The Top 3 Warehouse Operations Best Practices: How Does Your Business Stack Up?

March 21st 2019 15:00:00 PM

When it comes to warehouse operations, businesses often value various best practices differently. To one business, using inventory for quality assurance is their primary concern, while for others, inventory control to cut costs is important.

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We agree; different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes. But when it comes to warehouse operations, a few best practices do stand out as a common element among top-performing businesses. Look at the following three warehouse operations best practices. How does your business measure up? 

1. Automatic data collection: If you’re not using automated data collection in your warehouse operations, you are missing a huge opportunity to save time, cut costs, and reduce mistakes. Automated data collection is easier and more cost-effective today thanks to barcode scanning technology that transforms your smartphone into a handheld scanner. Data then transmits through the internet to your ERP system to provide instant updates to your inventory system.
2. Ongoing cycle counts: Instead of waiting for end-of-year inventory or twice annual inventory, ongoing cycle counts continually monitor and update inventory status. This helps you manage your inventory with real-time data rather than data that is a few weeks or months old. It also provides an up-to-date valuation of your inventory for accounting and operations management.
3. Keep receiving clear: The receiving area of any company tends to get backed up, and inbound orders can quickly stack up. It’s understandable—after all, staff is probably concerned with ensuring that customer orders ship promptly. But without knowing what’s coming in, you can’t get a complete picture of your inventory. Make sure that inbound items are scanned into inventory just as promptly as items shipping to customers are scanned out. 

What are your warehouse operations best practices? What do you recommend to others? Do they vary by industry? We’d love to hear from you. Contact Scanco today for more information on inventory management solutions for your business.