4 Warehouse Challenges Solved with Warehouse Labels

It takes too long to move inventory from storage to shipping. It takes workers too long to identify the proper shelves and pick inventory. Workers get held up waiting for other employees to finish picking inventory from the same area. Traffic jams occur regularly in your warehouse’s aisles. Sound familiar? These are just a few of the common challenges faced by warehouse operators.
The good news is you’re not alone; warehouse managers all over the world have experienced and continue to experience these very same challenges. Even better news: There’s a simple solution that, when implemented strategically, can reduce or even eliminate these and other challenges that exist in warehouse operations. A comprehensive warehouse bar code label and warehouse signage solution can be just the ticket to streamline operations and rid warehouse leaders of the many (avoidable) headaches encountered on a daily basis. Here’s a look at a few common warehouse challenges and how a warehouse bar code label solution can solve them.

1. Your warehouse relies on manual inventory identification.

Manual inventory identification is a recipe for disaster. First, manual methods mean human error. Add the natural likelihood of human error to a stressed and frazzled workforce, and the odds are good that incorrect shipments, delays, and other issues will be crossing your desk every day. Warehouse bar code labels are quickly and simply scanned using a handheld bar code scanner, meaning documentation not only takes a fraction of the time compared to manual methods, but automatic data collection is practically error-proof.

2. Inventory picking simply takes too much time.

You can’t understand why it’s taking your staff so long to move inventory from one location to another or to pick and deliver inventory to the proper shipping dock. Calculating the time lost searching for the correct inventory seems an impossible task, but you probably don’t want to know the answer anyway. Warehouse aisle signs, hanging and fixed-mount signs, and even warehouse floor labels provide clear directional cues and simplify identifying the proper areas of the facility, allowing workers to narrow down the correct region of the building in less time. Add warehouse rack labels to the overall solution, and a quick scan of a rack label lets your employees know whether they’ve pinpointed the correct product.

3. Space is not utilized efficiently.

If long-term storage seems to be taking up prime real estate within the building, you may have a space utilization issue. Optimizing your warehouse’s layout may mean reorganizing all your current inventory, but it’s a time investment that will pay multi-fold returns. Store the most frequently picked inventory near the appropriate shipping docks, with longer-term inventory on higher, difficult-to-access shelves and the far corners of the building farthest from shipping areas. Warehouse bar code labels, combined with the right warehouse management software application, provide all the data you need to easily determine which inventory is picked most frequently, allowing you to devise an efficient layout that will save hours upon hours of man hours.

4. Bar code labels break down and lose readability. It’s too expensive to frequently replace labels.

Warehouses are rugged facilities requiring equally rugged warehouse bar code label solutions. Standard, paper-based labels don’t cut it when you need labels capable of withstanding frequent cleaning and the ordinary wear-and-tear that exists in the warehouse setting. You need a warehouse bar code label solution provider that understands the specific applications within the warehouse and can offer customized solutions meeting your specifications for each application within your company. That means durable bar code labels, specialized labels for applications such as cold storage, warehouse signs capable of withstanding the harsh weather elements, and custom solutions for heavy-traffic areas, such as warehouse floor label kits that remain readable even when subjected to constant, heavy equipment traffic.
These four common challenges are just a few of the most common obstacles faced by warehouse operators. A comprehensive, custom warehouse bar code label solution designed by a company that understands the many nuances and specific demands of the warehouse industry is the key to overcoming challenges, streamlining and simplifying day-to-day operations, and boosting the bottom line.