Increased productivity means increased production, decreased costs, and more efficient uses of time. These benefits are especially obvious in a warehouse setting. Any time you can find a way to increase productivity, even in small ways, you will improve your business in big ways. Here are three tips for increasing productivity in your warehouse.
Reduced Wasted Time
A lot of revenue is lost due to wasted time. While it is easy to blame workers for this, there are steps that you can take as a leader to maximize on time spent at work. Establish a work environment where expectations are clear, hard work is incentivized, and workers feel needed. Ensure that there is always enough meaningful work to be done. When your workers understand what they are supposed to do and how to do it, when they feel like a valuable member of the team, and when workflow is consistent and organized, they will generally give it their all. And as always, lead by example.
Create a Better Organization System
Organization is a foundational principle of lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing is a work principle that was formulated to streamline businesses and increase profit. Maintaining a highly organized warehouse can improve performance in three of the five lean manufacturing principles. When your warehouse is well organized, workflow won’t have to be interrupted by searching for items or having to shuffle them around. Creating an organized system is also ideal for establishing pull. When your warehouse is well-organized, you will know exactly where you need to increase production based on the needs of your clients. Finally, organization is an important part of the lean principle of perfection, which teaches that every aspect of a business can be continually improved. Perfecting your organization system is the perfect place to start.
Maintain Equipment
Nothing slows down productivity quite like broken-down equipment. It is essential for your machinery and other warehouse equipment to always be functional and ready for use. Chances are, you rely on dozens of machines every day, such as pallet jacks, service carts, forklifts, stackers, platform trucks, packaging machines, and more. When just one of these tools breaks down, the entire production line can be halted. To avoid this, perform regular inspections and tune-ups on all of your equipment.
When you utilize these ways of increasing production, you will find that everything runs more smoothly. Your inventory will be more accessible, your workers will be happier and more efficient, and you will stop losing time due to failing machines. Furthermore, these changes should quickly translate into higher earnings—a positive for everyone.
Read this next: How to Improve Your Customer Experience and Capture More Leads