DISTRIBUTION CENTER & WAREHOUSE OPTIMIZATION CONSULTING
To ensure your warehouses and distribution centers (DCs) are running at peak performance, it’s vital to consider a wide array of supply chain solutions and warehouse optimization techniques that benefit your overall business strategy. enVista can help.
Leverage enVista to determine the optimal mix of warehouse and distribution center solutions to improve efficiency and warehouse productivity. From warehouse operations and capacity analyses to layout and design, our warehouse optimization consulting team will ensure your short- and long-term requirements are met.
Unlock the full potential of your distribution center or warehouse and maximize efficiencies with a data-driven design warehouse design.
Improve labor efficiencies, retention and scheduling to significantly improve customer experience with a holistic workforce management program.
Eliminate waste and variation using Lean Six Sigma tools and training to equip your warehouse operators and warehouse managers to provide optimal service to your customers.
Develop a comprehensive end-to-end roadmap to adapt and prepare for operational challenges.
Establish critical capacity visibility and learn optimization tips for unlocking your operation’s full potential.
Solve fulfillment costs, labor, accuracy and speed with topline, data-driven discussions to identify how much automation your warehouse needs.
Improve warehouse efficiencies and optimize operations through properly slotted SKUs.
Reduce risk, project timeline and cost with expert design build services from design to implementation.
Take advantage of costs savings, agility, flexibility and operational excellence with enVista. Our supply chain and warehouse experts can assess your current state related to people, process and technology to help create a solution that will maximize your approach and results. Solutions that fit your business requirements will help achieve cost savings, reduce errors, save time and better serve an even bigger landscape.
Ensure your business stays on track with AB701 compliance with enVista’s comprehensive checklist. Learn more here.
Running out of space is a common challenge in distribution centers and warehouses. Learn how to maximize warehouse space utilization.
Download our ebook to gain insight on DC leaders’ four biggest labor pain points and how to overcome them.
Lean warehousing allows your company to optimize your warehouse for efficiency, which lowers costs and drives higher profits over time.
Productive warehouse optimization has many benefits that can increase efficiency and raise profits for your organization. Here are a few to consider.
An accurate picture of labor needs
Knowing how much labor you need to meet the demands of your warehouse allows you to optimize your workforce and avoid worker fatigue, overtime costs, etc. An optimized distribution center makes the most of your workforce, so you don’t end up paying for unneeded labor.
Better planning and improved inventory management strategy
Inventory management has a direct relationship with warehouse and DC optimization. Good inventory control is an essential part of a well-functioning warehouse. Understanding your inventory demands allows you to plan more effectively for the future. It also helps you optimize your warehouse space and resources by avoiding overstocking issues.
More returning customers
One of the top benefits of distribution center optimization is increased customer satisfaction. When you deliver the correct items in a timely manner, you will have more repeat customers in the future. This leads to growth and higher profits, but it can only be accomplished with a smoothly running warehouse.
You will want to make sure that your warehouse maintains the standards set forth by OSHA.
To ensure the safety of your warehouse staff, you need to make sure a few standards are met. Here is a quick checklist:
Warehouse organization is often overlooked. If your warehouse floor is full of unorganized items such as boxes and labels, you won’t get far in the process of optimizing it. From the loading dock, to pick and packing areas to storage areas, an organized and optimized warehouse layout can help you streamline processes. Once your warehouse is organized, you can easily conduct an audit and see what products you have and which products you need to order.
Optimizing your space utilization can help your organization cut down costs, as you will be able to use your space for longer as your company grows.
Here is a quick checklist of ways you can maximize the use of space in your warehouse:
Optimizing a warehouse means making sure your warehouse workflow is as efficient as possible from the moment products arrive in the receiving bay. You’ll want to make sure that your workers have plenty of space to unload and check products for quantity, as well as damage and mis-picks.
If you want to further optimize your product receiving process, you can investigate automation. Automation can reduce the risk of human errors and help save time and drive down costs.
Picking and packing are two of the most important processes for warehouse efficiency, and although they are unique, one of these processes cannot function well without the other. Let’s look at warehouse picking processes first. Whether or not you have effective picking strategies can make or break your company, as incorrect products can cause an organization to quickly lose its reputation and also drive-up costs, due to returns and replacements. There are a few things you can do to optimize the picking process and avoid these errors:
Once you’ve checked your picking process, you can look at your packing process. The goal of any warehouse is to pack required items quickly and with few errors. The more your company grows, the more imperative it is to have an organized and streamlined packing process. Make sure your packing process is optimized by:
Having multiple shipping options available gives you a better chance of delivering more orders to customers on time. If you only have one shipping solution, and something happens with it, all your shipments will be delayed. For this reason, it is a good idea to diversify.
There are many popular shipping providers to choose from, such as UPS, USPS, FedEx, and FOB (Freight on Board). The more options you have available, the easier it will be to deal with any issues that arise. Keep a list of your shipping methods and make sure you’re keeping track of any issues arising in the shipping industry, so you can anticipate any problems.
Investing in robotic integration can lower the rate of human error in your warehouse. Automated mobile robots can lower expenses and increase warehouse productivity. Look into possibly implementing machines such as:
Drones
Automated vehicles
Autonomous robots
Automated storage and retrieval systems
Managing the multiple activities going on in a warehouse with different software systems can be difficult. That is where a good warehouse management system comes in. Warehouse management software can be used to manage multiple warehouse operations at once and collect all the data you need in one place. A good WMS will allow you to see stock levels, inventory movement and more, leading to a more productive warehouse in the future.
The best time to start implementing your warehouse optimization techniques is now. Even if your business is still growing, and you aren’t currently dealing with a huge number of orders, you want to make sure your warehouse is optimized to run smoothly as your company expands. Making sure your warehouse is safe and optimized for productivity will help lower costs and decrease wasted time across your organization.
Our warehouse and distribution center optimization team delivers exceptional solutions. Learn how we can accelerate results for you and your organization.
