How to keep warehouses identified and organized

Wayne Dembicki, General Manager of Neumann Marking Solutions, recently spoke with a mini panel of warehouse professionals to get some insights into their warehouse operations and how labeling is used. Wayne spoke with Lisa Young, Inventory Control at EECOL Electric South Edmonton, and Keith Bergstrom, Warehouse Shipper/Receiver at Perma-Pipe in Camrose, AB to discuss what they do to keep their warehouse identified and organized.

Q&A With Warehouse Experts Panel

Q1: Do you label individual items/parts?

Lisa: We mark our shelving in our warehouse with the manufacturers’ part numbers. These are the part numbers we buy them under and are the same numbers that the customer asks for.

Keith: Most of the parts we store are bagged with labels or are in boxes that are labeled by the manufacturer. Those that are not marked get labeled by us.

Q2: How do you identify the items/parts you have in your warehouse?

Lisa: We use a combination of methods; labels, part numbers, descriptions and pictures if needed. For example, if the item is in a box, often a picture on the box identifies the product without having to open the box. If the box is opened, it is our experience that the next customer is reluctant to buy it.

Keith: We use the manufacturer label on the package but we then have labeled racks that we use to identify the location of all of our items within the warehouse.

Q3: What equipment do you use to identify the items/parts in your warehouse?

Lisa: Portable label printers mainly but we also use a desktop printer for larger product and shipping labels. Portable label printers are great because they are easy to use, battery operated and will print a label that will stick to just about anything. We use the K-Sun and EPSON label printers specifically.

Keith: We use a TSC desktop label printer with a cutter to print vinyl labels for parts and storage identification.

Q4: Is identifying items/parts important to you in warehouse organization?

Lisa: Yes, absolutely. Identifying items/parts makes it easy to pick items for orders to be shipped, or for customers to find what they are looking for. It also makes it easy for the warehouse workers to put new stock in the correct location.

Keith: Definitely! Identification helps us to know what the product is and where it is located within the warehouse ensuring that the proper product is used or shipped out.

Q5: How do you mark your items?

Lisa: We print large labels with a desktop label printer and use the portable label printers for smaller jobs throughout the warehouse.

Keith: A lot of the products we keep are marked by the manufacturer but we label locations for storage to help keep products organized within the warehouse. We use a portable label printer for this.

Q6: How do you identify shipping cartons and what equipment do you use to do this job?

Lisa: Shipping labels and return address labels are mostly done with a desktop label printer but on occasion, we will use a portable printer.

Keith: We use both the desktop and portable label printers for printing shipping and return labels. It just depends where you are in the warehouse at the time.

Watch this video to find out more about our most popular desktop printer for shipping labels.

Q7: How do you identify surplus/extra inventory in your warehouse?

Lisa: We print labels for the shelves clearly showing part numbers. For large amounts or big items, we mark the pallet the goods are placed on.

Keith: These are properly labeled and stored as close as possible to its home location.

Lisa adds,

Having inventory identified with an easy to read label and stored in a well-marked shelving system helps the customer and staff find what they want quickly. This effort pays off because customers know we are organized and care about how we run our business.

Thanks!

A big thanks to Lisa and Keith for participating in this Q&A panel regarding warehouse identification and organization. To find out more, about their organizations, check out the links below.

EECOL Electric is an electrical wholesaler who encourages customers to walk through the warehouse to browse and pick their order.

Perma-Pipe Inc. is the largest manufacturer of pre-insulated piping systems for District Heating and Cooling in North America, and a Global Leader operating six strategically placed manufacturing facilities worldwide.

To find out more about how Neumann Marking Solutions can help you with you marking and identification needs in your warehouse, check out these other resources:

Or, give us a call at 780-434-9152 or TOLL FREE at 1-800-268-7636.