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3PL and Distribution Warehouse Solutions 

Bykshah

As consumer demand has increased, many e-commerce companies turn to third-party logistics providers to outsource their warehousing and shipping operations. These distribution warehouses can often handle a more extensive inventory and are more efficient at order fulfillment. With the number of warehouses in the United States reaching an all-time high of 19,190 in 2020, it is more important than ever for 3PL and distribution warehouses to operate efficiently.

Warehouses have unique needs for increasing productivity. Warehouse managers want to ensure every process is streamlined and optimized to deliver on-time shipping and exceed shippers’ expectations.

Cherry’s Industrial Equipment delivers a full line of warehouse equipment to meet your industry’s shipping and receiving needs. Whatever your warehouse’s challenges, Cherry’s is the best solution for optimizing warehouse safety and efficiency.

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Common Challenges in 3PL and Distribution Warehouses

Common Challenges in 3PL and Distribution Warehouses

From shipping and receiving to packing and storage, warehouse operations can be complicated. Here are a few of the top issues facing distribution warehouses.

1. Optimizing Warehouse Layout

Whatever the size of your warehouse or the nature of the goods flowing through it, using your floor space to its fullest capacity is a priority. Maximizing floor space can improve efficiency and maintain a safe environment.

Your warehouse needs an office and designated spaces for receiving and unpacking, shipping and storage. If workspaces are cluttered and items pile up during high order volume periods, orders may take longer to complete. A disorganized floor is also a safety hazard.

2. Delivering Fast Shipping

With the rise of e-commerce giants like Amazon, customers expect same-day shipping, real-time order tracking and worry-free returns. Ensuring orders are fulfilled quickly is one of the top challenges facing the 3PL industry. It is vital to ensure orders are picked, packed and shipped flawlessly, so you keep customer satisfaction high.

Accuracy and speed are two crucial elements of fast shipping. The location of tools and the techniques to pick products impact employee accuracy and cut down on time spent searching for frequently-used items. A lack of streamlined infrastructure can have a negative impact on shipping times.

3. Storing Goods Properly

Having a storage plan in place helps employees organize stock during receiving and shipping. Every item that enters the warehouse should have a designated location from receiving to picking so employees can locate it quickly. A storage plan also maintains product quality. If you handle perishable goods or food, having temperature-controlled storage is vital to protect items from spoilage.

Loading products correctly also helps prevent injury or loss of goods. When employees cut corners or equipment malfunctions, it can result in damaged merchandise and injured employees. Implementing clear guidelines for your distribution warehouse solutions can minimize these risks.

4. Hiring the Right People

Finding and retaining skilled staff is one of the top 3PL warehouse challenges. The most competitive warehouses automate whatever processes they can and employ reliable, productive staff for the rest. Staff deficiencies and shortages lead to decreased efficiency and increased labor costs.

While finding the right employees is a challenge, there are some steps you can take in your warehouse to help you retain employees and increase their satisfaction. Managers can focus on smoothing daily operations and making conditions safe, so employees feel supported and protected. Managers may also need to find new recruiting methods so they can fill vacancies with qualified workers.

5. Handling Changing Demand

Market changes and seasonality can create different distribution warehouse challenges. As customers’ expectations evolve, warehouse managers need to adapt the ways they handle processing and shipment. Considerable increases in sales during the holidays or other peak times can also cause warehouse inefficiencies. Managers may need to hire seasonal workers or improve packing and shipping techniques to consolidate tasks.

6. Tracking Shipments

Accurate order tracking is helpful for customers, and it is essential for 3PL and distribution warehouses. Tracking shipments can be especially difficult for 3PLs, which have constantly changing inventory from multiple vendors. For peak efficiency, managers should track goods from the time the warehouse receives them until they arrive with the end customer.

A thorough reporting system makes shipments less hectic and prevents loss of goods. Many warehouses use an electronic scanning system that records their inventory to account for their materials at all times. An electronic system can also show workers where to locate products faster, reducing time spent fulfilling orders.

