How To Remodel Your Warehouse: 5 Expert Tips
When was the last time you remodeled your warehouse? Even if it’s only been a few years, reexamining aspects of your facility, like your warehouse, equipment, and more, is likely to help improve efficiencies and, ideally, profitability. And in the spirit of continuous improvement, you should always be looking for ways to gain a competitive advantage over others.
So whether it’s been a decade or just a couple of years, now is the perfect time to reassess the inner workings of your warehouse. Let’s take a closer look at some of the critical areas you’ll likely want to pay attention to:
Remodeling Your Warehouse – Key Considerations
Evaluate Your Foot Traffic Plan
Are your warehouse aisles wide enough? Are you still racking up many recordable and near-misses from fall accidents due to obstructions on the floor? If so, it could be time to make plans to optimize traffic paths and overall layout to reduce the potential for accidents. Even if your layout is already seemingly optimized, causing a minor improvement can help make working conditions safer and more productive. Even the most minor improvements can add up.
Don’t Forget the Loading Dock Area
Loading docks are among the more dangerous areas in the warehouse environment due to the fast pace of activity in and around them. When reassessing your loading dock area, keep safety at the forefront when implementing a process to keep workers safe and loading/unloading actions more secure.
New Materials and Equipment
Part of this step can be performed hand-in-hand with optimizing the layout. Look into acquiring new shelving and storage equipment to make your warehouse more efficient. Assess the condition of your warehouse floor. If it has frequent cracks, holes, or unevenness, it could be time to invest in a new one to ensure an unkempt floor isn’t jeopardizing warehouse operations. Now is also a great time to examine any capital equipment plans to see if you’re ready for upgrades to vertical lifts and other machinery to help get the job done.
A Clean Sweep
Sometimes a thorough cleaning of the facility can do wonders in terms of organizing and eliminating unnecessary clutter. Doing so can also influence other facility areas that you look to optimize.
Inspect Your Equipment
We already talked about equipment and machinery in this piece, but it’s worth mentioning again here. All equipment has a shelf life, and the good news is that when you go to replace older equipment, you’re likely to acquire better, more efficient and more productive, and safer models when the time comes. Every warehouse should have a capital equipment replacement plan. Inspect your current equipment, assess this plan if you need to invest in new equipment, and make decisions accordingly.
There have been considerable advancements in warehouse equipment improvements over the past several years. It should be the goal of any warehouse manager always to have a pulse on operations and where improvements can be made. Get into the habit of regularly assessing and optimizing your warehouse to ensure a safer, more productive, and more profitable environment. Contact our professionals today for guidance on your next warehouse renovation!