Managing where inventory is on your pallet racks is as important as managing how much of it there is on the pallet racks. That’s because location within the warehouse can have a huge effect on how long it takes your team to process orders and get shipments out the door. Slotting is the process of determining the most efficient placement for your product within the warehouse. It can be a laborious process to get started, but the benefits are just too good to pass up.
For the majority of warehouses, slotting feels like too much effort. Instead, they simply make room on their pallet racks to bring in inventory and get it stored. There are a lot of issues with this sort of crisis-management style of pallet rack loading:
- You are less likely to use your available pallet rack space efficiently. Instead, you’ll end up cramming items wherever they will fit.
- Your picking team may have to travel further for items ordered more often because the layout hasn’t been considered.
- You are more prone to losing inventory. Your system may say it’s in stock but you can’t find it on the shelves.
All of these are major problems for any warehouse. Slotting can greatly eliminate this kind of efficiency by making intentional choices about where you are placing your inventory within your warehouse. It can help your picking team work faster and give you better control over the inventory in your warehouse and increase efficiency by 20%.
Want to try slotting in your warehouse? DAK Equipment & Engineering provides slotting analysis for warehouses in the Chicago area and beyond. Give us a call today to learn more about our slotting analysis services and how they can help make your warehouse more efficient.