How to Improve 3PL Warehouse Design and Operational Efficiency

In 2020, 3PL warehouses generated $231.5 billion in revenue, and experts expect that number to increase in the coming years. Optimizing warehouse efficiency is a complicated responsibility. When efficient procedures and systems are in place, you can maximize your warehouse productivity, leading to increased profit and greater safety. Learn more about some of the best storage and shipping solutions for the 3PL and distribution industry.

1. Use Every Space in the Warehouse

Finding a strategy to optimize your 3PL processing warehouse layout can improve functions when orders grow. Here are a few warehouse layout tips for the distribution and 3PL industry:

  • When arranging your floorplan, try to streamline the picking and packing process by directing the picking path.
  • It can be helpful to keep shipping and receiving separated to keep tools and products coordinated.
  • Keep walkways clear and movement flowing smoothly across the warehouse floor.

Another way to maximize space involves using product solutions to increase the available storage space on the warehouse floor. Cherry’s Industrial Equipment offers a wide range of equipment solutions to help you operate faster and more efficiently. We offer a wide range of stackable plastic pallets for space-optimizing efficiency. Our pallets are made of durable plastic to stack heavy-duty materials. With a longer shelf life and easy sanitation, plastic pallets are a top solution for keeping materials off the floor and maximizing vertical storage capacity.

2. Process Efficiently

Improving processing procedures is a valuable tool to increase productivity in 3PL warehouses. Whether your warehouse handles certain portions of the supply chain or the entire system, look for ways to consolidate some steps and reduce operating times in some areas. To enhance efficiency, develop protocols to establish clear goals for order fulfillment. Some requirements to set up include cutoff times for same or next-day shipping and protocols for handling unexpected situations like high order influxes.

Creating an action plan for processing requires finding the tools to help you accomplish the job.Cherry’s stainless steel pallet inverters transfer materials onto a plastic pallet without causing damage, eliminating the need to use manual labor for moving heavy loads. With a pallet inverter, you can easily make pallet swaps or rotations to develop a more efficient supply chain.

3. Use Safety Measures

It is crucial to develop safety standards to protect warehouse employees and materials during the handling process. Warehouse managers need to put procedures in place to minimize risk.

You can also use equipment with increased protections, such as Cherry’s level loader tables, which keep loads at an ergonomic height. These tables let workers move products without excessive twisting and bending, leading to fewer work-related injuries. Our pallet inverters also promote safer working environments by making it easier to retrieve broken goods at the bottom of a pallet stack. This machinery is engineered with the goal of injury prevention and comes with handrail guarding and additional safety features.

4. Hire Experienced People

In October of 2021, the warehousing and storage industry experienced a jump in over 20,000 new jobs. Yet knowledgeable supply chain managers and logistics experts make a huge difference in warehouse operations and save a lot of time.

While you may need to build an experienced workforce from scratch, Cherry’s won’t leave you to struggle with training employees on new equipment. When you purchase Cherry’s industrial solutions, you will also receive formal classes and technical training to update your workers on operating and maintaining equipment.

5. Utilize Technology

New demands need new solutions, and recent developments in technology have brought a wealth of techniques and applications for increasing warehouse efficiency. Automation has changed warehousing operations for good and brought many benefits with it. 3PLs are in a unique position to provide shippers with tech-enabled shipping and packing solutions they may not be able to afford otherwise.

Consider implementing a software solution if you need to overhaul your picking and packing operations to increase efficiency. With a cloud-based inventory system, a 3PL can track incoming and outgoing shipments with scanners that make product information available from all over the warehouse. Many warehouses use mobile scanners or smartphones to pick and fill orders, reducing human errors. Voice-directed picking systems are also popular, as they allow workers to receive and clarify orders over a wireless headset.

6. Maintain Open Communication

It is vital to create clear objectives for your workers to maintain a productive supply chain. Set action-oriented goals for every step of your logistics operations. You’ll need to communicate project parameters, deadlines and service expectations with workers so everyone knows to strive for the same goals.

It may be helpful to set regular times for communication with shippers or other vendors and retailers so you can effectively manage expectations. Scheduling routine reporting and promptly handling unexpected requests can improve business relationships and increase efficiency.

Example 3PL and Distribution Warehouse Layout

Here is one example of how to design a 3PL warehouse floor to streamline the packing process.

