Warehouses are tricky things to set up. They need to be organized, monitored, managed, and worked with an extraordinary amount of care and attention to be able to get them working to their full capacity. This might sound like a lot of work, and if you get it wrong, it will be. However, by looking at a few key areas from the start is a great opportunity to be able to get things right the first time. Whether you are a rookie or you are setting up your eighth or ninth warehouse, here are some things that you might not know.
#1 Layout
You need to make sure that your layout is on point. You need to ensure this for both functionality and efficiency. It might sound like a lot to take on by yourself, but with the help of experts, it might not be so difficult. Custom Warehouse Design & Engineering is something that will be able to help your business get purpose-built shelving and storage for your warehouse with expert advice and professional workmanship. This is exactly what you need when you plan a warehouse, as you want things to be as efficient as possible, and therefore you should invest in high-quality materials so that you avoid downtime, as cheap and poor quality materials will break after a couple of uses and will have to be maintained or replaced far more often.
#2 Communication Software
Communication software is absolutely crucial, right from the start. This can be used between your office and your warehouse workers, or just your warehouse workers – whatever works best for you. This can be a stress saver for you in the future, as you won’t be trying to get everyone in your business switching between eight different kinds of software because you found out the hard way that things aren’t quite working the way they should. This can be a stressful period for both you and your team, so you should definitely look into getting the best communication software on your side as soon as you possibly can to stop this issue from people wasting time because they haven’t got the first clue what is going on.
#3 Fleet management software
Every warehouse needs a fleet. This can be outsourcing freight shippers to help you with your work to begin with, or if you have the funds, you have your own fleet. But you need a fleet service if you have a warehouse to ship goods to customers. This can be incredibly useful to your business and can also help keep your workers safe when they are on the road.
Fleet management software also helps when it comes to making sure that your customers know what time their packages will be arriving, as it will help you come up with accurate ETAs (Estimated Time of Arrival). This will also benefit your customer relations, and will therefore benefit your business as a whole. Remember, the organization and functionality within your warehouse will affect how efficient your external services are, meaning that one thing going wrong will affect your whole chain, which will consequently affect how your customers see your business.
