Five Warehouse Cost Saving Ideas

Warehouses offer a lot of convenience and are a major component in middle mile delivery—but they also come with challenges. These challenges can add up and create high costs that can eventually end up on the customer. Things like...

• Rent
• Inventory
• Storage 
• Labor costs
• Insurance
• Security
• Shipping

….all add up. We’re here to help warehouse owners and managers as well as their business partners save on warehousing costs. While you can’t control everything, you can find a lot of places to improve efficiency if you know where to look.

Five Warehouse Cost Saving Ideas 

And now it's time to answer the big question: what are some of the best warehouse cost-saving ideas? From material acquisition, to product storage, to shipping—maximizing processes always leads to more money in your pocket.  

1. Optimize Storage Space

There are quite a few ways that a business can optimize its storage and space. It’s a chain reaction—creating more space for products and materials leads to higher profit. Some of the best ways that you can optimize your space and storage are:

• Placing all products in the correct place
• Stockpiling safely
• Incorporating technology for advanced retrieval methods
• Creating a convenient layout

Figure out the best ways to store as much product as possible. Investing in better storage racks, palletizers, and other storage equipment create opportunities for more revenue in the long run. 

2. Track and Protect Inventory

Warehouses that don’t have a handle on their inventory create problems for themselves and their partners.

Efficient inventory software makes managing inventory easier. It’s a breeze to ship and sell products when you know exactly what you have and how much of it. A lot of softwares will track inventory and automatically update when a product leaves the warehouse. 

Proper inventory management doesn’t just mean keeping track of what items are put into the database, but also making sure that items aren’t lost. Having strict protocols on item count, theft, and missing items truly separates good from bad inventory control.

3. Cross-Docking

Cross-docking removes the step of long-term storage in a warehouse. In most logistics scenarios, a supplier ships materials to the warehouse where they’re stored until they need to get delivered to a distribution center. 

Cross-docking removes the long-term storage step. Materials arrive at the warehouse and are either immediately loaded into another truck or they're stored for a very short amount of time. 

It can help both warehouse operators and their business partners. Warehouses can utilize their space and docks to facilitate cross-docking, increasing revenue. Business owners can use it to drastically reduce storage costs.

Used hand-in-hand with hotshot trucking, it can save time and money for small businesses. While it does require extra coordination between parties, cross-docking ensures deliveries happens right on schedule.

Related Article: Transportation Management System Benefits

4. Perform Regular Preventative Maintenance

Preventive maintenance isn’t just for the family car. It allows a warehouse to perform under any conditions. Regularly inspect equipment, technology, and machinery to ensure everything is working as they should. Usually, these maintenance repairs are far cheaper than big repairs or replacements.

Vehicle maintenance is still relevant for warehousing. If a business doesn’t have a reliable shipping fleet, they can’t move product, leading to paying for longer storage at a warehouse.

When timing is everything, turn to Open Road. We connect businesses with hot shot drivers to ensure that you can deliver cargo on your time. Open Road is the small business shipping solution for less than truckload hauling. Sign up today to ship on your schedule.

5. Track Benchmarks 

It feels good to reach goals—but more importantly, measurable goals ensure businesses stay in business. Whether a company works directly with a warehouse or is a warehouse, they need to track a number of metrics that indicate success or failure:

• Fulfillment speed
• Profits
• Employee safety
• Customer satisfaction

Tracking benchmarks not only leads to finding more efficiencies that can save money, but they can track exactly how much you’re saving. Setting realistic goals encourages accountability and growth.

Warehouse Delivery at Open Road

Whether you’re a business who works with warehouses, or warehouses are your business, you have opportunities to save time and money. And you know how much these can lead to increased productivity and revenue. 

Open Road Shipping provides cost-friendly solutions for shipping LTL loads to and from warehouses. With a fleet of drivers that specialize in delivery and transportation for a number of industries, including warehousing shipping services, Open Road Shipping works to help your business grow. Sign up today to get started!