Warehousing 101 – Introduction to Warehousing Operations by Edgistify

“Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing, layout, processes, & procedures.” -  Tom Peters

We live in an era where the leading players are now offering one-day & two-day delivery services, thus making it almost difficult for the other players to survive in the market unless & until they are offering something of equal value to the customers. To meet the ever-increasing desires of the customers, it is becoming more & more vital for the brands to adapt to high tech modern warehousing. However, it is equally important for the companies to have a sound knowledge on the fundamentals of warehousing operations along with the knowledge of technological advancement in the same field. Hence, with this article, Edgistify aims to deep dive into key steps involved in warehousing to ensure that the companies get their basics right!

What are Warehousing Operations?

The main objective of the warehousing operations is to ensure that the company is meeting the needs of the customers by effectively utilizing the available resources i.e., space, labour & equipment. It is very imperative that the stored goods are easily accessible so that they can be timely delivered to the consumers. Safety & security of the stored goods play a very crucial role in warehousing operations. 

How Does it Work?

As mentioned earlier, consumers now consider speedy delivery as one of the important parameters before finalizing which company to order their goods from. Hence, companies are now aligning their warehousing operations keeping the consumer’s experience at the spearhead. Many companies have started implementing software such as CRM, WMS etc. These software provide a cutting edge to these companies by offering benefits such as giving a better clarity on the inventory levels to all the stakeholders of the supply chain & providing information on purchase data which can then be used by the managers to organize the goods within the warehouse in such a way that high demand goods can easily & quickly flow out of the warehouse. Looking out for the new technologies that can be integrated into the warehousing operations, ensuring that the goods are safe & proper security is provided to them, managing the labours etc., all of this falls under the job role of the management.

How Warehousing Operations Changed During COVID?

COVID put a strain on the supply chain operations as the companies now had to optimize their processes to ensure that the essentials were delivered to their consumers well in time. With the imposition of safety guidelines by the government due to COVID, companies now had to provide extra care towards sanitizing the warehouses, maintaining safe distance from each other while performing operations & ensuring that the labourers undergo proper quarantine procedures if tested positive.  

Another trend which saw a boost in warehousing operations during COVID is integration of automated technologies within the warehousing operations. GPS fleet trackers, ERP systems, autonomous mobile robots etc. are examples of some of these technologies. Amul made use of a private cloud & ERP system to keep a check on all of their warehouses present nationwide on a real time basis.

Key Warehousing Operations

1.       Receiving of Goods from the Supplier

This is the act of receiving goods from the suppliers. Care has to be taken that the goods received at the warehouse are the right product, are of required quantity & quality and are received at the right time. Once the goods are received at the warehouse, it is the responsibility of the warehouse manager to ensure that the goods are taken proper care of till they are delivered to the consumers. Many software such as dock schedulers & labour management systems are now available to ensure that the receiving process is carried out smoothly without unnecessary accumulation of goods at the docks.

2.       Putting Away of Goods at Correct Location

This process involves placing the received goods at the proper location within the warehouse. It is one of the crucial tasks of the warehousing operations as this might affect productivity if not carried out properly. However, if done with utmost care, this may help in reducing travel time, improving safety of goods, utilizing the warehouse space in an effective way & faster movement of goods within the warehouse. Software are now available for systematic allocation of goods to ensure that the warehouse space is utilized in the best possible way.

3.       Picking Up of Orders

It is one of the costliest processes involved in warehousing operations. This process involves picking up the correct order from the right place for packing & dispatching of goods when the customer orders for a particular product. Many companies are now making use of software for picking processes to streamline the processes involved & to reduce costs significantly. As the number of online orders are increasing, companies have also started making use of picking apparatus to increase the accuracy & to reduce the cost associated with it.

4.       Packing of Goods

This process involves efficiently packing the goods picked up from the warehouse as per the customer’s order. Caution must be taken to ensure that proper packing material is used for packing of the goods to ensure optimum safety. Additionally, care has to be taken that the packaged goods are of light weight otherwise it would add to the packaging cost of the company. Software are now available to guide the employees of the warehouse as to which packing material should be used for a particular type of product, hence minimizing damage to the goods & reducing packaging costs.

5.       Dispatching of Packed Goods

This process involves ensuring that the packed goods are loaded into the carrier trucks at the right time. A lot of consideration goes into this process as the staging area would get clustered if the goods are dispatched early and there will be delay in loading & hence in delivering the right product to the consumer if the goods are dispatched late. Hence, it is the responsibility of the manager to schedule dispatching of the goods as per the delivery schedule of the carriers.

6.       Managing the Goods Returned by the Consumers

This process involves proper handling of the products that are returned by the consumers. Each company must have a well thought process for the same. The company must ensure that the below mentioned pointers are a part of their process:

• All the details regarding the returned product are traceable like the order number, invoice number etc
• Inventory must be updated on real time basis as and when the products are received at the warehouse
• Details must be taken from the consumers as to which product they are returning & why

Some Common Mistakes in Warehousing Operations

1.     When it comes to warehousing operations, the fatal injury rate is quite high. Some major reasons for the same are poor infrastructure, inefficient record keeping, improper training, issues in maintaining the system & so on. Hence, managers should take all these pitfalls into consideration & develop proper safety guidelines to reduce the injury rate.

2.     Often miscommunication is observed between the team present at the corporate office & the team executing warehousing operations. It is very important to bridge this communication gap to ensure that changes in the warehousing operations can be brought about at the right time. This can be done by organizing frequent meets between all the teams involved.

Edgistify – Your Right Partner for Performing Warehousing Operations

Being India’s largest on-demand warehousing platform, we aim to provide our clients with simple yet flexible logistics solutions.  With adaptable warehousing network & a rich database of 41000+ warehouses, any business fulfilment will be handled with ease. Be it for long term or short-term requirements,the warehousing services offered by Edgistify will help you meet the demands of your customers. The added advantage of working with us is the distinctive storage facility that we offer which helps businesses to utilise their resources in an optimum manner thus reducing cost.

Image Sources - https://pngtree.com/so/warehouse-logistics , https://pngtree.com/so/express-delivery