Warehouse Management



A warehouse management system is a critical component of an effective overall supply chain management systems solution. Warehouse management system began as a system to control movement and storage of materials within a warehouse. Today it even incorporates tasks such as light manufacturing, transportation management, order management, and entire accounting systems.

Implementation of Warehouse Management System (WMS) will provide you an increase in accuracy, reduction in labor costs if the labor employed to maintain the system is less than the labor saved on the warehouse floor and a greater ability to service the customer by reducing cycle times. WMS may not serve you with inventory reduction and greater storage capacity. An increase in accuracy and efficiency receiving process might lead to reduction in level of safety stock required.

Warehouse Operations

Many tools can be used to shortcut simple processes, by five or even 10 times as much, while taking less effort from the employee. Don't skimp on purchasing an extra pallet jack, if the costs your employees time every day, from having to share one or two of them.

Generally, labor costs more than materials. That means if you can find the right amount of tools in order to shortcut the labor involved, then even if these tools are somewhat expensive, it's usually still a good purchase. This means if you have to spend extra to get stretch wrap that doesn't cling or break in the middle of wrapping, then it is wise to spend the extra money.

The proper equipment maintenance is also a very important warehouse operation. Not only will it improve productivity, it will also raise the standard of safety in the warehouse. You should schedule preventive maintenance to work on two fixed lift trucks, conveyor systems, dock equipment, etc. to ensure things are run properly before they break down.

Warehouse Labeling

They are 4 basic types of barcode labels used in warehouses:

- Location Barcode Labels - These are used for finding out the items in a warehouse. They are mostly used to pinpoint the location of a particular item.

- Reflective Barcode Labels - Contains a series of barcode which are readable by humans. They are usually quite large and can be scanned from quite a distance. They are usually mount on a wall or hung from the ceiling.

- Floor Barcode Labels - Floor barcode labels are stuck on floors and use highly durable adhesives to permanently stick them on the floor. They are usually made of metal such as steel and aluminum.

- Pallet Barcode Labels - These are the most common barcode labels in a warehouse. They are used to tag pallets or crates that are moving from one location to another location.