How do you keep your warehouse tidy?

Maintaining order in the warehouse is a key issue that should not be forgotten by any warehouseman or manager in charge of organising such a workplace and managing subordinates. Do you want to find out how to keep your warehouse tidy and keep chaos under control? Check out our comprehensive guide!

Chaos and disorder in the warehouse – where does it come from?

Nowadays, both transhipment warehouses in the transport industry and those just used for storing and packing goods are prone to a fair amount of disorder and chaos. This is especially true if there is no person in charge of organising the work and also keeping things in order. It is worth remembering that every warehouse should have at least one person, such as a shift manager, who will ensure that employees keep their workstations tidy.

Do you want to know where excessive dirt and disorder on the warehouse floors comes from? Of course, it is fair to say that a certain dose of messiness in the warehouse is standard, especially due to the considerable traffic there, as well as the ever-present dust. What’s more, the lack of organisation of the work of individual employees, zero discipline, as well as the lack of proper cleaning machines are other factors that strongly contribute to the level of uncleanliness in the warehouse hall.

How do you manage the warehouse to keep things tidy?

Maintaining a sufficiently high level of tidiness in the warehouse is crucial. Why? Well, it’s the only way to realistically optimise the working time of all warehouse employees, plus it contributes to a greater comfort of operations – after all, everyone likes to work in a clean and tidy environment, even in a warehouse. Here are some key tips to keep your warehouse tidy and transform your working system by 180 degrees.

1. Invest in machines, equipment and tools for packing parcels. Warehouse staff using professional equipment to close and pack goods into parcels will be able to maintain a higher level of cleanliness and hygiene.
2. Try to manage your employees ‘ working time – simply organise the working time of each employee’s shift well, so that they are able to set aside at least 15 minutes to clean their station at the end of a working day or night. This is relatively little, but overall it makes it possible to keep the entire warehouse tidy.
3. Buy professional cleaning products – with proven preparations and cleaning products, cleaning the warehouse floor or work area will be quicker and more pleasant. This will make employees more likely to reach for cleaning products and keep things tidy.
4. Implement a bonus system for cleaning the workstation – you can try to encourage warehouse employees to clean their workstations at the end of their shift or when they have completed a specific job as part of a bonus system. For example: an employee can receive a 10% bonus of their monthly salary for keeping their station tidy for a whole month. This effectively encourages cleanliness in the warehouse – regardless of the industry.
5. Establish a partnership with a cleaning company – this consideration is a good one, as long as the company budget allows. This allows an external company to take care of tidying up the warehouse after work is completed, so that the warehouse is perfectly prepared for the next activity once the new working day begins.
6. Carry out regular stocktaking – contrary to what you might think, regular stocktaking and stacking of goods on shelves has a strong impact on how your warehouse space looks. In this way, you can realistically control possible chaos and even reduce the time it takes to assemble goods, thanks to the correct positioning on the shelves and the marking of where each type of product is located.
7. Create rules and regulations for working in the warehouse in relation to t idiness – this is the last tip that can make a real difference to tidiness in the warehouse. Employees should follow general rules and regulations, which may indicate putting items back in their place at all times, cleaning the warehouse floor, as well as the individual work area after each finished shift.

When it comes to carrying out cleaning work in warehouse areas, it is worth pointing out that this type of action does not give a 100% guarantee that the company will be perfectly tidy. It is advisable to implement specific proposals gradually and, at the same time, observe how the way the warehouse is kept tidy changes. It is also a good idea to familiarise yourself with the available and essential parcel packing accessories, which not only optimise working time, but also help to keep the workplace tidy.

Warehouse cleaning – how to do it right?

Unfortunately, but there is no single, perfect way to keep warehouse areas tidy. The basic activities that can be carried out to control the lingering dirt on floors and workstations on a daily basis are:

• sweeping,
• vacuuming,
• cleaning floors with a pressure washer,
• putting away storage equipment at all times,
• changing shoes before entering the warehouse.

It is worth knowing that cleaning work in the warehouse should only be carried out as far as the employees’ time allows or with the help of an external company. The most important thing is to get the disorder under control at times that will not impede the daily work of the warehouse employees. Otherwise , despite the maintenance of relative tidiness, the realisation of activities in the warehouse would be delayed and this would translate into dissatisfied customers, e.g. those waiting for parcels to be sent from the warehouse.

Warehouse cleanliness and the necessary accessories and machines

Which parcel/pallet machines and accessories are in the warehouse has quite a bearing on how to keep the warehouse tidy. The larger the transport vehicles, e.g. pallet trucks, used by the employees, the more dirt will be found on the warehouse floor, especially if the trucks are also used outside, regardless of the weather conditions.

However, investing in modern equipment that makes it easier to close parcels or even wrap pallets in stretch film can translate into a tidier warehouse. How is this possible? Well, employees who can complete their tasks more quickly and easily will have more time to get dirt and disorder under control not only at their workstation, but also throughout the warehouse.

This allows them to allocate a certain amount of their working time during the day to, for example, stacking goods on shelves, which, despite appearances, can make a huge difference to the tidiness of the warehouse. When it comes to packing parcels or even pallets, it is worth checking out a review of the best packing tapes. This makes it easy to see what materials should be included in the equipment of an e-commerce warehouse that sends parcels to customers via courier companies.

How do you keep your warehouse tidy? The most important information in a nutshell

It is worth collecting in a few summary words the most important information relating to keeping the warehouse tidy. Organising the working time of all employees, constant investment in modern equipment to facilitate work and hiring an external cleaning company are the best tips that have a real impact on the tidiness of a warehouse – even a large one.

In order to keep your warehouse tidy, not only in terms of dirt, but also in terms of tidiness on the shelves, it is worth knowing the 4 principles of effective warehousing. With these, you can make a real difference to the time it takes to put goods into parcels and the speed with which they can be found on the shelves without the risk of disorder.