The economic climate is rarely a stable thing. The unpredictability means that maximizing profits for your business needs a well-planned strategy to increase your warehouse productivity while cutting your operation costs. Competition can be fierce, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of spending more money than you need to. 

Cutting warehouse costs is very important for distribution and manufacturing professionals. While doing this, you also need to raise the levels of quality and customer service. Operating a warehouse is not as simple as you might think. 

Putting off bringing in any cost-cutting measures is not an option for most businesses. Even if you think you have cut every expense you can, there’s always room for improvement. 

For supply and demand to work correctly, a warehouse needs to products in a buy-ready condition, in the right place, at the right time. Protection and accessibility are the cornerstones to making your warehouse more efficient. To make this happen, you need to use effectively:

  • Item protection
  • Item accessibility
  • Equipment
  • Space
  • Labour

Working with these areas, you can begin to narrow down where you’re losing money and how to fix it. Warehouse consultants can help you find expensive mistakes and reduce your costs. 

Reduce Space By Optimizing Storage

Land cost pushes up your expenses. Smaller spaces are more cost-effective, so you can keep more items in less space by changing how you keep things. 

Aisles make navigation easier for workers and machinery. The faster a product is located, the sooner it can be loaded and out for distribution. 

Learn the dimensions of the forklift you need for each type of product. Arrange your inventory by the aisle dimension needed for forklift access and reduce aisles’ width where you can. 

Racking is the most efficient option for inventory storage and space optimization. By doing this, you will be able to increase the allowable square footage for pallets. Narrow and tall is the most common build for racking. Consider safety, too so that you can use the appropriate racking system for your current inventory. 

Protect Your Inventory

A considerable amount of money can be lost every year in warehouses. Some of these losses are caused by stock being misplaced or stolen, and a large number of losses are from stock damage. 

You can eliminate damage by introducing proper packaging and storage procedures. It also helps to extensively train your employees. 

A proper control system also helps to avoid product misplacement. Discourage theft by posting guards at the doors and designating minimal staff and visitors who can enter and leave the warehouse. 

Remember that theft can occur both internally and externally. Warehouses can be high-value targets for thieves, thanks to the value of the product inventory. To reduce the chances of theft from your warehouse, keep control of any access points by keeping all the doors locked. You can implement a key card system for those who need access. 

The best security system you can afford is also a good idea. If your warehouse doesn’t operate overnight, you should have a guard system during off-hours.