Warehouse is a facility that serves the purpose of storing goods in abundance before moving them to another location. In Ecommerce, mainly, it is used to keep the products on the stock to ensure short delivery time requirements can be fulfilled.
However, warehousing can be much more than storing goods; it can serve as an assembly line, fulfillment center, shipment hub, rental storage space, and so much more.
While warehouses vary in their operations and functions, various processes within the facility are relatively the same. Understanding the processes is essential if you want to boost operational efficiency, increase profit, reduce accidents and costs, and overall support the entire warehouse process as a whole.
Here are the five key processes in the warehouse that will help remain in a competitive benefit to other manufacturing companies that are using these processes.
The Layout
The internal warehouse layout must be associated with the external layout to facilitate a good flow and avoid congestion in the parking area.
Be mindful of future storage requirements and adaptability when designing the layout as your sales volume can increase or find yourself in need of extra space. So, planning a warehouse layout to accommodate small changes easily and drives the efficient flow of goods can make everything hassle-free.
Another major aspect of an efficient warehouse is the racking system. Consider your needs as this can affect the amount of space and influence the layout as a whole. An effectively built warehouse ensures adequate space for racking and other facilities.
Receiving System
Receiving describes as the act of managing products into a facility or onto a particular system. Receipts can be for specific products, objects, crates, packets, pallets, etc.
Some systems require the stock to be delivered at a specific receiving area, while others allow for goods to be received into inventory. The suppliers can use ASN (Advance ship notice), in which workers at the warehouse may scan barcodes to see if the delivery matches the ASN. If the delivery matches the ASN, they are ready to be system received.
Dispatching
Dispatching process depends on the operation’s ability to have goods ready for departure to load the trucks. The manager, therefore, should balance and forecast dispatching/packing according to the carrier pick-up times.
For instance, dispatches that are ready too early can only clutter staging areas, while goods that are late can delay loading and eventually cause late deliveries. Plus, lacking skills of operators in performing the proper management of a warehouse can also be the primary cause of accidents. Employers should ensure to provide their employees with forklift certification to promote safety in your organization.
Many firms, therefore, use systems to release orders for picking and dispatching in waves and aligned to particular delivery routes.
Returns
Regardless of the companies wishing for returns to disappear, it is simply unavoidable and happens at some point or the other.
However, it is an intricate part of the business and a key process to be prepared for a variety of warehouse processes.
Value-Adding
The value-adding process is performing work on the goods to make it ‘ready for sale.’ This process might not be as straightforward, especially when different items are merged to form a new product. Complexity around handling these processes and the varying nature of product components in and out of shelves can be daunting. However, over the years, systems have evolved with an advanced logistics system.
Conclusion
Now that you know the five critical processes that are the same yet works differently for each organization, you will better understand that modern distribution supply chains are a composite mass of processes.
It is equally essential for businesses to correctly configure to different aspects and invests in an appropriate warehouse management system to remain competitive!
