Lean strategy may sound like a buzzword for startups, but it’s also a time-tested principle of good warehouse management.
If you want to shave off time and streamline processes, you need more than good intentions. You need a strategy that examines how your warehouse works and which steps can be cut out or made simpler.
Here’s how to make your warehouse go lean:
- Spell out all processes: Walk through all your typical tasks and write them out, diagram them, make a timeline — whatever makes sense to spell out the process on paper. You have to know what’s happening before you can make it leaner.
- Analyze value, necessity, and waste: Determine how each step fits into the ultimate goal. Some steps add value, others seem like waste. Some may not add value but are necessary.
- Find new, efficient solutions: The hallmark of lean warehouses is reduced time at various steps of the material handling process. Where are you losing time — receiving, processing, moving, picking, putaway, or all of the above? Start with the most troublesome and time-consuming task and get an equipment mover to lighten the load, like a powered trailer dolly.
- Leverage technology: If your warehouse runs on outdated software and tools, your workers are probably doing too many tasks manually. Consider investing in software that automates more steps like inventory paperwork.
Every little bit adds up to huge gains in efficiency over time. Explore our ergonomic material handling solutions to discover powerful new tools for your lean warehouse strategy.