Warehouse Improvement Options for 2009

Top Actions Being Taken
Aberdeen Group has been researching the logistics and material handling industry for years. A recent warehousing analysis points to a number of pressures compelling warehousing logistics professionals to investigate more in productivity solutions. Dynamic fuel costs have professionals up and downstream in the supply chain scrambling to find cost-cutting measures and higher operating efficiencies.

Similarly, ever-rising square footage expenses are forcing enterprises to think critically about maximizing productivity within their current distribution footprint – as opposed to bringing another site online. Even with this increased desire to seek productivity gains, visibility is difficult.

Says, the distribution manager of a large non-profit organization, “The warehousing function in my organization is put on the backburner – especially in terms of resources as compared to other areas of the supply chain.” He adds, “We’ve tried to tie into value-stream mapping to bring attention into the warehouse. But again, it comes down to re-source allocation and the warehouse has traditionally come up on the short end.”

What are companies doing to change this? Below are the results of survey respondents.

Top Actions Being Planned or Taken to Improve Warehouse Operations

• 61% Create more agile warehouse environment to support customer-specific demands
  
  
• 61% Achieve more productivity from existing facilities by revising throughput strategies
  
  
• 57% Improve visibility to warehouse activities and inventory and order status
  
  
• 50% Improve warehouse employee productivity
  
  
• 32% Build a new or expanded distribution center
  
  
• 18% Implement more value-add services capabilities
  
  

Need assistance in conceiving a more agile warehouse environment? Want to discuss revising throughput strategies? Contact Morrison Company for a facility assessment..

You Do That?

FIFO Rack Systems
Creative Storage's pallet flow systems are designed for first-in-first-out (FIFO) applications. These types of bulk material handling systems yield a faster inventory turnaround which aids in protecting dated products.

Creative Storage Systems provides bulk material handling equipment tailored to your needs through on site consultation and analysis, making your business knowledge an integral part of your engineered material handling systems. The result of this innovative bulk material handling solution can expand your inventory management system up to 70%. It's done by eliminating excess aisle, providing first-in-first-out (FIFO) stock rotation, improving inventory management, reducing fork-truck travel, energy & labor costs while simultaneously increasing safety and product protection.

Pallet flow systems can double the capacity of an existing warehouse or decrease the square footage requirements in a new facility. Here are common benefits:

• FIFO - "First-In-First-Out" Inventory
  Understanding FIFO requirements is beneficial when handling material that is date sensitive or perishable.
  
  
• Reduced Labor & Equipment Cost
  Forklifts have shorter distances to travel reducing labor cost as well as the number of forklifts required.
  
  
• Organized Inventory
  Our innovative solutions contribute to faster, more efficient order fulfillment.
  
  
• Inventory Audits
  Performed in less time with increased accuracy.
  
  
• Less Pilferage & Product Damage
  When pick faces are reduced, pilferage is decreased (less access to the product). Also, minimum material handling ensures less product damage.
  
  
• Increased Safety
  Fewer aisles provide a safer environment for pedestrian traffic throughout the warehouse.
  
  
• Reduced Overhead Expenses
  Reduced warehouse space equals energy savings. Reduced number of forklifts equals lower equipment maintenance cost and also less space required for maintenance.
  
  

Ergonomics Best Practices

Why Improve Your Workplace?
Manual handling of containers may expose workers to physical conditions (e.g., force, awkward postures, and repetitive motions) that can lead to injuries, wasted energy, and wasted time. To avoid these problems, your organization can directly benefit from improving the fit between the demands of work tasks and the capabilities of your workers. Remember that workers’ abilities to perform work tasks may vary because of differences in age, physical condition, strength, gender, stature, and other factors. In short, changing your workplace by improving the fit can benefit your workplace by:

• Reducing or preventing injuries
  
  
• Reducing workers’ efforts by decreasing forces in lifting, handling, pushing and pulling materials
  
  
• Reducing risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders (e.g., awkward postures from reaching into containers)
  
  
• Increasing productivity, product and service quality, and worker morale
  
  
• Lowering costs by reducing or eliminating production bottlenecks, error rates or rejects, use of medical services because of musculoskeletal disorders, workers’ compensation claims, excessive worker turnover, absenteeism, and retraining
  
  

Manual material handling tasks may expose workers to physical risk factors. If these tasks are performed repeatedly or over long periods of time, they can lead to fatigue and injury. The main risk factors, or conditions, associated with the development of injuries in manual material handling tasks include:

• Awkward postures (e.g., bending, twisting)
  
  
• Repetitive motions (e.g., frequent reaching, lifting, carrying)
  
  
• Forceful exertions (e.g., carrying or lifting heavy loads)
  
  
• Pressure points (e.g., grasping [or contact from] loads, leaning against parts or surfaces that are hard or have sharp edges)
  
  
• Static postures (e.g., maintaining fixed positions for a long time)
  
  

In addition, poor environmental conditions, such as extreme heat, cold, noise, and poor lighting, may increase workers’ chances of developing other types of problems.

Why not contact Morrison Company today for an ergonomic review of your manufacturing or distribution facility operations.

Warehouse Improvement Best Practices

Is Warehouse Improvement Only for Big Operations?

You may be surprised to find out that companies of all sizes are taking a serious look at their operations. With the downturn in the economy the drive for warehouse improvement is underway. Remaining competitive is on everybody’s mindset whether it means cost control or process improvement.

With all of this attention some companies are still finding it difficult to gain traction with their management. The Aberdeen Group researched companies as to the barriers to making improvements to warehouse productivity. Below are the respondents’ answers.

• 52% Insufficient warehouse technology
  
  
• 48% Internal visibility about the warehouse is marginal
  
  
• 47% Warehouse layout prohibits higher throughputs in existing footprint without a major overhaul
  
  
• 37% Poor best practice sharing
  
  
• 33% Lack IT resources to support warehouse technology initiative
  
  

“We are working with logistics partners to redesign our warehouse layout and implement RF technology,” senior vice president at a small distribution enterprise. Want to get started looking at your operation?

Contact Morrison Company about developing the most efficient storage design for your warehouse’s picking and storage operations.