Precision Warehouse Design has continued to install automatic material handling systems throughout lockdowns and cross-border restrictions. The strict border requirements implemented by Canada in 2020, prevented PWD from traveling to several active job sites. A recent 2021 project completed in Canada benefitted from our cutting edge controls and real-time monitoring software.

Precision Warehouse Design’s team, headquartered in North Texas, partnered with Canadian mechanical and electrical installation partners. As a result, the client’s new construction distribution center had a large conveyor system integrated by PWD virtually. Although it was a challenge, our team was able to communicate via video conference and test all systems remotely.

Conveyor Equipment and Services Included:

• High speed sortation with (8) downlines and recirc line over dock doors
• CSA certified PWD designed control panel
• (10) pack out stations
• Induction platform
• Extendable conveyors for fluid loading
• PrecisionWare360 (controls software package)

Client Testimonial: “We recently consolidated multiple facilities into one new DC to service Central and Eastern Canada.  Our integrator, Precision Warehouse Design, could not physically be on-site to test and support start-up, due to Covid restrictions.  They did this 100% remotely using their state-of-the-art software and controls technology.  We were nervous, but after the first day we were amazed at how well the system performed!  Kudos to PWD and your Project Management and Controls Engineering Teams!”

– Vice President of Operations

Even if you are following industry best practices for efficient warehouse operations, you still must continually assess its productivity and effectiveness. All too often, we see warehouses with less-than-efficient layouts, systems, and practices in place. An inefficient warehouse can drag your entire operation down and harm its profitability.  But how can you make your distribution center more efficient? Let’s explore ideas for improving warehouse efficiency.

1. Use the Right Storage Systems

Your warehouse equipment is one of your largest assets, but are you making the most of it? Are you using warehouse storage systems that suit your products?  An investment in the appropriate pallet racking systems for your products may involve an initial capital expense that will pay off in the long run if the result is reduced bottlenecks, fewer accidents and faster throughput.

Another way to maximize efficiency is to expand up rather than out. Make use of vertical space by installing taller storage racks, alongside the proper equipment to organize and pick products, to truly maximize your warehouse floor space.  Consider a mezzanine system to add additional storage, production, or office space.

2. Add Automation Where It Makes Sense

Your team is likely performing many repetitive tasks that, depending on the nature of your business, could be automated.  Here are some examples of how automation can make a warehouse more efficient:

• There are many options for automated storage solutions such as those that can quickly sort and consolidate small items quickly, automatically pick small items from vertical or horizontal carousels, or load and unload pallets with a shuttle system.
• Carousels and conveyor systems can move products from a storage area to the assembly area. 
• Robotics Systems can handle repetitive tasks, saving money, time and productivity lost to injury.  Robots can open boxes, move materials through the warehouse, and handle numerous other repetitive tasks.
• Automated Pick-to-Light Technology can help warehouse personnel pick more orders, with greater accuracy, in less time.  The light-based system guides employees through the warehouse to the items for each pick without worrying about lists and locations.

3. Invest in Software to Improve Warehouse Efficiency

One way to boost efficiency relatively quickly is by using warehouse management software (WMS).  This software looks at your products and warehouse processes and uncovers ways that the warehouse can run more efficiently.  WMS will recommend specific locations for SKUs, placing high volume items in the optimal location and items that are picked less frequently in their appropriate place.

A warehouse management system can optimize packing, picking, receiving, allocation, restocking, returns, shipping, and more. A WMS module provides automated pick lists sent directly to mobile devices, which helps to eliminate mistakes. Furthermore, barcode or radio frequency identification (RFID) systems help improve accuracy and reduce picking errors

4. Evaluate Warehouse Layout & Design

Is your warehouse designed for the business you have, or has the design just happened as your business has grown? If your current warehouse space doesn’t work for anymore, you may just need a reorganization rather than an expansion.  Our FasTrak Design service can help you get a more efficient, workable warehouse layout in just three business days. 

5. Cross-Train Employees

Training employees on more than one job function works toward improving warehouse efficiency in a number of ways. It can increase productivity when an employee is out sick because an existing employee can step into their job. During peak season, you can move employees to the areas where they are needed most, reducing the need for seasonal employees.

Cross training isn’t just good for the company, it’s good for the employee, too, making them more valuable by increasing their skills.  And, when you invest in an employee by giving them additional training, you are showing them you value them, which may increase their loyalty to the company and decrease turnover.

Tips for Management

As warehouse management, or business management in general, taking steps to implement efficiency best practices can appear, at first glance, overwhelming. Here are a few tips to help:

• Offer an incentive program to better involve your employees in their training and general organization tasks around the warehouse.
• Design a quality training process from the ground up with the help of experienced warehouse managers or outside contractors.
• Research top-rated warehouse management systems and choose the one best suited to your needs.

