10 pieces of advice for warehouse management of your e-commerce
Internet expansion as a new consumption channel has brought about significant differences in logistics management of stores.
The online channel poses a logistics challenge due to a much more variable flow of goods and demand, as we pointed out in this article.
Even so, there is advice available which will improve control of your warehouse management, also in e-commerce.
If your business is open to the digital channel, you shouldn’t miss it:
- Be sure you have enough space.
It may seem obvious, but your warehouse should provide you with the space you need to store the goods. The challenges lay in being able to predict goods fluctuation when you start an online business and count with its growth that will be gained with time.
Your space should be ready in the case of peaks of demand and able to adjust to the characteristics of products which will be stored.
- Keep the order and cleaning up-to-date.
Another important aspect is to keep the warehouse clean and tidy. Each block should be divided into an uploading and unloading zone, each product should have its allocated space and relocation points should be prepared correctly.
- Be sure your storage systems are adapted to your product.
An adapted system should provide direct access to products in order to streamline order preparation.
If your products are small sized, shelves for picking are a good option. Their upside is that they are easy to install and we can easily expand them by additional modules according to our needs. Their only drawback is that usually they aren't higher than two meters.
To take advantage of the warehouse's height, which is considerable in the majority of logistics facilities, an alternative could be to build mezzanines and install shelves on them. Moreover, shelves of great height can be erected and elevated aisles collocated between them, otherwise order picking machines with elevation could be used.
If you can afford an investment, order picking automation will bring highly competitive results. To achieve this, automated warehouses with boxes are set up where the workers stay in the picking point and the goods are brought to them autonomously.
- Streamline fulfilment with conveyor system for boxes.
Another strategy to streamline the fulfilment by minimising movement of workers in the warehouse is to count with a conveyor system for boxes. It involves rails which take prepared orders to the consolidation area autonomously. Usually they are installed in warehouses with mezzanines or in shelves with platforms which connect different levels of warehouses in an automatic way.
- Count with warehouse management software (WMS).
Due to variable fluctuation of goods, information about stocks in an e-commerce warehouse should be accurate and reliable. An effective solution is to implement warehouse management software (WMS), which would identify and sort out goods in the warehouse.
WMS also provides information about remaining orders to prepare and is able to send instructions to the workers about necessary phases to complete an order, as well as what products are needed and in which aisle they can be found.
- Sort your products out in a strategic manner.
To streamline warehouse management, fast-moving products should be stored in easy to spot and to access places. In contrast, products of lower demand should be placed in less accessible and more hidden parts of your warehouse.
- Separate well the reception zone and the shipping zone.
Although it seems there is no place for doubts about this subject, when the volume of goods movement starts to grow a lot of mistakes are made. For that reason, it is essential to count, from the very beginning, with reception and shipping zones differentiated correctly.
- Receive and place your order before preparing your orders.
Occasionally, we are tempted to take out a product which we are sent from the box and prepare an urgent order to save time. Even though nothing happens if we do it once, to make a habit of it would lead to a situation when you don't know what you have, where you have it nor what you should have.
To avoid bad habits which contribute to disorder, it is better to start from putting the order in its allocated place before preparing an order.
- Demarcate the picking zone and the storage zone of your shipping.
When the responsible for the delivery gets to the warehouse, it is important that total clarity about boxes which are to be taken away exists. You can, for instance, prepare some shelves or pallets for exclusively this purpose. In addition, paperwork and invoices which the delivery person needs should also be prepared in advance and left in a visible place.
- Opt for qualified and specialised personnel.
Despite the fact that when you start all the workers can carry out any warehouse management tasks, when you have grown it is better to specialise each of the workers in a specific task, so that they do it with the best result and in the minimum possible time.
This will allow you to approach or to reach the 0-error rate and in the case of a problem to the situation when each worker will have enough knowledge and skills to solve it.