Businesses need warehouses to store their goods and raw materials. However, warehouses are not all the same. The volume of goods that are stored will depend on their size, as well as the infrastructure, security, and location. They also need to be stored in a safe place. Warehouses hold many products and need to be protected from theft and vandalism. They also need to have the proper lighting, ventilation, and temperature.

The first step in operations management is to identify the key business processes that must be done each day in order for the warehouse to run smoothly. These business processes, referred to as the primary warehouse processes, are the backbone of the warehouse. Secondary processes aren’t as crucial as the primary ones but are still essential to warehouse operations, including receiving, picking, loading, and boxing product for shipment.

Receiving 

One of the primary warehouse processes is receiving. It is the process of obtaining or obtaining and unloading materials, parts, or products. The receiving department usually involves receiving inventory from suppliers or subcontractors, both inbound and outbound. Receiving also happens when a finished good arrives at a buyer’s warehouse. The receiving staff scans the product, invoices it, and places it on the shelf or other storage location.

Put-away

Put-away is one of the primary warehouse processes, and it’s very important that it’s done right. It should be quick, accurate, and seamless in a perfect world. The first step to making put-away a success is to understand your put-away process. Does the process work well for your team? If your put-away processes aren’t quite in sync, then your team’s efficiency can be severely hampered. Putting away a product before it ships saves space in the warehouse and inventory space and reduces how much needs to be shipped. It means less handling, making it easier to transport to a warehouse and saving on shipping costs.

Storage

Storage is one of the biggest warehouse processes. As companies grow, their inventory and orders increase. The process of picking, packing, and shipping demands increase a company’s shipping time and increase its costs. Storage is one of the primary warehouse processes, and keeping track of inventory is one of the best ways to streamline warehouse processes. Most businesses rely on some type of storage service to act as a warehouse. However, many do not realize their current storage service could be an expensive and costly business mistake they could avoid if they opted to use cloud warehouse services for their warehouse storage needs.

Picking

Picking is one of the primary warehouse processes, and as a warehouse manager or supervisor, if you know how to make this process more efficient, you can reduce overall pick times, improve warehouse productivity, and reduce your overall fulfilment costs. And, as always, if you are looking to save money on warehouse equipment, you want to look for what is available refurbished. Picking as a warehouse process has many advantages. It saves on storage space, eliminates the cost of pallets and trolleys, and even improves the ergonomics of the picking process. However, picking also has some disadvantages. It is very labour-intensive and can result in high labour costs. Due to poor picking processes, goods picked and lost can lead to inventory inaccuracies and additional costs.

Packing

Warehouses can be big and busy places. There aren’t many buildings that can fit more boxes and vessels inside than a warehouse. That size means there are thousands of small items being moved every day. Though it sounds simple, packing is one of the primary warehouse processes, and mistakes are common. These mistakes can lead to damaged goods, lost orders, and unhappy customers. Packing, especially primary packing, plays an important role in warehouse operations. The primary packing processes include unpacking, repacking, loading, checking, and meter reading. Warehouse operators need to monitor these functions to ensure smooth warehouse operations effectively.

Shipping

Shipping is the primary warehousing process, and the costs involved in performing these functions must be carefully managed. Your company’s shipping department is responsible for delivering the products your customers ordered. Your warehouse personnel is responsible for loading the pallets onto trucks and sending them to distribution centres and ultimately to customers. Shipping is one of the core processes in warehouses around the world. The roles of shipping are constantly changing as companies seek to cut costs while improving efficiency. In many cases, it is broken into individual processes, each with its own set of challenges it tries to overcome.

The warehouse is the heart of every business. The warehouse processes include inbound and outbound processes, as well as receiving, picking, packing, and shipping. Warehouse management is one of the most important tasks in any company.