The clothing business supplies its clothes to retailers, wholesalers, and customers. However, before sending them to the relevant buyers, the need to store them is significant. The process of clothing storage requires a well-managed warehouse where the clothes can be stored safely.
Managing a clothing warehouse is important to enhance the flow of operations. Hence, the guide below will highlight the ways clothing warehousing is optimized, let’s take a look.
Clothing Warehousing Main Components
Clothing warehousing is dependent on some essential components and these are discussed below:
- Managing Inventory Properly
In a clothing warehouse, there are different types of clothes with varied colors and styles. Each of these clothes needs proper tracking for efficient inventory management. Methods like barcode scanners can help keep a record of inventory and monitor the stock level. Moreover, RFID is also the latest innovation that ensures monitoring and managing inventory.
- Clothing Storage
Storage of clothes is the main consideration in a warehouse. Clothing is kept in varied ways in the warehouse. Some clothes are folded, some are hung and some are kept in bins. However, for each type of clothing, the requirement of storage systems is important.
Clothing warehouses have a combination of storage systems which includes shelves, hanging racks, and bins. Folded clothes are stored on shelves, dresses are hung and clothing accessories that are small in size are kept in the bins.
These storage systems make the warehouse appear organized as everything is stored properly in its place. However, for a high volume of clothes, pallet racks and moveable shelves are also opted.
Many clothing warehouses where large volumes are stored even incorporate automatic storage and retrieval methods. Such techniques make the process of storing and accessing clothes convenient for the staff in the warehouse.
- Packaging and Labelling of Cloths
Clothes need protection which makes packaging very important. You can choose different packaging options like boxes, plastic covers, or fabric bags. It helps to protect the clothes from dust and moisture, ensuring their durability.
Labels on the clothes also contain important details like size, color, and instructions for washing. These labels also play a vital role in inventory management helping to track the clothing.
Different Ways To Optimize Clothing Warehouse Layout
If the warehouse layout is optimized for storing clothes in an effective way, the overall operation efficiency of the warehouse increases. Some of the ways it can be achieved are as follows:
- Making Different Zones:
Warehouse layout contributes to the efficiency of operations. If a warehouse is divided into different zones the process of handling and managing inventory becomes improved. You can choose to divide your warehouse operations into different zones.
Choosing to have a separate zone for receiving, picking, packing and shipping ensures a smooth flow of operations. However, ensure keeping the packing and shipping areas near to each other to reduce the travel time.
- Using Vertical Racks:
Vertical storage space always helps save the floor area, so if you have limited floor space opt for vertical racks. You can store folded clothes in vertical spaces. Also, opting for mezzanine floors can help increase the storage capacity.
- Deciding Picking Zones:
Quick order picking is very important in a clothing warehouse, especially in the peak seasons. Hence, picking zones should have fast-moving items placed in accessible areas so that they can be picked quickly. You can opt for methods like pick to light which improves efficiency.
Grouping similar items together also makes the process of picking easy and reduces the effort and time spent by the workers.
Rotation and Seasonal Storage Strategies
Clothing is one such type of product that has seasonal demands, hence ensuring rotation and seasonal storage methods in clothing warehouses is important. The section below helps you ensure efficiency in this area.
- Predict and Handle Seasonal Trends:
Clothing is highly dependent on seasonal changes like holidays, weather changes, and festivals, and people demand it accordingly. Therefore it is important to forecast the seasonal demand and ensure to have it in stock.
Innovative inventory management systems have the capability of forecasting seasonal demands based on previous sales. Therefore, using these systems you can predict the demand and have the products incorporated in the storage zones. You can keep the demanded clothing at the front so that it is easily accessible.
- Using FIFO Management System:
A clothing warehouse must incorporate the FIFO inventory management system. It ensures that what comes first goes first so that the outdated stock is not accumulated. The older stock must leave the warehouse before it becomes outdated. So the warehouse must organize the areas in such a way that the older stock should be placed at the front.
- Temporary Storage For Peak Times:
Clothing warehousing may need temporary storage solutions that can be used in peak times. When the demand for certain types of clothing is high and you need to stock it excessively, you can use modular racking.
Also, you can look for a warehouse on rent where you can store the extra stock for a particular time. It helps to have a temporary place without any long-term investment.
Addition of Automation in Clothing Warehousing
The innovation of technology has improved the way warehouses work by adding automation. In a clothing warehouse, such automated systems can be of great help.
- Using Warehouse Management Systems (WMS):
Warehouse management systems monitor clothing inventory in real time. It helps to streamline operations and check the stock levels followed by demands. The WMS is also compatible for integration with ERP which manages the entire supply chain of a clothing warehouse.