Warehouse Systems and Software at Precision Warehouse Design

Alongside the countless tips we offer for warehouse efficiency improvement, Precision Warehouse Design proudly provides businesses of all sizes with complete warehouse solutions from pallet racking to conveyor systems to  software solutions, including warehouse management systems.

For efficient warehouse systems, layouts, and software designed to help make running your business easier, contact Precision Warehouse Design today. We help businesses like yours maximize warehouse efficiency every day.

In order to run your manufacturing or distribution business successfully, you must have the right information to manage the goods constantly moving in and out of your warehouses. With that in mind, business owners like you turn to business software tools. There are plenty of options available, including warehouse and inventory management systems. Some business owners may not know the difference between inventory and warehouse management. 

Despite their similarities, the two are distinct software systems that can boost your company’s profitability and efficiency to different degrees. Read on to learn more about the key features of warehouse management systems and inventory management tools and what sets them apart.

Inventory Management vs. Warehouse Management

 Most use inventory management and warehouse management interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same.  Note the main difference between inventory management and warehouse management systems:

• WMS — A warehouse management system covers the entire day-to-day operations of a warehouse, including inventory management. A competent WMS offers inventory allocation optimization, receiving and putaway, picking and packing, everything to do with shipping, like packing lists and invoices, and reporting tools to analyze.
• Inventory Management — Alternatively, warehouse inventory management systems cover the very basic processes involved with inventory. This system involves cycle counting inventory strategies, barcode tracking, tracking inventory levels, receiving orders, and managing locations within the warehouse.

Differences Between Warehouse Inventory Systems & WMS

With so many similarities, what are the differences between warehouse inventory systems and warehouse management systems?

• Complexity — An inventory management system in a warehouse is more simplistic — a bare-bones package for businesses that allows a small business to get up and running quickly. Warehouse management systems are more complex, allowing companies to manage their entire warehouse system to scale.
• Integration — An Inventory management system will cover the preliminary phase of each process in your warehouse, like product tracking. But what about the rest? A warehouse management software solution, on the other hand, integrates with every aspect of the warehouse, including production, supply, sales, quality assurance, and distribution.
• Control — An inventory system for a warehouse provides your company with data regarding in-stock products and quantities. That’s the extent of its capabilities. But a WMS provides more complete information including specific locations where SKUs are located within the warehouse. This type of control makes a huge difference. A WMS also provides you with data you need to run other areas of the business more efficiently. 

Types of Inventory Management Systems

What is an inventory management system? Let’s review the commonly used systems.

Manual

For small-time operations, manual inventory management in warehouses is a viable system. This involves either hiring an outside vendor to come in and manually track inventory or spending internal resources to do the same. In some cases, businesses shut down for a full day or two to manage their inventories.

Of course, the downside of manual tracking is the possibility of human error. Your employees must physically track and record data.

Barcode

Another option is the tried-and-tested barcode system, which requires a UPC code on every product, package, and pallet in the warehouse. Using a scanner, employees input data directly into the computer system via digital readings, which ensures accuracy.

RFID

RFID, or radio frequency identification tags, that come in two flavors: active and passive. A dynamic RFID system uses tag readers throughout the warehouse to offer real-time inventory count and location data. A passive system only operates when an employee activates the reader, which is generally a hand-held device.

Types of Warehouse Management Systems

We’ve looked at inventory management systems; now, let’s explore the types of warehouse management systems out there.

Standalone WMS

A standalone warehouse management system features the core basics of a WMS. You’ll enjoy a reduced cost but miss out on many supply chain functions that help a business operate. The included features are generally inventory management and warehouse operations, like barcode scanning, cycle counting, slotting, receiving, picking, packing, and shipping.

ERP Module

Most of today’s top ERP (enterprise resource planning) software solutions will include a warehouse management system that features everything a growing business requires. These systems often include components to handle receiving, allocation, picking, manifesting/shipping, returns, voice pick data management, RFID, single-user inventory management, labeling systems, check weigh, maintenance management, bulk operations, kitting, plus supervisor monitoring and reporting, and more.

Cloud-Based WMS

A cloud-based warehouse management system, as the name would suggest, features an entirely web-based, centralized-computing model that utilizes cloud technology to easily track and store data. It’s often a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that offers fantastic scalability and quick deployment for growing businesses. One of the standout features of cloud-based WMS is in its flexibility, allowing businesses to customize their software based on their needs.

