Warehouse Maintenance Tips

Jan 10, 2020

Warehouse Maintenance Tips. Keeping your warehouse safe and running smoothly means committing to a proper maintenance schedule. Clean, well-maintained warehouses offer employees an environment that mitigates the risk of serious accidents. It also helps the organization’s bottom line by promoting productivity.

When it comes to creating a maintenance plan that works for your warehouse, it’s a good idea to have a two-prong approach: Consider implementing strategies that address ongoing preventive maintenance as well as emergency maintenance. 

 

Preventive Maintenance

If your warehouse doesn’t already have a preventive maintenance plan in place, you could be spending too much time and money on tasks that are reactive instead of proactive. Not only do poorly maintained warehouses present accident risks, they could also lead to costly OSHA fines for violations and non-compliance.

Protecting your workplace starts with hiring the right workers for specialized tasks and ensuring they have the proper certification to operate equipment. For example, look for a forklift operator with experience and expertise to properly follow safety guidelines while using the machinery. Provide ongoing training to help these employees stay up-to-date on best practices.

Beyond that, make sure that your preventive maintenance touches on the following factors:

Cleanliness: Proper and consistent cleaning of warehouse floors and workspaces needs to be a regular part of the daily routine. You should also create a culture of safety among the team that expresses accountability for every member.

Pest control: Pests can enter warehouses easily and present all sorts of problems, the least of which is the spread of disease. They can also destroy inventory with their nesting habits, something that could directly hurt your bottom line. Prioritize pest control all year long.

Equipment maintenance: Routine inspection and maintenance of equipment can help alert warehouse managers to problems that could slow down productivity. A forklift leaking a bit of oil may not seem like a problem until it causes a slip-and-fall accident in your warehouse.

 

 

Warehouse monitoring: Whether you’re using warehouse management software or old-fashioned supervisors, keep an eye on the floor and identify potential maintenance issues early on. Maintain an open dialogue with employees for feedback on which tasks to prioritize.

Offer incentives: Offer rewards to your team to recognize a job well done. Employee lunches, extra time off, or even gift cards can help keep everyone on track and committed to performing regular maintenance tasks — and performing them well.

Invest in quality: While equipment repairs are less costly than replacements, there may be a time when buying new is your only option. Vet your vendor and ensure they offer high-quality equipment and the support to help repair it over its lifetime.

 

 

Emergency Maintenance

Even with a robust warehouse maintenance plan, it’s important to account for emergencies. Toxic spills, fires, hurricanes, and even earthquakes can wreak havoc for your team and it’s important to prepare everyone for a potential crisis. Maintenance after disaster strikes may look a bit different than what you do on a regular, preventative basis.

This plan should be highly personalized for a variety of situations. Think about the most likely risks to your warehouse and create custom plans for each. Getting your warehouse back to order after something like a fire will require a different approach than a loss of power, for example. This is not something that should be one-size-fits-all.

Once you know which resources you’ll need for your plan, make it a team effort. Recruit a handful of key players in your warehouse to be a specialized response team to execute the plan. Keep in mind that they’ll need to have the experience and certification to perform maintenance on specialized equipment like forklifts or conveyor belts.

More great tips: Keep emergency maintenance training materials easy to access and up-to-date. Practice drills so that your warehouse workers have real-world experience to draw from. Along with regular, consistent preventive maintenance, staying prepared for the worst-case scenario can help reduce downtime after an emergency.

How you maintain your warehouse can make or break the bottom line of your business. It pays off to take preventive measures like regularly servicing equipment to building a culture of safety. Beyond that, have a plan to help bounce back from an emergency. 

Looking to update your equipment along with your plan? Need updated safety training for your staff? Looking to remodel your warehouse for increased productivity and lowered maintenance costs? Get in touch with our team of pros — we’ve proudly been helping businesses just like yours for over a decade.

