How to organize your warehouse without waiting for perfect.
Hi y’all,
Paul Hines of Fabrication Events manages 1,100+ events a year out of his warehouse. If he can keep that volume organized without waiting for the “right” moment to improve, you can definitely get started with your process improvements today.
When we asked Paul about his organizational system, he didn’t describe some elaborate master plan that took years to perfect.
He told us about iPads.
That was their first step into digital warehouse management. It wasn’t a perfect system. But it worked well enough to get them started, and then they built from there.
Paul and his team understand that there’s no finish line. Your warehouse will never be “done.” Your processes will never be perfect. The market changes. Your team grows. Technology evolves. If you wait until everything’s figured out to start improving, you’ll be waiting forever.
Here’s what you can steal from Paul’s approach — no matter your size:
- Paul organizes his warehouse like Costco and Home Depot. Those companies have already spent billions figuring out how people naturally look for things. No need to reinvent the wheel.
- He sorts inventory by usage, putting most-rented items at ground level where you don’t need a lift to grab them.
- He created three physical zones: dirty stuff coming back, work-in-progress, and clean inventory ready to go.
- He added location codes to Goodshuffle Pro so anyone could find anything without asking around.
None of this happened overnight. And it’s still not done. Paul’s team is always tweaking, testing, and improving.
The same principle applies whether you’re organizing a warehouse, buying inventory, or launching your business. What you do in slow season right now is building momentum for January 1.
You don’t need perfect. You need momentum.
Every small improvement you make — organizing one shelf, labeling one zone, adding location codes to ten items — compounds into momentum.
By the time January hits, you’ll already be running at speed. Your competitors will still be getting their systems in place while you’re three months ahead.
So, get your first system in place, even if it’s clunky. Let your crew use it. Watch what breaks. Fix that. Then fix the next thing. The version you launch today will look nothing like the version you’re running a year from now, and that’s exactly how it should be.
Start with what you have, iterate based on real use, and trust that progress beats perfection every single time.
See you next Monday,
Mallory Mullen
Goodshuffle
