Warehouse Cost Operations: Maximizing Efficiency While Keeping Overhead Down

Warehouse Cost OperationsChoosing between LTL and dedicated truck transport shipping is only one of many daily decisions that influences company overhead. As a business owner, you have to be strategic with your outgoing inventory in order to keep costs down.  Warehouse cost operations also include handling in-house inventory, staff management, and the use of equipment and technology.

Labor

Labor accounts for about 50% of overhead costs. It only makes sense, therefore, to maximize investment in this area. Here are a few ways to improve employee productivity.

  • Consider flextime schedules to give employees more flexibility
  • Cross-train employees
  • Invest in formal training and certification/re-certification
  • Closely monitor individual employee productivity
  • Enforce safety/OSHA protocols
  • Reward employees who perform well (e.g. volunteer for overtime work, seldom call in sick)

Equipment Use

Are you optimizing equipment use? Does equipment regularly breakdown and bring operations to a halt altogether? Be sure you maximize your use and handling of all equipment.

  • Minimize malfunction with regular inspections by a service vendor
  • Consider short-term rental or leasing instead of buying
  • Make equipment perform double-duty

Daily Operations

Evaluate your daily operations to determine what needs improving.

  • Employ warehouse management software to cut down on logistical error
  • Regularly slot and re-slot depending on sales trend and frequency of use; restructure rack configurations if necessary
  • Keep supervisors on the floor at all times to minimize employee misconduct
  • Enforce best package-handling practices to reduce inventory damage
  • Implement bar coding or RFID scanning to improve stock keeping unit (SKU) tracking

We’ll Help You Save on Warehouse Cost Operations

Have outgoing inventory? Contact Machine Transport to find the best carrier for the job. Shipping also factors into your warehouse cost operations, so get in touch with the right common carrier or line haul shipper. Arranging for the shipping of machine tools is what our crew does with high professionalism. Wherever your company is located in North America, our machine transport service will move your heavy equipment across the street or across North America 365 days of the year. Contact us today for a quote or to discuss your specific project.

Warehouse Cost Operations Experts

Professional Machine Tool Transportation Serving the U.S., Canada & Mexico

Posted on July 16, 2020 | Published by Ignite Local | Related Local Business