet racking gives you the flexibility to upgrade your storage system as you need to and it is almost maintenance-free. You can add or take away parts as your demand fluctuates without removing the entire system, and the heavy-duty design can handle more merchandise, saving you valuable floor space.
Tip Four: Use Up-to-Date Technology to Stay Organised
If your warehouse isn’t using up-to-date technology, it could be affecting your bottom line. By using an automated storage and retrieval system to keep track of your inventory, you streamline your processes. You can store very large quantities of materials in a small space, and this can help you trim down how much space you’re using. This technology can help you stay organised, and it reduces the chance of errors or misplaced items.
No matter what size your warehouse is, if it’s in Sydney Australia, or New York USA, it’s important to maximise your space in any way you can to improve your efficiency and reduce your costs.
Follow these four tips to maximise your warehouse’s storage space and consider using new or used pallet racking to turn air into usable storage.
