It doesn’t matter if you have an incredible team of employees, an immense understanding of your field, and the greatest marketing strategy in the world. If you don’t have a product, you don’t have a business. And it would be a shame to go through the time, energy, and resources of manufacturing the perfect product only for it to become damaged before reaching customers. Finding ways to prevent damaged stock is essential for this reason.
Reconsider Warehouse Arrangement
There are plenty of opportunities for products to be damaged during their stay in the warehouse. And one of the most likely ways for products to become damaged is through accidents. For example, products falling off shelves or shelves being run into or knocked over. The simplest way to prevent these accidents is by creating a more streamlined warehouse arrangement designed to be easy to navigate. A few strategies to do that include:
- Well-spaced aisles
- Top products placed close to the shipping dock
- Organize products so they’re easy to locate
- Properly label products
- Establish loading dock protocol
Use the Right Warehouse Tools
If you’ve ever built something, you know that the job becomes more dangerous if you use the wrong tools. For example, using a drill with the wrong sized bit can lead to the drill slipping and injuring someone’s hand. In the same way, using the wrong tools for your warehouse can lead to accidents and damaged products. Ensure your shelving and pallets are the correct size for your products, and your forklifts are suited for the size of your warehouse aisles.
Even if you are using the right tools for the job, using them the wrong way can still create safety hazards. That means damaged workers and damaged products. Review OSHA best practices for machinery and be sure that forklift operators know when a forklift needs to be prepared. This will help prevent accidents that can be catastrophic for your merchandise.
Focus on Transit
The most common place for products to be damaged is in transit between the warehouse and the store. So, finding ways to prevent damaged stock is crucial. Analyze your current practices to decide what is and isn’t working. Then start from the foundation. Use quality, correctly sized boxes and traditional space fillers like packing chips and bubble wrap. Along with that, be sure that trucks are being packed correctly and that you are practicing proper labeling.
