In a warehouse, productivity is the difference between a successful day, week, month, or year, and a financial report that puts the business in the red. Discover how to prevent warehouse productivity losses with strategies for helping employees and reducing downtime.
Emphasize Employee Training
One of the most common sources of productivity loss is mistakes made by employees. Often, the problem isn’t that the employee is unqualified, but that they’re undertrained and make errors as they’re pushed to the limits of their skill and knowledge.
Investing in employee training is critical for improving productivity, as workers can perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively when they’ve been trained sufficiently. Also, consider completing periodic reviews to assess employees and determine if they need further training.
Invest in High-Quality Technology and Equipment
Another common cause of downtime and productivity loss in a warehouse is the use of ineffective equipment and out-of-date technology. Equipment and tech are not areas where you want to cut corners in your warehouse; while it may save a buck or two in the short term, it will impact your productivity down the line.
In addition to implementing high-quality equipment in your warehouse, ensure that your space is ready to handle technology and equipment problems when they arise. This includes having trained technical staff onsite and keeping spare forklift parts on hand for when there’s a breakdown.
Focus on Communication
Communication is another area where productivity is commonly lost in warehouses and many industrial workplaces. Communication problems like conflicts and inefficiencies are often the result of workplaces underestimating the need for collaboration and an established communication strategy.
It’s crucial for all of the departments within a warehouse, regardless of what they do, to be on the same page. This can be maintained with consistent communication through meetings, emails, or even radios on the warehouse floor. Too often, time is lost in a warehouse due to clarifying orders and instructions or misunderstanding them altogether.
Analyze Operations
Many warehouses have inefficient operations and processes. For these workplaces, it can be difficult to notice any operational inefficiencies until managers take a step back, analyze, and focus on the big picture of their warehouses.
Operational assessments and critiques are valuable tools for warehouse managers looking to improve productivity and efficiency. Reviewing picking, packaging, and other warehouse processes regularly is integral to cutting down on lost time.
These are just a few ways to prevent warehouse productivity losses, although there are many more. Keep in mind that one of the most important things is to review and analyze your warehouse management and processes to find areas where greater productivity can be extracted.
