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Even if you do own a warehouse to store your goods, or you serve as a distribution center for a larger product range or retail chain, you might not have the luxury of a huge amount of floorspace. Plenty of warehouses in America are considered small or medium-sized, and while we’ve provided plenty of warehouse organization tips they might not all be suited for smaller facilities.

 

If you have a smaller warehouse and still want some tips to increase your organization, optimize efficiency, and make the most of your personnel and installations, we’ve got the information you need:

 

Put The Right People In The Right Positions: Especially in smaller facilities where you might not have as many workers, making sure your workers are in the right positions to meet their skill and training – and make sure that they have the proper training to succeed. Too many times in smaller warehouses, workers can ‘fall through the cracks’ and not receive the proper training and support they need to do their jobs. When that happens, operations all throughout the warehouse can suffer. Stay on top of your employees’ training and job requirements and make sure they can succeed.

 

Set Proper Benchmarks: Every warehouse, factory, or storage facility has KPIs, benchmarks, and requirements they have to meet, but smaller warehouses should track and measure different benchmarks than other larger facilities. Track how many hours it takes your workers to load or unload trucks, how many drivers it takes to complete a delivery or deliver a certain amount of goods, and how many orders are picked. When properly shared with your workers for tracking, these will give you an idea of how many hours it takes to complete certain tasks and what you can do to improve these times and standards. In smaller facilities, time is of the utmost essence.

 

Make the Most Of Your Environment: In smaller facilities, this means more than just organizing your floor space. While it does mean making sure you have ample space for wire shelving and industrial storage, it goes beyond just physical storage space. Keep your workers accountable for inventory levels and item placement, make sure to have an idea of what your transportation firm is doing and how many drivers you have on the road, and how many people are in the order-picking line when it comes time to ship out goods.

 

Incentivize Your Employees: Due to the size of your facility and the number of workers you likely have, your employees are going to have to work twice as hard to keep up with the influx of items and demand for shipment. Whether it’s a bonus structure, an hourly increase once a certain goal is met, or anything else, giving your employees that extra little bonus to meet their KPIs and benchmark goals will help keep your warehouse working as it should – and help keep your workers happy and motivated.

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