3 improvements that had a massive impact in the performance of our warehouse (3)
3 improvements that had a massive impact in the performance of our warehouse
Although we have some items dropshipped, 99% of our volume goes through our own warehouse.
As your volume grows, the demands on your warehouse grow. And where it was pretty much the whatever works and doesn't cost too much approach when I started, I can see how I would have done things differently.
Mainly because of the immediate and big impact these changes had.
But you:
- Have to know things exist first
- Find the right option
- Have the budget
With the last one being the easiest thing to solve. especially when the time you can save can immediately be invested in selling more.
So here's the list of things we have done to improve our effiency, speed things up and lower the amount of mistakes.
The list is in order of importance, so the #1 on the list had the biggest impact.
1. Warehouse & order management software
I can't even remember how I found it, but I do remember why I started looking for a solution.
Printing a shipping label meant going into the GLS or UPS site and entering the customers shipping info and creating a label.
When we placed an order with our suppliers, we'd print that off so we could get it out of a drawer when the goods came in.
Checking stock levels meant walking up to the shelves and yelling to a colleague "yes, we've got them".
All that changed when we got the software, which is technically a Saas, so cloud based. At €300 a month, it was not exactly cheap and our volume was way below what we do now.
But even after a few days, we couldn't imagine ever having to work "the old way".
Because it integrated with the Magento site, as well as with UPS, GLS etc, an order would come in, a pick list would be printed if the item was in stock and with a click, we would generate the shipping label. Which automatically roll off the printer.
We're currently using more advanced features, such as multiple warehouses, item locations (each location in a rack has a code) and barcodes, which we didn't use to start with.
We use picqer.com
2. Box shredder
The more you buy, the more boxes you receive. Many of which you can not use again, because they look bad.
Or are big ones and your customers don't buy in the same volume.
We - at some point - had so much paper, that it took up 15 to 20 m2 in our warehouse. It would be collected for free every 3 weeks by the local waste disposal company, who would bring it to a reclycling facility. They do this round for the whole village.
But that meant that we had to dedicate expensive warehouse space to storing - for us - paper with zero value.
At the same time, we are buying loads of filler material to make sure the items are safely packed inside the shipping boxes.
Enter the HSM ProfiPack C400, which you can feed boxes and carton (once you have made them flat) and out comes a sheed of rilled carton, which is semi shredded. This makes it a flexible piece of carton you can use as filler material.
It works really well, is strong (so takes even thick material) and really quiet (for what it does).
The result - we've invested just over 1K in this machine and buy less filler material, plus we only use about 5 m2 of space in the warehouse with the remaining material (like sheets of paper etc, boxed up for recycling)
3. Different printers
We used to use one big printer to print everything, from emails to picking lists to shipping labels and stickers.
That meant sometimes changing the type of paper (from A4 to sheets of stickers) and sticking shipping label in pouches.
Now, we have 4 printers:
- 1 for amazon product labels
- 1 for our own product labels
- 1 for shipping labels
- 1 general office printer
This makes life a lot easier, as labels come out fast and you have the right labels for the right application. So small labels that go on products and large tear off stickers that are now the shipping labels.
All again compatible - where needed - with the warehouse management software, so the labels are automatically routed to the right printer.
We use Zebra label printers which are about €350 incl VAT.
We have done more in the warehouse, such as improve the shelving, lighting, as well as install airconditioning for the whole building, but the above three items are easily implemented and are applicable to anyone with their own warehouse.
Hope this helps...
I love reading tips like these ones. Very simple, easily applicable and proven time savers. You've posted several great threads lately, keep them coming 
Thanks @matuloo - much appreciated
Home > Paid Traffic Sources > eCommerce