When products can move safely and efficiently through your warehouse, your employees can work with greater speed, confidence, and success. Improving material movement means improving productivity.

This process looks different for every warehouse. By analyzing your current workflow, you can find slow or repetitive points to improve in your facility. Begin the journey to better productivity—and better profits—with these ways to speed up material movement in your warehouse.

Optimize Your Picking Practices

The materials and products that move through your facility will determine the best picking practices for your workers. Just because a certain method has worked in the past doesn’t mean it’s the best option now. You should regularly evaluate your workflow to ensure you have the most optimal practices in place.

Consider different picking methods such as piece, batch, or zone picking to decide what works best for your materials and staff. You can also invest in picking technology like Radio Frequency, Pick-to-Voice, or Pick-to-Light solutions to streamline your picking process and empower your workers.

Be Smart About Task Assignments

One of the most straightforward ways to speed up material movement in your warehouse is to assign tasks according to employee strengths. By considering the individual strengths and weaknesses of your workers, you can optimize task assignments and help every member of your team reach their fullest potential.

For example, sorting or receiving tasks are best for more experienced workers who are familiar with the layout of your warehouse. Newer employees, on the other hand, might benefit from picking tasks that help them learn their way around your layout and workflow.

Invest in a Smart Conveyor System

The right conveyor system moves products throughout your warehouse smoothly and quickly without wasting workers’ time. Warehouse conveyor automation creates reliable material movement and frees your employees from non-value-added tasks. An optimized conveyor system makes the best use of your warehouse layout and empowers more productive picking, retrieving, packing, and storage.

There are several different kinds of conveyor systems to serve different types of workflows or throughput. By working with an expert systems distributor like RMH Systems, you can implement an efficient and intuitive system that delivers the best results for your warehouse.