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Warehouses are similar to the machines operating within them—their systems need to be up-to-date to operate smoothly. Lean warehousing is the best method to cut down operational costs and streamline your processes for a safer, efficient work environment. Here at Fulfilment and Distribution, we have plenty of experience with warehouse operations. We’ll explain how lean warehousing can help you.
Key Takeaways:
Let’s take a closer look at how lean warehousing can help you run a profitable warehouse.
Table of Contents
Lean warehousing aims to reduce waste without interfering with production. The method’s core goal is to maintain warehouse operations at a higher frequency with a simple strategy: Follow the 5S principles.
The 5S principles are based on Kaizen, a Japanese manufacturing methodology. Kaizen means “continual improvement process” and the 5S principles expand the idea into five steps.
1. Sort and Organize
Lean warehouse management starts with trimming the fat. This means eliminating unnecessary processes that slow down day-to-day operations, like using outdated software or storing excess equipment that leaves less room to work or stow other essential items.
2. Set-in-Order
Once you’ve narrowed down processes, it’s time to arrange them in a practical layout to boost productivity. This could be organizing your inventory to reduce employees’ bending and back strain when handling or updating labels on supplies. The goal is to be intentional with your time and warehouse space for optimal operation.
3. Shine and Clean
A clean warehouse is a safe warehouse. Establishing daily, weekly, and monthly clean-up routines like organizing supplies, sweeping, and sanitizing reduces the chances of workplace injuries, overall improving your warehouse’s functionality.
4. Standardize Processes
When you’ve nailed the processes required for your facility’s lean warehousing, create learning materials for employees to follow. This training can include guidelines for warehouse procedures, like the following:
Practice good record-keeping so paperwork and other resources are easily accessible when it’s time to train your team.
5. Sustain the Process
Maintaining your lean warehouse goals means staying diligent to the plan you’ve set in motion. Schedule warehouse audits and inspections to ensure every facet of your facility is running smoothly. This can include inventory management, safety compliance training, and other tasks that give insight into sustaining improved production.
Related: Types of Warehousing Management Systems
Happy employees, satisfied customers, and increased revenue are essential for every business. Here’s how the benefits of lean warehousing will help you achieve those goals.
The type of SKUs you select and how you store them directly impact the speed you’re able to ship goods to customers.
This is where using lean warehousing to choose your orders comes in. Every warehouse and business has different distribution needs, and knowing which order picking method will best suit your production efficiency is key.
Whether it’s zone picking with SKUs designated to particular zones, or wave picking on a time-sensitive schedule, going lean helps you prioritize your warehouse capacity and fulfillment capabilities.
Customers don’t want to wait too long for their shipments, and you don’t want to rack up costs holding inventory, either.
Once you know your picking method, your warehouse is set up to easily grab SKUs and get moving. Lean warehouse management boosts flow through distribution by cutting down inventory processing and getting shipments on the road faster.
Lean warehousing utilizes your warehouse capacity so every inch of your facility works without waste.
This includes another essential lean warehouse management philosophy: Takt time.
Takt time calculates the manufacturing time it takes to meet customer demand. Here’s the formula:
You can break down the production time into hours, days, or weeks, whichever accurately fits your operations. When you divide production time by the number of products you move, the solution is the rate your warehouse could process each product.
From how you lay out paths for inventory picking to where you store supplies and equipment, every element flows together to enhance lean operations.
Like any system, you can expect some errors when operations aren’t stable. However, you can circumvent the three most common pitfalls with these easy-to-apply solutions.
Pitfall #1: Transportation Delays
When employees have too many steps in between their picking zone and the loading dock, slowdowns in production become inevitable. This kind of transportation waste can be grating not only to truckers who need to hit the road, but also to your employees who risk injury from unnecessary movement.
Solution: Create a U-Shaped Layout
Lean warehousing works best with a U-shaped layout to keep receiving and shipping docks side by side. This layout allows employees to utilize cross-docking and expedite moving freight.
Pitfall #2: Waiting Around
Whether it’s waiting for the truck to arrive, waiting for a response to an urgent email, or waiting for a software update to finish installing, getting held up can stunt productivity.
Solution: Organize Your Work Day
Get a head start on the day and make a to-do list of tasks arranged from least to most imperative.
Remember, lean warehouse management starts and begins with sorting and organizing. Remove the guesswork from your schedule and tackle projects before they pile up.
Pitfall #3: Inventory Surplus
Ordering too many SKUs to try and meet customer demand and getting stuck with a packed warehouse that you can’t move quickly enough can hurt business. It could also lead to workplace hazards if your employees don’t have clear paths to walk and handle items.
Solution: Implement Cross-Docking
We mentioned earlier how cross-docking helps move freight fast, but here’s exactly how:
Cross-docking is a prime example of lean warehousing eliminating waste and scaling up productivity.
Whether you own a warehouse or work with a 3PL, lean warehousing solves production issues with a step-by-step strategy for success.
If you’ve tried these solutions on your own and you’re ready to partner up and scale your optimization, Fulfillment and Distribution is at your service.
Our experts are happy to work with you on all your warehouse needs. From storage, retail fulfillment, and more, give us a call at (866) 504-6712 or start your services quote today.
