To keep a warehouse running smoothly and efficiently, one of the most important steps is to properly mark the warehouse’s shelves and aisles. As simple as it may seem, having your warehouse conveniently labelled allows employees to complete task as quickly as possible, with minimal time spent searching for the correct aisle. To keep your warehouse as organized as possible, you’ll want to label aisles, racks and shelves in various ways.
Perhaps the most important signage are aisle signs to identify warehouse racks, shelves and aisles. These allow operators and forklift drivers to quickly identify the rack or shelf aisles that they’re looking for, which is key to running an efficient warehouse. There are many effective ways to label warehouse aisles, but one of the best and simplest methods is to label aisles by number or letter. Along with or in place of numbers or letters, you may also consider color-coding aisles, which makes the signs easier for employees to identify from farther away. (The Importance of Signs and Labels in Warehouses)
Another option is to outfit your warehouse signs with long-range scanning technology. This is a particularly good option in large warehouses, as it allows forklift drivers to scan and find the aisle they’re looking for even if they’re halfway across the warehouse. Scannable barcodes, which can also be placed on or near signs, are yet another option to help identify what products are stored in each aisle, and many suppliers will even offer reflective signs to make long-distance identification as easy as possible.
Having your warehouse aisles and shelves labelled increases efficiency and profit margins in a number of ways. First of all, having your warehouse properly labelled saves employees time–and saving time, after all, equates to saving money. Without proper signage, employees will spend extra time searching for the correct aisles, and even worse, they’ll be more prone to fulfillment errors if they aren’t as clear on what materials are placed in what aisle. Fulfillment errors can be terrible for customer satisfaction rates, which have a huge impact on overall profit margins.
For warehouses with frequent traffic from forklifts and other vehicles, warehouse signs are especially key as they prevent traffic jams in the aisles. The more time vehicle operators spend driving around the warehouse searching for the correct materials, the more likely they are to intersect with other vehicles, which causes delays. Warehouse operators can also further increase efficiency by placing extra signs that offer directions to aisles that require frequent pickup or delivery, which will also help to prevent traffic jams.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, you can use warehouse signs to keep your employees safe. The welfare of employees is important not only for their sake, but for the sake of profit as well. Signs with safety information and protocols should be placed anywhere where safety hazards may occur. This will decrease the likelihood of warehouse accidents, which can not only cost your company money for medical bills, but will also leave the warehouse with fewer workers. In addition, injured employees means more time training new workers and less time for organizing and fulfilling orders. Because of these factors, safe warehouses are also efficient warehouses. Whether they are for safety purposes or organizational purposes, proper signage is a crucial aspect of any warehouse.
