Ways to Improve Distribution Flow Layout Throughout the Warehouse to Improve the Dispatch of Shipments
There are different ways that West Indian warehouses in Jamaica can use in enhancing distribution in their premises. First, they have to adopt lean operations in the warehouse. The warehouse has undergone some rapid changes in the past decennia, which requires that the organization should take the current practices. In this regard, they will start using high-level management systems that will be useful in ensuring the shipment of stocks accurately. These improvements will also be critical in reducing loading and unloading times. Besides, there will be increased reliability in the way information is handled in the warehouse to ensure that there is an enhancement of flexibility. These steps are critical in dealing with the upcoming issues in the changing market. Due to the improvement in picking and packing, a reduced amount of time is used, which will be essential in preventing losses as experienced in the West Indian Warehouse (Bibin, Prasanth, & Jebadurai, 2018).
Secondly, it is critical to ensure the training of staff to enable them to use the most sophisticated kind of technologies in the warehouse. It will ensure efficiency as the employees are aware of what they are doing. It is known that even the most effective techniques will not be helpful when the employees have not obtained adequate training. As a result, it is critically essential for warehouse management to ensure the implementation of programs, which will help equip employees with excellent skills. Also, the teaching of employees how the technologies are handled is crucial. Training programs will ensure safety and provide more innovative ways of operating the warehouse.
The West Indian has to create omnichannelfulfillmentt points. The company has only a 10000 square foot open warehouse, which is managed by FIFO. It seems that the warehouse is using a single channel, which creates the need for providing several channels, which will be critical to ensure flexibility. Moreover, there will be a reduction in costs and labor needed to run the warehouse. The West Indian must also ensure that it develops effective frontline managers, which will have a significant impact on affecting the costs and quality of services offered in the organization. Lastly, the warehouse starts using the supply chain, which will involve proper management of the receiving dock.
Ways Through Which West Indian Gold Can Reduce Large Amounts of SKU’S Damaged When Handling Materials During Storage Operations
The main issue causing the increased damage to the warehouse products includes stacking pallets of products on top of each other. In addition, there is an issue with the handling of goods. At that point, a hand truck is used, which is not appropriate for this kind of operation. In this regard, there are different ways through which West Indian Gold can reduce these kinds of damages, one of which is the raining of the staff.
The other way to reduce the possible impairments is regular inspection of the pallets causing damages. Making the interior of the pallet clean can consume much time; however, it is crucial in the operation of the warehouse. It is always a problem when the untidy pallets are causing damages to a warehouse. Moreover, keeping the pallets clean will improve the health of the warehouse employees. Besides, it is pivotal to use warehouse shelf containers that will be critical in protecting the stock during storage. The use of self-containers will ensure that they are kept intact. One of the solutions to prevent the problem of putting the products on top of each other is the storage of small items in the warehouse in bins, boxes, and containers, which will prevent them from collapsing over each other.
For the issue of using hand trucks, which are not for this particular job, it is critical to use the reach trucks. It is because they are of great importance when working on narrow aisles. Also, they can be useful in providing lift heights of 14meters.
Technological Applications That Would Improve Performance in West Indian Gold Warehouse
Due to the challenges experienced in the West Indian Gold warehouse, it must employ the use of technology. For example, it has to use machine-to-machine technology (M2M), which is useful in monitoring and streamlining all the processes in the warehouse. When it is used together with the WMS, there is no complication in controlling the equipment in the warehouse. It is what the West Indian Gold warehouse needs to improve performance. The technological improvement will also provide the managers will insights on how they can take action when expediting decisions (Stoltz et al., 2017).
Secondly, the use of fufulfillmentptimizing technology is critical in the operation of the warehouse. It is one of the new technologies in the market that helps pick orders and increase accuracy within the warehouse. In this regard, there are two types of fulfillment optimizing technology that will be useful in operating the warehouse. They include a pick-light system, which enables the managers to know the location and state of products in the warehouse. At that point, it will be easy to identify the products that are to be picked. They ensure flexibility in the warehouse, as they can analyze the number of products selected and stored in the warehouse. The put-light systems will also enable the managers to allocate products in the warehouse. The technology is useful for warehouses like West Indian Gold because it ensures efficiency in picking products from small bulk.
Third, the use of robotics technology in the West Indian Gold will help managers in supervising mothe vement, sorting, and storage of goods within the warehouse. Due to volumes of products stored in the warehouse (10000), there is a need for faster shipment, and thus, this kind of technology will be useful in reducing labor, offered by hand truckers and lower costs.
Operations to Reduce High Carrying Costs in West Indian Gold
The business operations must rely on the needs and demands of the customer. From the storage of finished products in the warehouse, it is clear that they are relying on their expectation and not the requirements of customers. In addition, there is a need for the warehouse to improve its layout in the storeroom. It is one of the places that can ensure success in running a warehouse. The business will face significant challenges when there are no correct organization of iof ts stores. It is evident from the West Indian Gold where products are damaged. As a result, the managers have to ensure that there is an appropriate arrangement of products within the oorganization Moreover, the warehouse managers should have llong-termcontracts with suppliers, which is an excellent opportunity for the managers to be able to reduce the carrying ccosts(Richards, 2017). These agreements are crucial for suppliers in the gearing of factories, which will reduce costs for the suppliers as well. When having an agreement with the suppliers, it is critical for West Indian Gold to negotiate with them, which may reduce carrying costs.
References
- Bibin, B., Prasanth, N., & Jebadurai, D. S. (2018). Implementation of Lean Principles to Improve the Operations of a Sales Warehouse in the Manufacturing Industry. International Journal of Technology, 1, 46-54.
- Stoltz, M. H., Giannikas, V., McFarlane, D., Strachan, J., Um, J., & Srinivasan, R. (2017). Augmented reality in warehouse operations: Opportunities and barriers. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 50(1), 12979-12984.
- Richards, G. (2017). Warehouse management: A complete guide to improving efficiency and minimizing costs in the modern warehouse. Kogan Page Publishers.