Welding for the Retiree

Shipment warehouses are often busy environments. However, busy doesn't necessarily mean productivity. In this type of industry, a decline in the rate at which shipments are processed and fulfilled can serve as a blow to the bottom line. Make sure you know what ways you can improve productivity within your warehouse.

Store Inventory With a Purpose

Store inventory with efficiency in mind. This tip can be especially helpful when it comes to the process of fulfilling orders. Instead of storing away items based on size, store them based on similarity.

Take a warehouse that primarily deals with shipping beauty products, for instance. In this case, it would make more sense to store makeup and makeup applicators in the same area as they are more likely to be ordered together, which will ultimately allow your team to fill orders faster. Take some time to look over your order history reports so that you can design your warehouse layout to look more like a map that groups similar items together.

Consider Incentive Pay

If your shipment pickers and packers are primarily responsible for the productivity concerns, always remember that money is a great motivator. If you've tried a number of different methods and you can't seem to get your order fulfillment times within your goal range, consider giving a bonus to those employees who excel. The outcome of extra money can often get people to work harder.

For example, team members who increase their order fulfillment target by 20% per quarter are eligible for a bonus. If your budget won't allow you to grant a bonus to each team member who reaches this goal, you could also consider a drawing so that you can limit the number of bonuses you hand out each period.

Install an Overhead Crane

If a lack of operating space is a factor that is causing the productivity within your warehouse to decline, consider the installation of an overhead crane. An overhead crane allows for the safe and fast transport of your shipments throughout the warehouse.

However, it does so without interfering with your highly-valuable floor space because it is installed on the ceiling. In addition to helping preserve working space, these systems also allow you to take advantage of more vertical storage. In a small warehouse with limited storage space, this type of addition can be especially helpful. You may want to consider looking into websites of local crane specialists, such as http://amquipinc.com/, to learn more.

Make sure you are keeping productivity a priority within your warehouse to keep your profit potential high.