What is efficiency? In its simplest, it is the time, effort or cost taken to achieve an overall objective. Good use of these three things is defined as efficient – meaning that there is a reduction in the time, cost or effort needed to complete the task. With this reduction comes better productivity – the more efficient a warehouse is, the more cars they will make per day, for example.
Efficient warehouses can improve business sales and potentially improve income – something many companies will judge their success by. The question is…how can a warehouse become more efficient?
How can a website be more efficient?
A good warehouse design is one of the best ways to improve productivity. Although this sounds simply – understanding the requirements of the warehouse and your business needs can sometimes become a large project within itself. Understanding where certain stations should be positioned from packaging, to goods in through to storage are all needed to make for a well-designed warehouse. For example, having the finished products stored and ready for collection and distribution in the centre of the warehouse, could impact heavily on the time taken to load transport vehicles as well as the ‘man effort’ required. This could then take away workers from other areas of the warehouse – making for slower productions and less efficiency.
Although a warehouse may be large and full with production equipment, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the space is being used wisely. The use of computer aided design (CAD) could help better understand your warehouse in terms of size, equipment requires, such as shelving units, and could enable you to pin point spaces that could be put to better use – making your warehouse more efficient.
%20230210.jpg "warehouse design")
These CAD drawings could open your eyes to excess warehouse space that is simply not required enabling you to better plan your business strategies whether it be to downsize your warehouse – potentially saving rental costs – or increase scope of productions. Many consultancy companies, such as Gideon Hillman Consulting, are able to provide advice and CAD drawings to help improve the way you look at your warehouse space, leading to better productivity.
If you have acquired new warehousing space and would like advice on warehouse design or even if you would like to remodel your existing design to make for a more efficient warehouse, please speak to a member of the Gideon Hillman Consulting team by telephone on 01926 430883. Alternatively, you can visit the company’s website to find out further information on effective warehouse design ideas.