How to Choose the Best Storage Solutions for Your Business
Regardless of the type of business you run, you likely have products or supplies that need to be stored and organized on your premises. These items can take up a significant amount of space and wind up cluttering the workspace, if they are not organized. These items can also create a formidable barrier to productivity. In such instances, you should consider using Plastic Storage Containers and/or Shelving Racks for these items, as they are a simple, reliable and cheap self-storage alternative.
Storage solutions for your business can vary between just a couple of storage bins to an entire warehouse or office full of shelves and racks. Plastic storage bins come in several styles and they vary by shapes, sizes and features. As business' grow, their requirements for storage solutions will change, but no matter what, there are many styles and sizes of bins and shelves available to help your business increase productivity and reduce downtime and errors.
To get started, it is imperative to understand exactly what your storage needs are before you decide to purchase a storage bin or rack. For example, businesses with minimal storage needs or a small budget can simply purchase some stackable bins, dividable grid boxes or shelf bins to help organize and sort their supplies and inventory. If you have a huge warehouse full of inventory or parts, you are probably better off purchasing some shelving units with bins so that everything can be neatly organized in a way that makes order picking easy and error-free. Storage solutions are an essential aspect of a functional and effective business. No matter the industry, you will surely benefit from installing racks and bins in your work area.
Using any kind of storage solution will help your company sort out inventory items based on whatever attributes you separate them by. However, the best and most effective storage solutions for businesses also make it extremely easy to locate and pull whatever item they are looking for, quickly and without confusion. Whether your business is an industrial based manufacturing firm or an office based company, every company needs to have adequate and efficient storage systems in place. Having a large room to store papers or other items is not sufficient, because a room can quickly get filled and cluttered with items scattered all over the place. This also makes the room very messy, inconvenient, and hinders productivity amongst your workers.
In order to simplify the process of locating and pulling items as quickly as possible, you should consider using different colored bins to color code your warehouse. After all, what good is a shelving unit with bins if the items inside the bins can’t easily be retrieved? Not knowing exactly what is inside of each bin, or what is on each shelf, will only waste valuable time and in turn, waste some of your customer’s time. When you waste your customer’s time, this will lead to them being unhappy with their experience and likely not becoming a repeat customer. For this reason, it is important to choose plastic bins that either come in different colors or have a spot to place labels.
Plastic Storage Bins and Shelving Units have the following benefits:
1. Create space
Storage bins and racks create space by tucking away excess items or clutter lying around in the workspace. By storing this clutter into a compact space, the immediate result is the creation of extra space around the work area. By doing this, a business can maximize their available space, thus save on rent. By having more space to work and maneuver, the productivity of your employees is also significantly enhanced.
2. Enhance efficiency
By introducing storage racks and bins into your business, staff members are bound to know the exact place to look for the items they need. Since your staff will be working quickly and efficiently, it will have a positive effect on your customer service. Coupling a basic label system with racks and bins will ensure that your staff is able to complete more work within the same amount of time.
3. Enhanced safety
By keeping items off of the floor, storage bins and racks can help lower the risk of people slipping, tripping or falling while on the premises. This will help against the risk of employees lodging an accident related lawsuit against your business. By avoiding such lawsuits, your business will be able to focus on what is truly important, growth and customer service. If your office or warehouse typically has children that visit, it is important to use overhead storage to store items that could pose a risk to children.
4. Reduction of potential losses
A properly managed storage system can help in mitigating losses in your business. This is because it simplifies record keeping which facilitates the maintenance of an accurate stock inventory. By having a well-organized storage system, tracking incoming and outgoing products becomes very simple. An accurate inventory management system will minimize stock shrinkage over time. The most common causes of stock shrinkage are damage and theft.
For your investment in storage bins to be worthwhile, it is important to find some styles that make its contents easy to access. If your bins aren’t improving lead times and efficiency, they will just add to the existing mess and disorganization, and contribute to the problem instead of be the solution.