Warehouses play an integral part in the supply chain. Warehouses enable manufacturers to mass-produce goods with fewer worries and retailers to stockpile their inventories. When a distribution center is operating inefficiently, every small business and large enterprise attached to them is affected.

Sometimes, a great business idea doesn’t equate to a successful business, and you have to completely shift how you do things. If you’re willing to transform your warehouse culture and infrastructure, you can greatly increase productivity and efficiency. Continue reading to get some tips that will help you get started.

Repair or replace old equipment.

When you run a small business, it’s understandable not to want to throw money at every issue that arises, but there are times when opening your wallet is the only way to make the changes your company needs. Sometimes business owners point the finger at their employees when production isn’t meeting expectations, but the first place you should look is your equipment.

Being that almost everything in a warehouse sits on pallets, forklifts are by far the piece of equipment on which warehouse workers depend the most. With all the heavy lifting, transporting, and tight maneuvering forklifts do, they take a pounding.

It’s easy to forget the maintenance needs of a forklift until it stops working or is time to change the gas tank. In fact, as long as the forks function properly, they may never get a thorough inspection. However, if you begin noticing that your pallets are misshapen or broken on a regular basis, it could be a sign that the forks on your forklifts are damaged.

Broken pallets are a warehouse hazard, nearly impossible to move with pallet jacks, and a tremendous waste of space, but pallets don’t break themselves. If your pallets are always cracked or leaning, what your company might really need is a lift truck fork replacement.

Optimize your organizing system.

Distribution centers are like business partners for vendors, manufacturers, and retailers. The functionality of their enterprises depends greatly on how efficiently their warehouses are.

One of the best ways to speed up your loading and unloading operations a little bit is by optimizing your warehouse’s organizing system. Many warehouses and distribution centers have been around for ages and have failed to evolve with the rest of the fast-paced business world. However, distribution centers are too central to the supply chain to stay stuck in the past.

If your warehouse hasn’t gone to a digital inventory management system, you’re losing valuable time. It can take a long time to find open storage spaces in a warehouse, and it can take even longer to find the item if you’re still relying on paper to keep track of your inventory.

Lease out open space to other small businesses.

It makes sense for warehouses to have tons of space, but sometimes they have significantly more space than they’ll ever use for business purposes. One way to maximize your excess space and make a profit from it is to lease the space to another distribution center or even a small business in a different industry.

There are plenty of fresh ways to find a business idea, but space sharing is becoming increasingly popular in several different industries. Leasing your excess space could be an excellent marketing strategy that expands your business into different industries and draws potential investors and venture capitalists. Bold moves have big rewards!

Provide performance incentives for your employees.

If you’re looking for ways to motivate your employees to up their production, you should offer performance bonuses and incentives. Just like the opportunity to make more money motivated you to start your own business, it will motivate your team members to go the extra mile to work more efficiently.