Warehousing is an essential step in the circulation of all kinds of goods – from foodstuffs to clothing to electronics and specialized equipment. Storing goods means costs that can affect a company‘s liquidity. Therefore, it is worth reducing these costs, but without sacrificing quality customer service. We suggest how to do it.
Customize the warehouse to suit your needs
A large warehouse space is convenient in that it gives a lot of freedom in planning procedures – it can be arranged in such a way that the use of various types of equipment (such as forklifts) in it is convenient and safe for employees. On the other hand, smaller warehouses – whether rented or owned by the company on its own – generate fewer costs, if only in the form of energy consumption. Therefore, the first step in optimizing costs is to customize storage space. It must not be too large so as not to generate unnecessary expenses, nor too small so as not to inhibit the pace of production and ensure an adequate level of security inside the building.
Pre-planning of the warehouse layout is important. In the process, it is important to consider both production capacity and space requirements, the specifics of the products being stored (groceries are stored differently than large household appliances), as well as the size of the racks and storage equipment.
Get rid of storage slopes!
Backlogged goods are a serious problem. Why? First of all, it takes up space that could be used for other products that still have a chance to sell. Thus, it generates completely unnecessary costs while being a frozen asset from which there is no benefit.
There are several ways to get rid of the slopes – for example, they can be sold at lower prices as part of promotions or moved to the outlet section. They can also be added to other products as a bonus. The downside of such activities is that they also generate certain costs, related, for example, to the need to delegate employees to them. In addition, it can take a long time to sell obsolete goods such as electronics or last year’s clothing collections. A much better solution is to sell the stockyard – this allows you to clear the warehouse of surplus goods at an express pace, while recovering a good portion of the costs incurred in production.
Do you have goods in your warehouses that you want to get rid of? Contact us and we will help you solve this problem!
Take advantage of cross-docking
Cross-docking is a distribution model in which storage of goods is kept to a minimum. In practice, goods received at the warehouse are immediately reloaded and prepared for further distribution. This requires excellent coordination of all participants in the supply chain, but can significantly reduce warehousing costs, such as by reducing the space required to store goods.
Reducing energy consumption
Energy consumption is one of the most important costs of running a warehouse – this includes the energy used to light it and operate its systems, as well as heating or cooling. Energy consumption can be minimized by investing in solutions such as:
good thermal insulation – reduces heat transfer through the building walls, which is important in both summer and winter,
Automatic lighting – motion-responsive sensors activate lights only in areas of the warehouse where workers are present,
natural light illumination – skylights in the roofs of warehouses make it possible to effectively illuminate the interiors of even large warehouses, reducing the need for electric lighting.
Use of used pallets
Pallets and containers used in warehouses are quite often damaged. Therefore, in order to reduce the cost of their purchase, it is worth opting for copies from the secondary market – they are cheaper, and usually their condition does not differ from the quality of new copies. Pallets without the EPAL mark can also be used for warehouse purposes, as they are also cheaper than certified Euro pallets.
