A large portion of event professionals have warehouses to store their inventory. Whether it be velvet couches or canopy tents, having an organized warehouse is imperative to maintaining a successful and productive business. Warehouses are the heart of event rental companies, and organizing your warehouse today will set up your business for success well into the future. Learn more about these 5 best warehouse tips below:
- Create a Long-Term Inventory Checklist
- Build Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- Enact COVID-Safety Requirements
- Make a Daily Toolbox
- Buy Event Inventory Management Software
Create a Long-Term Inventory Checklist
Having a checklist for every order and delivery is a great way to ensure that orders are completed in full. Seeing that every necessary piece of inventory and equipment is packed up and ready to go is always a great feeling, and has real tangible benefits. These include happier customers, better reviews, and more business! Creating order checklists leads to great results, and the same goes for long-term inventory checklists.
These long-term checklists are great ways to plan for the future of your business and are tools for looking back at your inventory in the past to spot gaps in your inventory. Planning for 6 months in the future allows for a bi-annual inventory audit to best set up for success in the coming 6 months.
Making a long-term checklist also allows for reorganizing and reprioritization of inventory. For example, if you see that in the previous 6 months you had a high order request for 10 X 10 Frame tents, it might be a good idea to either buy more tents or move these tents to a readily accessible location within your warehouse.
Build Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Most businesses have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) already in place, but creating SOPs for your warehouse is a great way to ensure every order is packed and delivered in the same manner. It also removes confusion on how certain items should be stored and packed, the timing of deliveries, and more. Consider SOPs to be the overall guide for how your warehouse workers do their jobs.
SOPs are up to you to decide, but if you already have routine practices in place, it is a good idea to write these down, create a handbook, or organize these operating procedures in a way that can be studied. SOPs are also helpful for new hires to easily and quickly learn how your business runs without having to be intensely trained from the start.
SOPs should include not only the day-to-day operations of your business but share the goals of your business and explain the importance of why your SOPs exist.
Enact COVID-Safety Requirements
As we are still in the midst of a global pandemic during the writing of this post, making sure that your warehouse workers and equipment are safe and properly sanitized is of utmost importance. Luckily, COVID safety measures are easily implemented, and there are many cost-efficient products available that make being sanitary achievable. Here are some great product options as per the Environmental Protection Agency:
- For Fabrics: Oxiclean Laundry and Home Sanitizer
- For Hard Surfaces: Clorox Cleaner + Bleach Spray
- For Easy Cleaning: Ecolab Disinfectant Wipes
Putting these measures in place makes your workplace safer, and offers your clients peace of mind knowing that your business makes COVID safety and cleanliness a top priority.
Make a Daily Toolbox
When most people think about a career toolbox, they might think of technical skills or personality traits that make for a great employee and workplace. These are great to have, but for warehouse workers, a toolbox literally means a physical toolbox!
Having a toolbox that is dedicated to holding equipment, tools, gadgets, and more that your warehouse team needs on a daily basis is a great addition to any warehouse. If your team often uses wrenches, hammers, or screwdrivers to put together inventory, make sure that these items can all be found in one spot, in a toolbox!
Adding a toolbox to your warehouse is also a great addition to your SOPs, and how to use the toolbox or what inventory needs the toolbox to be put together is also important to make note of. The more prepared you can make your employees and the easier you can make their jobs, they will be better set up for success and be more productive. Plus, they’re more likely to stay with your company for the long term!
Buy Event Inventory Management Software
Having event inventory management software is the final best tool and tip you can have for your warehouse. Software like Goodshuffle Pro has many features that make doing your job all the easier, including pull sheets, adding notes to orders and deliveries, and letting your workers join the platform as limited users!
Having an event inventory management software for your business helps you build a strong foundation to implement all of the previously mentioned tips. Easily tracking your inventory and orders with management software will make your 6-month checklists easier to complete. Creating SOPs based on which inventory you have is made easier with management software, making a toolbox for your workers is easier with management software, and keeping track of equipment that needs to be sanitized is as well!
These tips are sure to maximize your productivity and organization within your warehouse, and your employees will thank you for being so prepared!
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