Industry Outlook
2023 is being forecasted as the year of economic headwinds. While unprecedented growth and increased profits was the trend in 2022, many are looking to tighten budgets and limit spending in preparation for the predicted economic downturn. According to Deloitte’s “2023
Manufacturing Industry Outlook – Accepting Growth Amid Anticipated Challenges” manufacturing companies will be able to maintain momentum if they build redundancy in their supply chain, boost local capacity, and manage waste. Well-positioned companies will have to examine their current material handling processes and systems to ensure they are operating at max efficiency. That’s where the material handling experts at Conveyer & Caster – Equipment for Industry (CC-EFI) can help. As a turnkey warehouse solutions provider the team at CC-EFI is equipped to help assess your current systems, implement flow & storage improvements, and provide product recommendations to improve your bottom line. There are ways to invest in your material handling processes without a massive budget. Solutions include limiting inventory shrinkage, maintaining existing pallet rack, implementing simple conveyor solutions for automation, investing in higher-quality casters, and improving warehouse safety. Continue reading below to learn more about these solutions that can improve your bottom line and create a leaner facility.
Protecting You From Inventory Shrinkage
One of the largest negative impacts on a company’s bottom line is inventory shrinkage. Shrinkage is “the difference between recorded inventory on a company’s balance sheet and its actual inventory” (Investopedia), and is caused by lost and stolen finished goods and components. Wire cages are a great solution to secure your most valuable items and products in your facility. Cages can limit access to inventory and tools while allowing for simple organization for quick location within a facility. Our e-commerce store Wire Cage USA features the cages and partitions for any application, including 2-sided cages, 3-sided cages, and 4 – sided cage kits for easy installation. You can also work with our sales and engineering teams to build a custom solution for your space and needs. We offer different lock options for additional security purposes such as proximity readers, card readers, and keypads that can be added upon a request for quote.
Maintaining Existing Pallet Rack
While investing in an entirely new pallet rack system can be costly and eat up an entire budget for the year, maintaining and replacing damaged parts of existing systems is an integral factor in a facility’s productivity. Pallet rack systems allow a company to use every inch of space in your warehouse. They provide the high-density vertical and horizontal storage of goods and components and increase the storage capacity of your facility. Being such an integral part of the packing, picking, and storage processes your rack sees a large amount of usage and wear and tear, lending itself to experience damages. Replacing the damaged uprights and parts of a system guarantees safe storage and maneuverability for your employees. Investing in smaller pallet rack systems will also have a large positive impact on the bottom line by giving companies the ability to sort and organize their inventory. This will reduce throughput time by allowing for easier location and better accessibility of products in the facility.
Warehouse Automation
In addition to the economic headwinds forecasted for 2023 labor shortages are predicted to continue, driving more companies to invest in warehouse automation. Warehouse automation is the process of automating the movement of inventory into, within, and out of warehouses to customers with minimal human assistance. As part of an automation project, a business can eliminate labor-intensive duties that involve repetitive physical work and manual data entry and analysis. These solutions create overall leaner processes and allow for employee talent to be better used in other roles. A budget-friendly solution is investing in the installation and implementation of a gravity or live roller conveyor in your facility. These systems will allow for the easy flow of materials and goods through your warehouse while minimizing touchpoints by employees. Similar to pallet rack, conveyors experience high volume and usage and recommended maintenance. When assessing an existing system and issues or bottlenecks that a company can be experiencing keep in mind that spare parts are available and additions can be made to operate at higher capacities. You can contact our engineering and sales team to discuss an existing system or the correct solution to automate your warehouse.
Upgrading Your Casters
Casters are an integral part of every business’s operations, they truly keep your systems and processes moving. Casters are necessary for many aspects of a business and are one of the most used products in a facility this lends them to an extreme amount of damage and natural wear and tear. A simple and cost-effective way to maintain your budget is investing in a higher-quality caster. This will cause replacements to happen less frequently and allow for higher capacity, better mobility, and provide an overall more ergonomic solution for employees. We offer a wide range of caster products including swivel, locking, rigid, heavy-duty, and more. Our e-commerce store Caster Specialists offers thousands of CAD models and products to fit your needs. Our team of caster experts are always standing by to help discuss the upgrades available for your application and your needs. Next Day Casters provides our most popular caster solutions that ship within 24 hours!
Invest in Facility Safety
A portion of every supply chain and operations budget should go be designated to invest in the safety of a facility. Protecting your employees as well as your inventory from damages is the easiest way to prevent a negative impact on your bottom line. Guardrail is an easy-install product that will protect employees from forklifts, tow motors, and other motorized vehicles in your facility. Guardrails and safety barriers also protect your larger ticket investments such as expensive equipment and implant offices from accidents. Guardrails can also be created to protect pallet rack, which would ensure the safety of your finished goods. Ergonomic material handling solutions helps alleviate the risk of workplace injuries for employees which can be devastating for individuals and a company.
Continue Improving Your Processes
Budgets in 2023 with material handling and process optimization will look different than they have in the past, but this does not mean improvements cannot be made. Spending money on high-usage products and solutions allows for a positive impact on your bottom line. Companies will continue to need to be able to safely secure their tools and inventory, have their products move through a warehouse effectively and efficiently, and protect their employees. Contact us today to discuss your company’s goals for 2023 and how we can help!