A Solution Customized for Your Business

Precision Warehouse Design works directly with companies like yours to implement industrial warehouse management software that helps you better interact with and manage your warehouse from top to bottom. Our tried and true process analyzes your operation and applies best practice principles to put together the optimal WMS software solution for your business.

For the warehouse management systems that will take your operations to the next level of efficiency, contact us today!

Take a look at any high-performing manufacturer, distributor, or retailer and you will usually find it is a company who knows how to organize a warehouse. The optimal warehouse layout allows an organization to operate with maximum efficiency and minimal waste.

If you are running out of space in your current location but a larger or second warehouse isn’t in the budget, you may still have options.  Warehouse optimization may be a practical solution that you can afford. You may be able to rework you existing warehouse layout to hold more goods and improve its functionality. Check out the warehouse setup ideas below to see if any of these offer viable solutions.  And if you need professional warehouse design ideas or assistance from warehouse design and layout pros, consider consulting an industry expert.

Warehouse Optimization Ideas

Does Your Warehouse Layout Fit Your Use Case?

One warehouse layout does not fit all.  Ecommerce businesses will require a different warehouse setup than a manufacturing company does and the same goes for a distributor.  Differing business operations necessitate differing warehouse design needs.

If your business has changed over the years, you might consider these new warehouse layout ideas. Or, if you acquired your facility from another business and kept their layout, it may be time to create a warehouse design that is tailor made for your company.

• Do you need cross-docking capability and if so, does your warehouse setup accommodate this?
•  Is your forklift fleet sufficient to serve the demands of receiving and shipping at their current locations?
• Does your current warehouse setup meet your security requirements?

Right-Size the Aisles

A critically important part of setting up a warehouse is determining the proper aisle width.  The aisles must be wide enough for forklifts (or the equipment you use), but aisles wider than necessary waste precious space.

Will slightly narrower aisles make for a more efficient warehouse layout?  Possibly, but there are many factors to consider before you revise your warehouse design to narrow the aisles. Look at your storage racking system, pallets, pallet jacks, forklifts, etc.  Don’t forget to consider existing vents, sprinklers and lights when resizing aisles so that you don’t make the warehouse unsafe or uncomfortable.

Use the Right Number of Aisles

Aisles eat up floor space that can’t be used for storage or anything else.  So, having only as many aisles as are absolutely necessary is important.  Here is another place where having the right racking system is important. Depending on your product type, you may be able to use dynamic warehouse racking (e.g., flow racking) to reduce the number of aisles required to store product.

Evaluate Your Racking System

We’ve mentioned racking systems a few times already.  They are so important to warehouse optimization. Pallet racks create the framework of the storage system in the warehouse and there are many types of racking systems, each with their own advantages.  But how should the beams be spaced for optimal storage? You should have precisely the right number of beams on your racking system for the weight of your inventory.

Maximize Vertical Space

Every square foot of warehouse space is fair game when you are trying to maximize efficiency. This includes the areas above docks, sorting and assembly areas, and space above cross aisles.

You can even add a mezzanine, which is an elevated floor space that essentially adds a partial second floor to your warehouse.  A mezzanine system is an excellent way to use vertical space in a warehouse.  Mezzanine systems can be used for equipment storage, production, office space or to store product not on pallets. You can even add a multi-level mezzanine.

Fine Tune Your Warehouse Management System

Your warehouse management system (WMS) monitors product quantities, picking, packing, cycle counting, shipping, receiving, and more, and produces reports to help you make changes and improvements. Your existing WMS should be alerting you to existing problems in your warehouse, from poor product locations to slow moving items.  If it isn’t, you are not using it to its fullest.

If you don’t have a WMS, this is an excellent time to consider making the investment. WMS can identify weak points in your current warehouse setup, provide the data you need to improve forecasting, recommend better locations for SKUs, suggest how to improve warehouse layout, and even recommend significant changes in operational strategy like slotting methodology.

Consider Warehouse Design Software

Consider an efficient warehouse design and layout service. Precision Warehouse Design’s FasTrak service is a project approach developed as a solution for the constantly changing needs of today’s distribution and manufacturing facilities.

FasTrak was designed to rapidly assess your operations and to provide quick, accurate information on design, space planning, equipment, and reallocation of warehouse resources.  FasTrak creates a unique, custom warehouse design based on fit, form, and function in just three to four business days.

Consult with a Warehouse Design Expert

As business owners, we often view our systems through a closed lens. Fortunately, warehouse and distribution consulting services are available to help organizations who want to know how to streamline their storage and order fulfillment operations. A consultant with decades of warehouse design and layout experience will be able to create a warehouse layout that provides the perfect solution for your business.

For more warehouse organization ideas visit our website or for personalized assistance setting up a warehouse, contact Precision Warehouse Design today.