How to Increase 3PL and Distribution Warehouse Safety

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 206,900 nonfatal injuries in the warehousing and shipping industry in 2020. Increasing safety measures can significantly reduce this number and help maintain safer working environments.

Let’s review some actionable 3PL warehouse solutions for greater safety.

1. Training

Having an experienced workforce can be the difference between coping and thriving. Whether your employees have worked in your warehouse for 30 years or three months, increased training can help them navigate new equipment or systems. Ensuring workers have a solid understanding of a machine or program can prevent injury and minimize product loss.

Set up a training schedule for new hires to learn how to use machines like pallet inverters, stretch wrappers and box dumpers. Include extra teaching when implementing new systems like computer software or cloud-based inventory systems, and be sure to incorporate an OSHA-approved safety course and a driver’s training course for forklift operators. With detailed training right from the start, you can set your employees up to successfully operate machinery as if they’ve been doing it for years.

2. Visibility and Clearance

Keeping the warehouse floor clear is an easy way to improve safety in a 3PL warehouse. If a forklift operator can’t see where they are driving, the likelihood of an incident is much greater. Letting the warehouse floor get cluttered can cause a dangerous situation like a forklift crashing into a pallet rack.

Make sure drivers have a good view of the aisles by keeping the area free of tools and boxes. The layout of your warehouse will impact visibility, so make sure the aisles are of ample width to accommodate maneuvering pallets and machinery. Keep pallets stacked at a safe height and in their designated locations. You can also install wide-angle convex mirrors at corners and the ends of aisles so drivers can see clearly.

3. Quality Systems

Over time and hard use, machinery and equipment need repair to keep them in top shape. Even the most experienced forklift operators sometimes collide into a pallet. Pallet racks can also wear faster due to improper handling, climbing and overstacking.

Replacing worn pallets can help preserve products. Implement routine pallet inspections to check for damage, overloading, misalignment and corrosion. Also, look for equipment made from high-quality materials that will withstand more use, such as heavy-duty plastic or stainless steel.

With improved effectiveness in warehouse operations, your company can experience substantial benefits in productivity and safety.

Advantages of Improved Warehouse Design and Operational Safety

With improved effectiveness in warehouse operations, your company can experience substantial benefits in productivity and safety:

  • More control over products: With better product tracking and a more organized layout, you can leverage updated product location information to stay on top of ordering and packing.
  • Better workflow: Managing incoming orders promotes better workflow throughout your facility. When you monitor and uncover ineffective practices, you can resolve the issues to streamline order fulfillment.
  • Faster packing and shipment: 3PLs can provide better supply chain management by functioning as a one-stop location for receiving and packing orders. Workers can pick and pack seamlessly when they use an effective inventory scanning system, eliminating the need to double-check their work. And when you fulfill orders on time, you’ll exceed your customers’ and partners’ expectations and gain repeat business.
  • Minimized risk: Improving floorplan layout and safety measures provides the double benefit of keeping workers and products safer. Decreased risk helps limit employee sick days and workers’ compensation claims. It also lowers operating expenses.
  • Optimized supply chain management: Streamlining all inbound and outbound logistics makes a positive impact on efficiency. For instance, when you reduce receiving times by scanning all items entering the warehouse and quickly assigning them to the correct location, you also reduce shipping times and increase planning along the supply chain route.

Contact Cherry’s Industrial Equipment for 3PL Warehouse Solutions

Warehouse managers handle many moving parts from receiving shipments to properly storing and shipping products. Implementing procedures and equipment to meet your shippers’ and customers’ needs can increase productivity and maintain a safer working environment.

Cherry’s Industrial Equipment offers high-quality product solutions to help you improve productivity in your 3PL warehouse. We create custom machine solutions to help you achieve peak productivity in your warehouse. Our high-quality equipment works across industries to deliver a significant return on your investment, so you can tackle your materials handling challenges with confidence.

We have over 35 years of experience providing unique solutions to various warehousing projects. Reach out to Cherry’s today to learn more about our custom warehouse equipment. If you need services like training, installation or machine maintenance, Cherry’s is ready to help. For troubleshooting and customer support, contact our technical support team.

Categories: | Posted By:kshah