“Change is good. It's also often hard. But to succeed in business, you must run toward it.”

The world in which we live is ever-changing. This is especially true for the world of business. New philosophies, methodologies, techniques, and products are always being developed. With every new idea or device, there come a hundred more ways in which we can adapt and improve.

Businesses must be flexible and willing to adapt, or they will perish. Ben Franklin said it best, “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”

A common bottleneck in a company's operation is more often than not, the warehouse. Optimal warehouse organization is not a simple thing to accomplish, but when it is done right, it can simply increase the flow of goods and profits for any company. 

If you would like to get expert help on a custom warehouse solution for your business, don’t hesitate to reach out. We strive to give you the best service, products, and techniques on the market today. 

We work to be that driving force that helps you understand how you can adapt and we are always there for you when you need us.

Every business is unique and so every method or technique may have to be adjusted to fit your company's individual needs. 

3 Essential Organizational Storage Tips

1. Analyze your inventory [hot vs cold items]

Maximizing product flow is key to creating a smooth experience for any warehousing operation. It should be easy to find, pick, and ship products out. But how can you find the best way to organize your space? 

A time-tested method is to organize your space by hot and cold products. Hot products would be referring to items that are sold regularly. Cold items are the opposite as they are products that are bought infrequently. It is a simple idea of separating the slow-moving items from the fast ones. 

Once identified, the hot-selling items should be placed at the front where they are easy to reach The cold items should be placed at the back, or in deep storage. 

A quality analysis will prioritize the hot selling items and identify bottlenecks in your operation. No matter how efficient your current operation is you can always identify areas where time and energy are being wasted and thus can be improved. Sometimes it takes an outside point of view to see how youroperation can be improved.

2. Re-think your picking & packing system

Re-doing the picking systems in many relatively new businesses- especially small ones - is typically a huge deal for improving warehouse organization. 

What many companies do would seem to be a scavenger hunt, looking for the right product among rows and rows of SKUs. Everything must be memorized. As you can imagine this is an exhaustive method to fulfill orders.

This sort of wasted time is not sustainable for many businesses that are growing at a rapid rate. On top of it all, this method is not conducive to a flexible business. When the time comes, these types of companies will be unable to adapt quickly to changing business environments. 

So what if pickers did not need to go through the aisles looking for the correct SKU? What if all the HOT selling items were within greater reach? 

Imagine 150+ SKUs, all within easy picking distance. It would be revolutionary for that business. Growth would be a sinch, and orders would ship in record time. 

Our revolutionary Swift Pick methodology is changing the way we fulfill. The look and feel of this system differs for every company and would be adjusted to suit your needs. 

The Swift Pick system is composed of different “swift pick cells.” Every “cell” is a small area with three walls of flow rack positioned around a picker in a “U” shape. This configuration allows the picker to remain in their cell while fulfilling orders. When they run out of certain SKUs, they are quickly restocked by other employees so the designated picker does not have to stop fulfilling orders. A visual representation is below for reference. 

With proper inventory software, warehouses can effortlessly achieve 400+ picks per hour.

These first two steps will help any organization experience massive boosts in shipping power and give them a previously unseen ability to ship products faster than ever. 

If you want to take your storage facility to the next level, we recommend implementing this next step. 

3. Inventory management software

The management software that accompanies your employees throughout a facility is commonly seen as the glue that holds most operations together. This software is incredibly robust and is what differentiates startups from mature companies. The right software will more than pay for itself in no time. 

Some of the benefits that come from a perfect WOS are as follows

• Guided picking routes
• Lower mis-shipments
• Training times for new employees are around 30 minutes or less
• ½ cost per package
• 400+ picks per hour
• Lightweight and highly mobile
• Check-in on your operation remotely with cloud technology

The benefits go on and on. It allows you to start implementing a barcode system to organize your warehouse effectively. 

If you are interested in a cloud-based WOS, accessible from any IOS device, is extremely lightweight, and can give you the benefits above, check out WarehouseOS™ to turbo charge your operation.