Common Hazards in Your Warehouse (And How to Avoid Them)

08 Apr, 2024
Warehouses are the backbone of many industries, storing and distributing goods to keep the economy moving. However, behind the scenes of this logistical hub lurk various hazards that can pose severe risks to employees and property. Let's investigate some of the most common warehouse hazards and explore proactive mitigation strategies. Slips/Trips/Falls Slips, trips, and falls are among the most prevalent hazards in warehouse spaces. Spills, cluttered aisles, and uneven surfaces can easily lead to accidents if not adequately addressed. To prevent such incidents, warehouses should prioritize proper housekeeping, including regular cleaning and maintenance of floors. Additionally, using signage to highlight potential hazards and ensuring adequate lighting throughout the facility can significantly reduce the risk of slips, trips, and falls. Fires Flammable materials and electrical equipment in warehouses make them susceptible to fires. Faulty wiring, improper storage of combustible materials, and lack of fire suppression systems can all contribute to the risk of fire outbreaks. Implementing preventive measures such as regular equipment maintenance, proper storage protocols for flammable materials, and employee training on fire safety procedures are crucial in mitigating this hazard. Harmful Substances Warehouses often house various chemicals and hazardous substances, which can pose risks to employees' health if not handled properly. Exposure to harmful substances can lead to respiratory issues, skin irritation, and other serious health problems. To mitigate this hazard, warehouses should properly store and label hazardous materials, provide employees with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), ensure adequate ventilation systems, and conduct regular training on safe handling procedures. Falling Objects With shelves stacked high with merchandise, falling objects present a significant hazard in warehouses. Poorly secured storage systems, improper stacking of items, and inadequate safety measures can all increase the risk of objects falling and causing injury. Warehouses can minimize this risk by adequately securing shelves and storage systems, using barriers or guardrails to prevent objects from falling, and conducting regular inspections of overhead storage areas. Overexertion The physical demands of warehouse work can lead to overexertion injuries if employees lack adequate training or don't perform tasks ergonomically. Lifting heavy objects, repetitive motions, and working in awkward positions can all contribute to overexertion injuries such as strains and sprains. To prevent such injuries, warehouses should provide comprehensive training on proper lifting techniques, encourage the use of mechanical aids such as forklifts and pallet jacks, and implement ergonomic workstations to reduce strain on employees' bodies.

Common Inventory Management Mistakes

08 Mar, 2024
Effective inventory management practices influence the success of each warehouse, the supply chain, and the business at large. Inventory management involves many moving parts and elements – everything from the product catalog to the warehouse space to tracked KPIs. Experienced warehouse managers know that no matter how fool-proof your inventory management systems are, there’s always room to improve and prepare for unexpected circumstances. Let’s discuss common inventory management mistakes (and what to do instead). Overstocking or Understocking One of the most prevalent inventory management mistakes is maintaining too much or too little inventory. Overstocking ties up valuable capital and warehouse space, leading to increased carrying costs and a higher risk of obsolescence. On the other hand, understocking can result in stockouts, backorders, and dissatisfied customers. Businesses should leverage historical sales data, market trends, and advanced forecasting techniques to accurately predict demand and optimize inventory levels. Inaccurate Demand Forecasting Businesses are prone to making costly inventory planning errors without precise demand forecasting. Relying on outdated data or flawed forecasting methods can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. By utilizing advanced analytics and predictive modeling, businesses can better anticipate shifts in demand, seasonal fluctuations, and emerging trends, allowing for more informed inventory decisions and improved responsiveness to customer needs. Lack of Inventory Visibility Poor visibility into inventory levels across multiple locations or channels can result in operational inefficiencies and errors. Without real-time data on stock levels and movement, businesses may struggle to fulfill orders on time, leading to customer dissatisfaction and lost sales. Implementing integrated inventory management systems that provide comprehensive visibility into inventory across the supply chain can help businesses optimize inventory allocation, reduce stockouts, and improve overall operational performance.

A Beginner’s Guide to Electric Forklifts

By Denis Benden • 08 Feb, 2024
Efficient material handling is crucial for businesses of all sizes and industries. It directly impacts productivity, cost-effectiveness, and overall operational success. Effective material handling ensures that goods are moved, stored, and transported in a streamlined and organized manner, minimizing delays, damages, and errors. Electric forklifts play a significant role in effective material handling, transforming the […] The post A Beginner’s Guide to Electric Forklifts appeared first on Benco Industrial Equipment.
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