Companies looking to expand often look at their warehouse operations first. It’s understandable, too, since an inefficient warehouse can become the bottleneck of success.
The more efficient a warehouse is, the faster the distribution, creating higher customer satisfaction, fewer mistakes, and accelerated operational growth.
The thing to be careful of, however, is implementing too many changes too quickly.
Overhauling operations can create heavy management burdens and major staff adjustment issues, while starting small can gradually improve productivity without overwhelming the team.
In this article, we’ll explore how to improve warehouse productivity through easy-to-implement strategies that make a big impact. Let’s dive in.
11 Easy-to-Implement Strategies That Improve Warehouse Efficiency and Productivity
Let’s take a look at 11 easy-to-implement strategies that can significantly improve warehouse efficiency to drive business growth.
1. Review Weekly/Daily Targets
Performance targets are crucial for improving warehouse productivity. Every warehouse should consider driving operations through targets and strict monitoring.
Having good targets incentivizes staff to stay on track and makes it easier for site managers to track progress.
A good starting point to improve warehouse efficiency is to review the targets you have in place. If you never hit figures, reduce the thresholds. It may seem counter-productive, but staff won’t take targets seriously if they’re totally unattainable.
Likewise, if teams easily achieve goals, increase the limits gradually. Give staff something achievable to work for so they feel like they’re doing a good job.
2. Build Staff Incentive Programs
Setting targets is one way to motivate a team. Another way is to get staff working for something that benefits them. In environments with low staff morale, this is particularly crucial, as demotivated staff are unlikely to work harder for nothing.
While pay raises and bonuses can motivate employees to exceed weekly targets, it isn’t always about the money. Other incentives can work just as well for less cost.
For example, if staff exceed weekly targets by 3%, allow them to leave an hour early on Fridays. Or if all targets are met that month, offer an extended lunch with free pizza, or entry into a gift card raffle.
3. Create Open Communication Channels
Staff often have the best ideas when it comes to how to work better. They’re on the ground day-in and day-out, so they often know exactly how to make operations run smoother and quicker.
When increasing targets or changing operations, it’s particularly important to get feedback from staff. While higher targets may be achievable, some processes may need streamlining first – and your staff could have the answers.
Create an environment where staff feel comfortable making suggestions to improve operations and efficiency. Weekly team huddles or an open-office policy, alongside good managers, can strengthen feedback loops.
4. Boost Staff Morale
As Richard Branson famously believes, happy employees are productive employees. A common challenge for all workforces, not just in warehouses, is maintaining high morale. Low moods can cause poor staff performance and high turnovers.
Building staff morale is tricky and takes time, especially if a recent grievance has affected the whole team (like mass layoffs or a workplace accident). Incentives and pay rises always help, but creating a nicer work environment is an easier, more cost-effective fix.
A quick way to boost staff morale in a warehouse is to play music. A reported 82% of warehouse staff felt happier when working to music, and 28% felt more productive. One in five even felt that music helped them bond with teammates.
5. Remove Language Barriers
Language barriers in bilingual teams can quietly drain productivity. Research on manufacturing professionals finds as many as 86% feel productivity is worsened by language barriers on site.
Not just that – miscommunication mishaps can cause more accidents and higher costs, with estimates as high as $500,000 per year solely due to language issues.
Removing language barriers makes a huge difference in how your staff collaborates as a team. Investing in a high-tech solution, like Relay that enables real-time translation in over 30 languages, ensures your team is always on the same page.
6. Streamline Warehouse Layouts
It’s worth reviewing your warehouse layout and inventory management to boost productivity. The goal is to reduce the time staff spends searching for equipment and traveling between areas.
Map where items are kept and review just how effective the positioning is. Remove clutter and ask staff for their opinion. Track the time it takes for staff to travel between areas and see if related items can be moved closer together.
Essentially, you want to organize items in a way that makes the most sense to workers, helping them do their jobs faster and more effectively.
7. Process Incoming Shipments Immediately
Incoming shipments should be processed quickly and effectively. When deliveries aren’t immediately dealt with, they take up vital space and can leave goods being overlooked, which can result in inaccurate stocktakes and more mistakes.
Set processes that enable staff to handle incoming deliveries as quickly as possible. For example, training all staff on unpacking to ensure they can jump in when needed, or ensuring sufficient staff levels through adjusted rotas on delivery days.
