Tips on Improving Indiana Warehouse Productivity

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For Indiana warehouses, efficiency is the name of the game. An efficient warehouse keeps customers loyal, margins high, and employees happy. So what can you do to make your warehouse more efficient and productive? From using data to improve your day-to-day operations to smaller things like optimizing forklift maintenance schedules, these are some of the best ways to improve your warehouse productivity.

Track and Measure your KPIs

When experts in the field of warehouse management are asked about the best way to increase productivity and efficiency, the most common answer is to measure your KPIs. While this may seem like common knowledge to veteran warehouse professionals, we’re still surprised to see some Indiana businesses lagging behind when it comes to making decisions based on data. Monitoring your warehouse KPIs lets you more accurately chart increases (or decreases) in productivity and efficiency.

Below are some of the most important metrics to track for the majority of Indiana warehouses and supply-chain businesses:

  • Inventory Carrying Costs
  • Inventory Turnover
  • Shipping, Delivery, and Inventory Accuracy
  • Back Order & Perfect Order Rates

The most important KPIs will vary from business to business, so be sure to know what your most important metrics are before you base any operational decisions off of your data.

Incorporate a Warehouse Management System

Going a step beyond simply tracking your KPIs is to implement a Warehouse Management System (WMS) into your business. If your business has unique supply-chain or distribution channels, a custom WMS can offer a level of control of your operations that you may not have thought possible. From real-time inventory control, storage optimization and more, a custom WMS in the right hands can increase your efficiency in a big way.

If your business has an extensive forklift and material-handling fleet, a Fleet Management System may also be worth investing in. With a fleet management system, you can control your equipment costs by more effectively tracking usage, reducing accidents, and optimizing maintenance schedules to get the most out of your fleet.

Use Your Space More Effectively

Improving warehouse efficiency usually means doing more with less. One asset that Indiana warehouses may not be using to its full potential is physical space. The easiest way a warehouse can make better use of their shelving is to go up, not out. Vertical space is regularly underutilized, but you can make sure you’re making the most of your real estate by migrating to narrow-aisle shelving. By making use of narrow-aisle shelving and narrow-aisle forklifts, Indiana warehouses can increase their usable shelving space by up to 50%. That also means your forklifts can spend more time picking orders, and less time traveling around your warehouse, so more time is spent on valuable work.

Talk To Indiana’s Warehouse Equipment Pros

For more help on improving your warehouse productivity–especially as it relates to your material handling fleet–Tynan Equipment Company is here to help. Call us at 317-597-4003 with any forklift or equipment questions you have, or fill out our contact form with any questions you might have.

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