Improving Inventory Management in Your Warehouse

One of the last things you want to do as a warehouse is saying you have inventory and then finding out you were mistaken. Keeping a proper log of inventory and keeping up to date with any changes or additions can help stop that from happening. Being disorganized can be a huge setback in your business and can make you seem untrustworthy to your customers.
Creating a perfect method of inventory management for your warehouse doesn’t have to be a daunting task. If anything, it can be exciting to see everything fit together like a puzzle and watch your warehouse become more efficient and profitable. Thankfully, there are some simple ways to get your warehouse to this stage and make inventory a piece of cake.

Decreasing Shrinkage

To help prevent shrinkage within your warehouse there are some steps you can take to make this happen. While taking a complete inventory of your items may be a large task and could take time away from the actual work that needs to be done, you could take cycle counts. This is another form of inventory counting where you only need to count small areas of your warehouse to ensure everything is in order. Cycle counts could be done once a quarter to keep things running smoothly.
Shrinkage can also be decreased with the addition of better security. Add cameras to darker corners of the warehouse or add security cards to your worker’s routine. Security cards can help keep a log of who is entering a specific area of inventory and keep them accountable.

Organizing Appropriately

When you are figuring out the layout of your warehouse, there are a lot of customizable options to keep in mind. Warehouse storage racks can look different in each warehouse and be specialized to whatever product is in their inventory. Choosing a proper racking system can help keep better control of your inventory. These shelves can also be organized with signs or marking to ensure the right inventory is going where it should be. Shrinkage can also occur because of improper placement. That can be stopped with labels or signs along your rows and columns.
Organizing the inventory itself properly can also help keep better control of it. If you know one product is moving faster than another, make it more accessible to your workers to keep a better eye on the turnaround. This is also a great opportunity to implement security cards as well. Placing unpopular inventory in an area that isn’t in the way of faster-moving items if they aren’t moving quickly can help too.

Keep Workers Accountable

While security cards could be a great addition to your warehouse, paper logs are great options as well. Pen and paper logs can help track who is going into inventory and at what times and fight against any possible shrinkage.
Proper training of the inventory can also help against inventory problems. If an employee doesn’t understand where something goes, how to take it out or replace the item, it is clear that the inventory may reflect that. Training working appropriately can make sure that doesn’t happen.
When running a warehouse, your inventory can be the most important aspect to keep control of. The last thing you want is shrinkage or improper numbers. Thankfully, implementing good inventory management can be simple and easy.