8. Schedule Deliveries
Scheduling deliveries can significantly boost productivity and staff performance. Having set dates for deliveries and spaced-out shipments ensures your team can manage inventory quickly and effectively.
For example, schedule the delivery of item 1 for every Monday and the delivery of item 2 for every Tuesday, so staff aren’t overwhelmed with stock on the same day.
Time-slotting deliveries minimizes surprises and helps your team plan ahead. The more planning they can do, the less chaotic unpacking, moving, and loading boxes can be, leaving shelves stocked faster and goods delivered quicker.
9. Train Staff in Bite-Size Sessions
To improve warehouse efficiency, you need staff on the same page and following the right procedures.
Training is the best way to achieve this. Just be wary of overwhelming staff with day-long training sessions to explain new operations. While these are effective for new staff, established employees can find it cumbersome. Plus, taking all staff out for training leaves fewer workers on the frontline.
Try running casual training sessions little but often. For example, hold a morning team huddle to explain a change in process. Ask staff how things are going every morning that week. In the next week, focus on a new task you want staff to perfect.
10. Audit Operations to Spot Pain Points
Are there always delays in certain areas? Which part of the process takes the longest? Why does it take so long? Can something be changed to streamline operations?
The best way to improve warehouse efficiency is to understand what’s happening on the ground. Dive deep into operations to see if you can spot any problem points. Break it down into sections and maybe even map the process step-by-step.
Visualizing what happens every step of the way can help you identify quick fixes and inefficiencies across the board. It can also help you determine what success looks like and give you a baseline for establishing whether things are improving.
11. Invest in High-Quality Equipment
Communication is the most important part of running an effective warehouse. The stronger communication between staff and site managers, the better teams can handle workload shifts and unexpected tasks.
Site managers should be in the know about everything – from who’s available to what stage teams are at. Radio systems should allow them to communicate with anyone in the warehouse, no matter how far away they are, to mitigate safety issues and prevent delays.
Poor equipment can be the biggest hindrance to productivity. Fuzzy signals and weak range can cause frustrations and leave staff unclear about important updates.
Choosing the best radio for your warehouse is a crucial decision. A high-quality solution with a good range, long-lasting battery, and strong signal 24/7 can have a drastic impact on overall productivity.
FAQs
How Can You Boost Warehouse Employee Morale?
Staff morale directly impacts the performance and productivity of warehouse staff. Employees who feel valued are more likely to work harder, with Forbes finding 65% of staff willing to work harder if they feel their contributions will be noticed.
A good way to boost morale is through recognition, reward, and good communication. Strategies to employ in a warehouse can include to:
- Set targets and reward staff for the achievement of goals
- Play low-volume music (with pop music being the preferred choice)
- Run incentive programs, like early Friday finishes or pizza lunches
- Offer end-of-year bonuses if the company and staff perform well
- Host 1-1 supervisions with staff to reduce issues/concerns
- Praise staff for high performance
- Remove language barriers (proven to reduce costs and boost morale)
- Train staff and support them to perform their role effectively
- Implement robust two-way feedback loops so staff can make suggestions
- Support staff to effectively communicate through high-quality equipment
How Can You Improve Warehouse Operations?
To optimize and improve warehouse operations, you need to review logistics to gain a deep understanding of what’s going on. An efficient warehouse is well organized, automated, and has a robust warehouse management system to track inventory.
Some ways to optimize warehouse efficiency include:
- Minimize travel time between key areas
- Store tools/equipment strategically e.g. scattered in key locations throughout the warehouse rather than in one singular storage closet
- Utilize automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for transporting goods efficiently
- Employ ABC analysis to categorize items and prioritize time spent on valuable goods
- Set targets and incentivize staff to hit or exceed targets
- Invest in high-quality equipment and automated processes
- Streamline communications and implement strong feedback loops
Conclusion
Warehouse productivity is the alpha-and-omega of efficient business operations. Bottlenecks in the picking, sorting, stocking, and delivery departments can cause huge issues for a company, leaving customers unsatisfied and staff unhappy.
Making simple changes to warehouse operations can have a big impact – with good communication underpinning every element of success.
Relay offers a modern, cost-effective solution to enhance your team’s communication. Learn more or contact us today to discover how Relay can cut costs and streamline your business operations.
