THREE COMMON CHALLENGES FOR A MANUAL WAREHOUSE AND HOW A WMS CAN SOLVE THEM

If you’re a mid-size or smaller company, you may be operating a manual or man-to-goods warehouse.

And like any category of companies, while operating a manual warehouse has benefits such as flexibility and accessibility, it also comes with its own set of challenges.

Let’s take a look at three specific challenges when operating a manual warehouse and ways to transform these issues for success.

• Capacity

Often times, the need to maximize space when expanding is not an option. But today, with advancements in software and technology, space constraints are more easily tackled by examining and optimizing your current space. A good warehouse management software (WMS) provider can visit your facility, survey the area, evaluate your business model and client needs, and make recommendations to ensure optimal storage capacity and utilization.

In order to guarantee you’re operating at maximum space efficiency, you’ll need to make certain that you can efficiently pick product. A good WMS can help slot products efficiently based on movement and suggest to users how and when to re-slot buildings.

• Scalability

Adapting to growth can be challenging—even more so when your warehouse isn’t prepared to grow with you. Implementing a strong warehouse management system can transform your warehouse into a facility that is capable of maintaining and increasing the level of performance as your business expands. A quality WMS provider can help accommodate growth by offering a scalable system.

A scalable WMS solution makes for easy training and provides a low learning curve. But more important, a WMS should stabilize workflows. Older solutions use batch techniques, which provide peaks and lulls during operation. But a waveless approach provides a constant workflow ensuring your warehouse will see an increase in productivity and less downtime.

• Visibility

Knowing what product is where and how much is present is critical knowledge for warehouse operators. However, it can be a nightmare to obtain this information in a manual environment. Without a WMS system in place, it’s difficult to track inventory and accurately forecast what’s needed to fulfill orders in the pipeline. With a WMS, inventory accuracy and traceability is a given, in addition to real-time tracking, granting operators the most up-to-date information regarding available inventory.

Operating a successful manual warehouse is challenging, but certainly doable. But with a strong warehouse management system, many challenges you experience can easily be alleviated, offering greater confidence in your operations and greater efficiency for your customers.