Shipping is one of the most profitable industries to work in. As someone who is in charge of managing a warehouse, and the exporting and importing of products, it’s your job to ensure that everything is always running smoothly. This might mean ensuring that employees of the warehouse are familiar with their schedules and are able to work when you need them to. It might mean managing equipment, like forklifts, safety gear, and other things, that are crucial for the operational functionality of the warehouse.
You might also need to deal with truck schedules, so that you can make sure everything is coming in and going out of the warehouse on time. If something goes wrong, you need to be on top of it. One problem some warehouse managers seem to have is that things can get delayed for the smallest of reasons. In some instances, not being in control of the pallets can be a huge problem, but heavy duty racking can help.
Some Problems
There are several issues that can arise when dealing with pallets. First, they can break. These pallets cannot be used ever again, and are considered a loss. Pallets that are used several times will be more likely to crack and crumble than newer ones. This means you’re going to have a finite number of pallets, before you need to order more of them.
Another problem is that outgoing pallets might never make their way back to your warehouse again. If you’re sending pallets to Spain, they’re probably going to end up in that warehouse, as they’re unloaded to hit stores and other retail places. Also, the pallets that come in from other places might not be high quality, which means they could break and you will be responsible for replacing them.
As you can see, these issues can rapidly deplete your supply of pallets. Running out of pallets can be a big problem since, if you run out of them, you’ll have to halt the supply line and risk delays. Then you could get into trouble with other warehouse managers who are demanding shipments, and you could risk getting in trouble with your company.
Stocking Up
One of the best ways to optimise pallet usage is to simply stock up. Take a look at your warehouse. Are there any openings in the shelves? Perhaps there’s a corner of your warehouse that could spare some extra room for more pallets.
Once you find a location, you should designate that space for extra pallets. While dealing with a broken pallet might slow things down a bit, it’s much better than waiting several days for a new shipment of pallets to arrive.
You can order pallets online as well, and if you get them in bulk the prices will be much lower. Talk to your manager, if you feel like you need to implement more stock for pallets, as he or she might need to approve the budget. Fortunately, pallets are cheap and they’re important, so implementing this strategy will be a huge help for you in the future.