For every company, warehouse management is a central activity, and all aspects of it must be properly organized.
Therefore, it is critical to have the right tools in place to monitor transportation, receiving, purchasing, inventory, storage, and distribution
In this article we look at the most important issues related to warehouse management: what it means, what the main activities are, what factors to consider (personnel, safety, documentation, logistics).
We also see how software makes all operations efficient and automatic by helping to improve and increase business operation and productivity.
What it means to manage the warehouse
Warehouse management encompasses several operations: receiving goods, organizing warehouse space, work planning, stock and inventory management, and order fulfillment.
Warehouse management includes several processes that need to be integrated and optimized to effectively and quickly manage the entire flow of goods. It includes in fact:
- Inventory management: the process of physically verifying all materials actually in stock: raw materials, semi-finished goods, finished goods. The physical stock taken should be compared with that recorded in the management system: thus differences, deteriorated, broken or missing products can be identified.
- Inventory management: refers to the stock of items (finished goods) in the warehouse, ready for sale or distribution.
- Warehouse logistics: deals with organizing the entire supply, production and distribution chain. The goal is to optimize the movement of goods efficiently and at the lowest cost.
The 7 main activities of warehouse management
For companies in the industrial production and trade managing the warehouse is critical.
Proper management requires several operations and activities: let's see what the main ones are.
- Logistics projects and plans. A special technical and operational plan makes it possible to manage all assets in the warehouse by arranging them according to logics that allow them to be retrieved quickly and easily.
- Purchase orders and supplier relationships. If you want to manage your warehouse efficiently, you need to manage incoming orders, deadline control, reorder plans, keeping track of the movement of products from suppliers to your company to your customers.
- Receipt, registration and control of assets. It is critical to keep real-time track of the flow of goods in and out.
- Picking, packing and packaging. Picking is the operation of picking packages and products. These must then be packed and/or packaged in an appropriate manner depending on the shipment.
- Preservation and Storage. All goods, packages and products must be kept and stored in a suitable environment as prescribed by industry regulations.
- Inventories, statistics, accounting. Warehouse inventory should always be up-to-date and available through real-time reports. So you can have full control over all activities and you can manage accounting in the best way.
- Delivery and distribution. Delivery and distribution of goods or commodities stored in the warehouse should be done efficiently and quickly.
4 factors to consider in warehouse management
Fundamental is to have proper organization: let's see what are the essential factors to take into account when managing the warehouse.
1. Staff
For the perfect management of a warehouse, personnel is essential.
Operators should be divided into various levels so that there is a decision-making hierarchy and everyone knows exactly what their task is, while respecting corporate safety.
It is also critical to talk to the logistics, sorting, ordering, and software staff and learn about their needs and observations so that any issues can be rectified and logistics operations can be improved.
2. Security
Safety is a primary factor and should not be underestimated.
The warehouse should be kept safe by adapting the working environment to regulatory requirements (national and European), relying on the advice of qualified technicians.
Each piece of machinery or tool must be placed according to established criteria, without getting in the way of emergency exits or risking falling on workers. Periodic inspections and overhauls are essential.
Safety regulations must be displayed and always visible. Devices such as first aid kits or cabinets, defibrillators, fire extinguishers, and alarms should also be clearly visible and usable.
Warehouse workers must:
- Be properly trained in safety procedures in accordance with the law.
- Attend specific courses on the safe use of devices and equipment for transporting and handling goods.
- Have received at least basic training in first aid and firefighting practices.
3. Documentation
Documentation is essential: it allows you to respond to all assessments and obtain information to improve warehouse management.
The documents required for warehouse management are:
- Transport document or DDT: The accompanying document is required by law for the transportation of goods. It must contain a number of specific data, including:
- the sequence number;
- the delivery date;
- The particulars of the individuals involved and those of any third parties involved in the transport;
- The nature, quality and quantity of the goods being transported.
- Purchase and sales invoices: required for tax compliance and for all counting and loading and unloading of products in the warehouse.
- Inventory: the list of all products in stock and their value, which is essential for monitoring the inventory situation.
- Production bill of materials: the list of materials and components needed to make a given product, used in the design, production and assembly of the finished, ready-to-market product and to manage procurement by avoiding excess inventory.
4. Logistics
Logistics controls the entry and exit of goods. Indeed, the most important aspect of organizing a warehouse is being able to quickly and efficiently find the item you are looking for while avoiding slowing down the entire shipping chain.
Theorganization of logistics can follow several criteria, including:
- Placement in different areas for products sold, materials supplied, returns;
- Display on shelves according to expiration date, shape and color, occasion of use, alphabetical order, type of material.
Essential is to indicate clearly and precisely on the label the key information for package preparation and delivery.
For a warehouse to function properly, every step should be digitized and traceable, especially if the workload is high and/or increasing.
Manage the warehouse properly with the use of appropriate software
In order to manage the warehouse efficiently, it is necessary to use appropriate tools.
Many businesses, especially small ones, rely on Excel or similar spreadsheet programs that possess dedicated warehouse templates. The use of these programs, however, carries several risks:
- Loss of important information due to incorrect saving, accidental deletion, technological failure.
- Inputting incorrect and out-of-date information in real time, resulting in the need to constantly make checks and revisions;
- Difficult manual data aggregation and poorly edited reports.
Why use warehouse management software?
The safest and most reliable solution is to have warehouse management software.
In fact, the software ensures greater control and protection of data and provides benefits, including:
- The constant traceability of goods;
- Access to all updated data in real time;
- Correct and automatic reports and statistics throughdata aggregation;
- The use of cross data to optimize sales strategy;
- The monitoring of stocks and reorders.
The main features of the software
A warehouse management software can have various functions. The main ones are:
- Reorder point (reorder point): corresponds to the minimum threshold of a product. The software therefore informs when a particular product needs to be reordered.
- Asset tracking (asset tracking): allows you to track the product in stock by barcode or another criterion such as serial number.
- Product identification (product identification): helps to identify the product by reconstructing its history and movements.
- Inventory optimization (inventory optimization): allows various factors to be set-such as reorder point, next order quantity, production speed-to optimize and automate the work of warehouse and inventory management.
Managing the warehouse with Odoo
Through the all-in-one software Odoo you can cover all your company's needs, including warehouse management.
Its functionalities allow for:
- Always have an up-to-date stock estimate;
- Control all loading and unloading movements;
- Managing multiple warehouses;
- Create inventory by zone, specific product, batch of pallets/boxes;
- Track all operations (pickups, delivery orders, quality control).
- And more.
With Odoo you can then efficiently manage the warehouse and improve and optimize the performance of the entire company.
At DueEsseTi, we combine its functionality with our IT expertise: we tailor the software to your needs.
Manage your warehouse efficiently with Odoo
Contact us: we will introduce you to the software and provide a free demo.
