Boosting efficiency and getting updated with modern technology presents various challenges to warehouse companies whether they are small or middle sized. These can result in inefficiency and massive expenses. There are various essential standards that are affiliated with efficient warehouse management. They include:

• Processing sales orders fast and accurately
• Regulating stock levels to  increase profits
• Processing affiliated transactions
• Regulating stock storage and movement
• Linking sales order preparation to logistics management

Businesses are likely to experience warehouse challenges and incur huge expenses even after adhering to these standards. The fundamental processes of warehouse management are dynamic and intricate and can cause complications when disregarded.

Entrepreneurs can avoid these challenges by evaluating them and understanding the solutions they provide. As an alternative, they can also hire an experienced third party logistics company to minimize regular material handling and warehouse problems.

Challenges Influencing Warehouse Operations

Below are some of the most popular warehouse challenges and how to avoid them.

• Inadequate Warehouse Arrangement

Narrow hallways can make navigating through the warehouse a difficult task. It could also lead to product and material damage. Businesses should consider redesigning and streamlining their space in order to create enough space.

This not only eases navigation but it also enhances productivity. Regardless of your warehouse size, increasing work areas helps cut down unnecessary expenses. Badly structured layouts can cause warehouse management problems hence affecting the company profits adversely.

Storing space consuming products and materials in bulk can result in costly warehouse difficulties. While narrow hallway designs provide additional storage space, they require trucks and pickers to operate in a restricted area. In order to maximize your space while maintaining high profits, warehouse entrepreneurs should:

Keep high selling and fast-moving inventory at the front area of the inventory. This will help cut down travel time.

Utilize space saving equipment rather than large and space consuming equipment. Pallet dispensers and an advanced palletizing robot helps you to maximize your perpendicular storage.

• Perpendicular reach Struggles for Employees

Various equipment or tools in the warehouse could be too high or low for workers to reach, hence requiring them to either stretch or bend in order to complete tasks. This not only slows down production, but it also exposes employees to the risk of injuries. Employees working under such circumstances are also likely to suffer from muscular strains and back pain.

• Slow Picking from Employees

Order picking, the process of removing products from a warehousing system in order to accomplish a specific number of independent orders is a critical factor in the warehouse supply chain process. Approximately 50% of labor resources in warehouses involve pick, pack, and shipping tasks. Slow picking, in this case, can jeopardize operations and accumulate expenses. Picking problems can be solved by:

• Boosting picking time and precision by adopting separate pick location for each stock keeping unit
• Getting rid of human handling and multiple processes and adopt handheld scanners and barcodes instead.
• Designing the warehouse to allow horizontal picking as compared to vertical picking. This will enhance productivity.
• Minimizing movement time by adopting cluster and batch order picking concepts
• Incorporating advanced equipment such as palletizing robots and pallet inverters to minimize time wasted when moving heavy objects manually.

Unreliable Inventory Counts

An unreliable inventory can cause various warehouse management problems. They include low productivity, lost revenue, increased expenses, inappropriate stock levels, and eventually an obsolete inventory. Maintaining accurate inventory management operations such as appropriate documentation and record maintenance are critical for the success of the warehouse.

It ensures precise product shipping times and guarantees the delivery of good customer service. This ensures that finances are well documented and reduces operational costs. Integrate precise inventory records and effective inventory warehouse operations in order to promote your competitive advantage.

Finally

Warehouse owners can utilize various strategies to ensure that their businesses are operating precisely and efficiently. They include: creating adequate inventory labeling and naming complete with comprehensive descriptions for easy and quick identification, keeping the warehouse organized, and mounting readable maps of the facility within convenient areas.