Every ambitious manufacturer of a scaling company wants to run his business more efficiently. And, here, warehouse productivity is the key. As a discrete manufacturer, you must be looking for a better understanding of the ways to keep your warehouse productive. A company’s warehouse management system and processes should be put in place to support logistics and make the supply chain work seamlessly. It is important here to refer to the best warehouse material handling practices to build an efficient facility.
Focus on material handling to increase your warehouse productivity. It is simply defined as the movement, storage, protection and control of all the materials and finished goods throughout production, warehousing, transportation, distribution, consumption and disposal.
Benefits of properly designed warehouse control system:
- Increase productivity
- Improve customer service
- Enhance goods integrity
- Boost workers morale
- Employee safety
- Reduce inventory
- Shorten delivery time
- Decrease material handling costs
Warehouse management is a far-reaching concept associated with supply chain management that largely depends on material handling. This foundational process includes several types of activities and equipment that are either:
Manual material handling:
In this type of material handling process, workers manually move the materials and goods within a warehouse or any storage facility and to a transportation vehicle. This method poses serious safety risks at the workplace. It’s one of the most frequently reported causes for musculoskeletal injuries and disorders in the manufacturing industry.
Automated material handling:
This method involves automatic machinery to transport materials within a warehouse. It helps reduce the manual movements and hence less involvement of workers. It means minimum chances of health risks and physical disorders in workers. However, mostly automatic machines used to move the objects fall into the semi-automatic material handling category where workers have to load and unload the materials/equipment.
Currently, fully automated machines for material handling are quite expensive for most of the warehouses, especially for small size manufacturing companies. However, since a warehouse of any scale has a lot of moving parts, a warehouse control software will help avoid poor material handling that could bring sweeping consequences. In addition, it will also impact the production flow.
Having said that, it is important for manufacturers to understand the significance of warehouse management systems and implement best material handling practices to improve the function and productivity of their warehouses.
Material handling directly impacts warehouse productivity.
It is an open fact that a poorly organized and an inefficient facility causes errors, delays and health issues, swiping customer loyalty away, and giving your competition an opportunity to snatch away your business.
Well, for improved sustainability and profitability in your manufacturing and/or supply chain, you should remember that effective material handling and warehouse management is not only about sorting and organizing your goods into standard unit loads. It also needs proper monitoring and control. This is where you need a fully integrated and flexible warehouse management software solution.
Point to consider here is that there is not only one factor that affects warehouse productivity. For instance, material handling will help you make your storage facility more productive only when your facility is well-designed. Warehouse layout is also a critical element in improving your material handling jobs, making them more effective. As a result, it will give your warehouse productivity an immense boost.
Here, you must prioritize the quick accessibility and seamless flow of the goods within the warehouse or to other facilities, for transportation or cross docking. Moreover, consider space as a prime factor while designing your warehouse layout.
Get a Warehouse Management System
A warehouse planning and control system can provide your company a greater visibility of inventory and material handling. It will enable you to better organize your manufacturing and supply chain facilities and more accurately deliver customer orders. Moreover, it makes your logistics and supply chain much easier. If your company hasn’t implemented a warehouse control system, it is time to consider it.
Automation is now mandatory for every business success and if you want to achieve your bottom line, you should not delay automating your business operations. MWI Solutions provides a highly scalable and the most efficient warehousing solution. Consider it your potential partner for material handling automation and control and enhance your warehouse productivity.
