3 Best Practices To Increase Your Conversion Rate With Warehouse Inventory Management

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Tired of spending money on inventory that just sits in your warehouse? Wondering if the systems you're using to manage your inventory are up-to-date with today's technology? We’re here to help, and it all starts with understanding what warehouse inventory management is. Warehouse Inventory Management (WIM) is a process for managing products in an ecommerce company's distribution centers or warehouses. The goal of WIM is to maximize profits by reducing the amount of time products sit idle without being sold.

Best Practices to Follow For Warehouse Inventory Management

These steps will help in setting up the warehouse for efficiency and success. While creating the warehouse, ensure that all these processes are correctly placed to optimize efficiency and move products quicker when needed.

1. Determine Warehouse Layout

The warehouse layout will help the warehouse employees to pick, pack, and ship items quickly. Separating warehouses into different zones and numbering aisles help the workers to navigate the storage facility better and effectively. Every warehouse is not the same, but a well-organized warehouse is a prerequisite for efficient operations. 

It would help if you considered the way employees would move in the warehouse when you design the physical space. Ensure that the high-value and higher transaction volume items are readily available. You can also reorganize the warehouse according to the business changes.

2. Establish a Warehouse Management Workflow

The warehouse inventory management can help in monitoring the operations and organizing the business. You will have to put in a specific workflow so that everything works properly, and you can track all products when they get shifted from their position for delivery to the customers. Specific operational considerations that you must include are the following.

• Location Tracking: It is a significant part of inventory control that helps operators know where the product is present. When the time comes for picking it, operators can get it without hassle. It is helpful for bestseller items as well as for low-value items where the quantity is more. Barcoding features also help in tracking information of each item in the warehouse management tools. It is essential while selling on several sales channels.

• Regular audits and Cycle counts: Performing cycle counts is essential for inventory control and loss prevention. With average counts, you could recognize which items are lost in inventory over time. Run inventory counts for highest-value items.

• Accounting Methods: You might prefer average costing methods depending on the warehouse operation. The accounting methods are essential for warehouse management to prevent double entry mistakes and eliminate many operational errors. 

• Data Reporting: It is essential for distributing and generating data reports which can also be produced by warehouse management software. These reports include product quantities, requisition data, sales data, and information about any expired products.

3. Adopt Warehouse Inventory Management Software

The warehouse management software can help in automating software and simplifying several management tasks. With warehouse inventory management software, you can update all existing stock records in real-time. The warehouse team can scan and catalog items after arrival and dispatch. The software can reflect all current stocks and their location inside the warehouse.

Advantages of Warehouse Management Systems

Exploring the warehouse management system’s benefits is imperative for the growth of the business. The WMS or warehouse management systems can benefit operational efficiency and help in monitoring work processes. There are many other advantages too which are mentioned below.

1. Low Operational Expenses and Optimized Space

Warehouse inventory management solutions optimize the workflow of the warehouse by analyzing the best usage of floor space based on material characteristics. This will lessen the potential cost due to the movement of excessive material. By considering the best locations for keeping products, the warehouse can reduce operating expenditures. 

2. Inventory Visibility

The management system provides accurate visibility of all inventory levels in real-time. It enables you to estimate supply while avoiding backorders and satisfying customers securely.

3. Traceable materials

The materials in inventory can be traced easily with these systems using batch, lot, and serial numbering. Through these systems, the ability to match and get products without redundancy increases.

4. Optimized Supply Chain

The entire internal operation of the warehouse optimizes with the warehouse inventory management systems, which eventually extends to a broader supply chain. The WMS streamlines warehouse processes from inbound receipts to deliveries and thus improves operational efficiencies while reducing costs.

Conclusion

The never-ending process of receiving, packing, and shipping items become much more accessible through warehouse inventory management. The operations will be smoother, products will be picked faster, and the employees can remain happier with correct techniques and tools.  

If you are looking for help in running your warehouse, or if you’re a 3PL company that needs to organize your processes, then Conveyr is the solution. Our software helps streamline and optimize these important logistics operations while making them more efficient than ever before. Contact us today to get started with the best-in-class inventory management system on the market!