- Using Different Automation Tools:
Automation improves the efficiency in clothing warehouses and even saves the cost spent on labor. Systems like pick-to-light, conveyor belts, and robotic picking methods are quite effective.
Pick-to-light systems use lights to indicate the staff to pick the right product. It helps reduce errors by ensuring quick picking of products. Conveyor belts transport clothes between different zones reducing the need for staff to travel and pick up the clothes. Robotic picking solutions improve the accuracy and speed of accessing clothes and delivering them to the packing zones.
These technologies are favorable for a clothing warehouse when a large volume of orders is required to be managed.
- The Use of Barcoding and RFID Systems:
RFID technology and barcodes are very important for accurate tracking of inventory. Barcoding systems allow workers to scan the clothing products at the time of receiving and dispatching, it gives an insight to stock levels.
RFID on the other hand offers to track and identify the items automatically and needs no manual scanning. It improves the accuracy of inventory levels and reduces the chances of human errors.
Best Practices To Consider For Clothing Warehousing
To ensure that a clothing warehouse is functioning in an efficient way some of the best practices to implement comprise the following:
- Maintain A Balanced Climate:
Maintaining a balanced climate in the warehouse of clothing is very important to prevent damage. Too much heat and humidity lead to damaged fabrics, they can wear out and lose their actual colors, may develop holes, or end up shrinking.
Make sure to implement relevant climate control systems that maintain humidity and temperature optimally. Some fabrics are more sensitive to climatic changes and they should be taken care of by appropriate storage methods. Keeping them packed and at a maintained temperature is very important for their optimal condition.
- Sorting The Cloths Properly:
Sort your clothing warehouse efficiently. Make sure to maintain a properly organized setup where the clothes are sorted in sizes, styles, and categories. It helps with accurate accessibility.
A well-sorted clothing warehouse has no barriers, and nothing in between to cause delays in traveling from one end to another. When a warehouse is well sorted, the staff also knows where to access the right clothing.
- Minimizing The Damage:
In order to prevent damage to the clothing it is important to choose appropriate tracking systems. Hanging helps avoid wrinkles on clothes, whereas shelves allow keeping the folded items. Ensure packing the clothes in protective bags which keep them away from moisture and dust.
Keep the storage areas clean so that no dust or contaminants accumulate as this may damage the clothes stored in these areas.
Sustainability in Clothing Warehousing
In the clothing warehouse, the need for incorporating environmentally friendly practices cannot be ignored. There are different ways a clothing warehouse can play its role in adding environment friendliness with its positive practices.
Eco-Friendly Practices:
Warehouses can choose packaging material for clothes that is recyclable and can be reused. It helps in reducing the waste. Also, energy-efficient lighting and climate control systems must be incorporated so that electricity can be saved.
Implementing some strategies to reduce waste like recycling plastics, cardboard, and textiles and using sensors for lights can help play a positive role in the environment.
Managing Returns:
Handling returns in an efficient way is important to enhancing sustainability. Opting for methods to recycle and donate the items which cannot be sold is important. Also, returns should be immediately incorporated into the inventory so that they can be sold immediately. Implementing stringent return policies also helps ensure that items are returned within a given time.
Distribution and Shipping Optimization
The process of shipping and distribution can be optimized in the following way.
Streamlined Processes:
Implement proper methods of folding to minimize wrinkles and use protective packing which protects the clothes against damage. Label every piece of clothing and make sure that through the entire supply chain, the products are tracked easily. Creating automatic systems of packing reduces the need for labor and speeds up order fulfillment.
Last-Mile Delivery:
The responsibility of a clothing warehouse doesn’t end when the order is shipped, in fact, they have to keep track of the entire route till it reaches the customers. Hence, coordinating with shipping companies and ensuring they meet the stated delivery deadline is very important.
The warehouse must track the status of the shipment to monitor if it is reaching on time. Also, you can make customers select their preferred delivery times, like whether they want it urgently or can wait for 3 to 7 working days.
Omnichannel Fulfillment:
Clothing warehouses have various customers whose orders are meant to be fulfilled at the same time. These customers include online, wholesale, and retail, hence ensuring everyone gets the clothes on time and incorporating relevant distribution processes is important.
Conclusion
Clothing warehouse requires proper planning and the right kind of storage system in place. A clothing warehouse can incorporate custom racking systems that help organize the clothes.
We at Lracking design customized racking systems and shelves for your clothing warehouse. You can contact us and explain your requirements and we will provide you with an optimal solution to improving storage and warehouse efficiency.
