Warehouse Management Tips: Location Numbering

December 1st 2015 13:00:26 PM

Increasing efficiency is always a goal in warehouse management. One place to look for improving productivity is in inventory location numbering. Let’s get back to warehouse management basics with a few best practices for inventory location numbering.

1. Keep it Simple. Make your location numbering scheme easy to use and understand. Using numbers works best, but you can use letters if you keep it to no more than 5, i.e., letters A through E. Position your numbers from left to right because that is how our brains have been trained to think.
2. Be Consistent. Never place more than one SKU in a location at one time. This is a simple warehouse management rule, but an important one in order to maintain inventory integrity.
3. Be Specific. Identify each of the elements of the storage location—the aisle, section, bay, shelf and level.
4. Communicate. A great plan won’t be effective if workers don’t know what it is. Before you implement your plan, ask workers if it makes sense to them. Once you have a location numbering plan, train your staff on it.
5. Execute. Print your location labels so they work for your warehouse’s temperature and lighting. Place the labels where they are easy to see.
6. Automate. Simplify the entire picking process with Scanco’s Sage 100 mobile app. This application is designed to eliminate the paper pick ticket and track orders that your warehouse processes on a daily basis. Coupled with Scanco Warehouse, this app takes the guess work out of where to go in your warehouse.

Following these practices in your location numbering system will result in increased accuracy, higher efficiency and labor savings. Contact us today if you would like to learn more ways to automate your warehouse.