Warehouse Safety – Optimising Workspace

Warehouse Safety – Optimising Workspace

In this final article of the warehouse safety series, we will be looking into how you can optimise the workspace at your workplace. Many managers are aware that their facilities are not optimal for their operation. However, they tend to blame a lack of time and strategies on not being able to find an effective solution. Although you may believe you cannot fix this, with a comprehensive audit of your systems and processes, you could successfully optimise your workspace. Optimising your warehouse space will not only increase employee productivity, but it will also have a positive effect on the safety of your warehouse.

Make the most of your floor space

When managing a warehouse one of the most important factors you need to consider when optimising your workspace is making the most of your floor space. No matter how big or small your warehouse is, it is essential to ensure you are taking advantage of every bit of floor space available to you. The positioning of your equipment needs to be suitable for you to operate without running into any problems. Using a sufficient shelving & racking system can be very useful to allow you to store all of your products in an orderly fashion without taking over precious floor space. This will allow you to stay organised while utilising all of the space available to you.

Organise your pick routes

Organising your pick routes can help you better map out your warehouse and allow for quicker processes. By analysing your flow of products, you can find the most efficient path for your pickers. This could halve the time spent on picking, to significantly improve your employee productivity and output. Through your analysis, you will also be able to realise which type of storage equipment will be most convenient for the way you operate and your product type. You can then clearly separate your products into categories by size and type to optimise your picking processes to full capacity and enhance productivity across the board.

Use a standardised inventory system

A standardised inventory system can speed up your operations while also reducing your costs. This ensures that your pickers can find items more easily to make your processes more efficient. This can be solved by incorporating a WMS (warehouse management system), although this can be expensive to implement. So, if you are running on a tighter budget, a cost-effective method of solving inventory issues is by numbering and coding locations of items and products, to make them easier to locate. With this implementation you will be able to avoid errors in locating items, resulting in employee productivity and output improving.

Man on forklift picking products in warehouse

Eliminate redundant processes

Redundant processes can be encouraged if you allow mistakes and errors to take place without recording them or correcting them. This can result in costing you more money and losing time due to making corrections, leading to productivity and efficiency falling. You can solve this by evaluating your current processes and operation procedures to streamline your workflow. You should aim to eliminate all unnecessary employee contact that can disrupt your workflow. This will lead to better working habits and will ensure that your procedures are simplified and transparent across your business. From this, you can optimise your workspace more and therefore elevate employee productivity.

Keep operations under control

It is vital to have clear performance indicators in place for your workforce alongside their responsibilities, so they are aware of their goals and what they need to achieve. By putting team performance goals in place, your employees know what is expected of them and what they need to do to achieve targets. Your workflow will then be simplified and optimised, which allows managers to keep operations under control as they always have a clear understanding of what is happening. In result of this, you will witness improved employee productivity and efficiency allowing you to better optimise your workspace and output.

Two employees checking stock in warehouse

Consider accessibility and safety

Accessibility and safety are very important aspects that you need to consider in your warehouse when optimising your workspace. You should ensure that products are accessible at all points so picking processes can be completed with no faults. With heavy products, you should aim to store them in a low position to facilitate picking and make sure that items can be lifted safely to avoid any unnecessary accidents. Your warehouse should have clear walkways and routes so your employees can operate their role in an efficient but safely manner. Put accessibility and safety at the top of your concerns and this will lead to a much better environment for your employees to work in, which will directly impact your productivity.

 

Consider these factors in your warehouse today to optimise your workspace and improve employee productivity at your premises. Browse our heavy duty shelving and stainless steel shelving here at IDH Direct to better optimise the space at your workplace. Alternatively, contact us today to find out how our shelving and racking options could help to enhance your warehouse.