Warehouse & Dock Equipment

Using an Inventory System to Reduce Warehouse Theft

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using inventory to reduce theftRegardless of the types of products they store, nearly every warehouse has experienced shrinkage due to employee theft at some time or another. But one of the best prevention tools you can use to reduce or eliminate theft from your warehouse doesn’t require the purchase of an expensive surveillance system or the adding to your payroll with the hiring of security guards. It’s your inventory system that might need the upgrade.

An accurate, frequent inventory of the products you store in your warehouse can be your best defense against employee theft. First, when your workers see your inventory being counted on a monthly, or even a weekly basis, it will put them on notice that you are paying close attention to how much of your product should be there. While some businesses will perform a physical inventory as little as once a year simply to satisfy bookkeeping requirements, a monthly or weekly inventory will help you identify and solve a theft problem more quickly.

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Inspecting Your Pallets Saves Money

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One of the biggest overhead costs in any material handling operation should not be pallets. This is the easiest type of cost to keep track of and the easiest to control. Here are a few pointers to help cut costs associated with pallets and damage to palletized materials. QC Your Pallets Check your pallets often … Read more

A Little Planning Can Improve Warehouse Racking Efficiency

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warehouse rackingIf you are considering installing new shelving in your warehouse or replacing existing shelving to make it more practical, taking the time to consider the long-term implications of your warehouse racking system can increase efficiency and reduce long-term costs.

The first thing to consider is your storage density. Deep-lane storage opportunities — such as double-deep, drive-in, drive-though, pallet-flow and push-back racks — can make your warehouse more versatile and profitable. Obviously, if you need continual access to every pallet in our facility at all times, deep-lane storage is not the best option. But if you don’t require 100% selectivity, it usually will pay off in the long run.

FIFO or LIFO?

Before making a storage density decision, you need to consider whether your warehouse is Last-In First-Out (LIFO), or First-In First-Out (FIFO). FIFO operations do better with pallet flow racks while LIFO lends itself to deep-lane storage. If you use buried loads in a LIFO operation, you could be unnecessarily increasing your material handling labor cost.

Another thing to consider is your picking profile. Are your typical orders primarily picking pallets, cases or pieces? Do you pick from bulk to replenish a forward pick zone? How you configure your warehouse racking will be a function of your most common picking profiles. While most setups are not 100% efficient, by building your flow to your most common picking profiles, you can optimize your efficiency the greatest number of times.

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The Importance of Forklift Preventive Maintenance

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Preventive Maintenance Makes Everyone HappyToo often big business tries to cut back on doing preventive maintenance in attempts to cut back on overhead. Small to medium sized business will often try to do the same. This is a huge mistake and ends up costing more in the long run. In this post we will discuss the advantages of preventive maintenance (PM) and how not participating in a PM program in regards to your equipment is the same as just breaking it yourself.

Gaining Control of the Situation

Preventive maintenance is the foundation of any maintenance strategy. Having a strategy in place means that you schedule 80% of your maintenance at least a week in advance without losing any equipment. Some of you are thinking this is impossible because you would need an extra forklift as the ones you are currently using are going nearly 24/7 as it is. No, you do not need an extra, you are already short one.

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How to Calibrate a Digital Scale

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The accuracy of your scale can determine whether your business is profitable or not. If your scale is not properly calibrated, you could be giving away product for free or overcharging your clients for what they purchase. Either option is not desirable if you want to maintain good  customer relations. Whether you are using a … Read more

How do you find an accurate scale?

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KILOTECH Bench Scale
KILOTECH Bench Scale

If you have the belief that every scale is the same, you are virtually saying the same thing as every automobile is the exact same or every smartphone is identical. The old expression you get what you pay for applies to anything, warehouse scales included. Therefore, making the decision to cut corners by paying less for a scale is often a grave mistake. Why? It is important to keep in mind that any successful warehouse must have control over the entire process of production and delivery, start to finish. But what happens when you take every necessary precaution, control every single step of the production process efficiently only to get to the point where you weigh and ship your product, and do so inaccurately.

The margin of error with scales is minute. An inaccurate scale will produce minor inaccurate readings yet over the course of weighing a few thousand products every day/week/month you are all of the sudden looking at one major loss of potential income. Consequently, every wise warehouse owner/manager understands that one of the major factors to running a smooth and profitable operation is dependent on the scale(s) which you use.

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Achieving Peak Efficiency with Material Handling Equipment

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Achieving Peak Efficiency
Achieving Peak Efficiency

The definition of material handling equipment is equipment that is related to the movement, storage, control and protection of materials, goods and products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption and disposal. Consequently, because material handling equipment is so vital to all stages of production and consumption, business owners and managers are always seeking ways to increase output, control costs, and maximize productivity. In other words, the three vital aspects to whether material handling equipment is achieving peak efficiency or not.

Material handling equipment is divided into four categories:

1. Storage and Handling Equipment
2. Engineered Systems
3. Industrial Trucks
4. Material Handling

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Industrial Heater Maintenance

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March is here and depending on where you live, the sun may be coming out more frequently and the weather getting warmer as a result. Warmer weather is usually a good thing for job sites which may have been delayed and hampered over the last several months due to snow, wind, or the cold. If … Read more

Selective Pallet Racking Systems

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Selective pallet racking is the most common pallet racking system in use today. The type of racking system usually is completed in one of two configurations: a roll or clip-in configuration or a structural bolt-together configuration. 1. Roll Formed Selective Racking is usually manufactured in a ‘teardrop’ style. The term ‘teardrop’ is used because the … Read more

Rules for Using a Ladder Correctly

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If you work on utility poles, do exterior painting, wash windows or any other job where ‘dealing with heights’ is a skill required to carry out daily functions then you have more than likely been grilled on safety tips for using a ladder. However, painters and carpenters are not the only ones who will ever … Read more