Organize Your Warehouse Like Amazon

Did you know that you can DOUBLE the capacity of your warehouse AND cut in half the time it takes to pull orders, while also eliminating errors and mistakes?

Watch this short video, to see how Amazon does it, then come back to this article, and we will show you how you can do it, too.



How cool is that video?  And it was recorded in 2016!

This technique is well-established in eCommerce.  In fact, here are a few articles from around the Web, just to show you that tons of people run their warehouses this way today:

While people have been using this technique in other industries for years, Jistix makes it super simple for real estate runners and installers to use this techinique, too!

If you want to grow your business, this really is critical to your operations.

I built a real estate sign logistics from zero to 2,000 agents in two years.  From doing everything myself, to having 10 drivers and 2 people in the warehouse. And there is no way I could have done it without this kind of system.

In the business of sign installation, many sign installers reserve entire shelf sections for one agent at a time.

But Amazon does thing differently.  And you should, too.  

As one example, the chaotic storage system at Amazon places incoming products randomly on whichever shelves are available, without regard for the owner of the item, or the type of item.  It may sound crazy, but it absolutely works, and wwe have customers who have been doing it for years!

 

 

In the business of real estate services, chaotic storage gives you a lot of advantages over your competitors. Here are just a few:

1. Better Space Utilization

While this method may sound crazy, it actually creates dramatic efficiencies in warehouse storage. In fact, chaotic storage enables a runner or installer to store almost twice as much equipment, compared to traditional storage approaches.

Empty space is continuously filled, and you could cut your warehouse lease costs by up to half!

While it may seem odd to stock your products at random, it actually helps employees avoid mix-ups and mis-ships, such as grabbing the wrong rider or lockbox. When pieces are grouped together, it can be easy to pick just any rider or lockbox on the shelf. But when you have pieces mixed together, it's actually much easier to employees to visually identify the exact piece they are supposed to pull, and get it right every time.

3. Never Lose Equipment

First, the right inventory management system will let you accept customer orders online, 24x7, and assign specific pieces of inventory to each order.  And the system will ensure that agents can only order from items that are currently available in the warehouse.

Then, each piece of equipment is automatically tracked as it is picked from the warehouse, moved to the driver's vehicle, installed, retrieved, and eventually placed back on the shelf in the warehouse.

If anything is lost along the way, you will know exactly where. Gone are the days of brokers buying signs for their agents, then losing hundreds of dollars every time a sign gets lost and no one knows where it went.

4. Simplicity

In a traditional approach, it can be difficult for new employees to learn where everything is within a warehouse. Having a robust inventory management system takes the guesswork out of the picking process, and tells employees exactly where to go, and what to pick. This makes it easier to onboard new team members and deal with turnover.

 

With chaotic storage, workers place new equipment in the first available slot they can find.  They don’t need to spend time organizing locations, or hauling pieces all over the warehouse, searching for bins that belong to individual agents.

 

Chaotic storage is only possible with inventory or warehouse management software that is designed to use chaotic storage.

Each rider, panel, lockbox, shelf, and bin can have a barcode that can be scanned and to track the exact location and quantity of every item in the warehouse, and across all warehouses that you operate.

The best software lets warehouse employees use their own phones for everything they need to do in the warehouse.  You don't have to buy any extra computers or devices for the warehouse.

You may be thinking this all makes sense for a company the size of Amazon but will it work for me? 

In our experience, the right software platform creates tremendous benefits for runners and installers of all sizes.

 

 

EXAMPLE 1:  For a brokerage that employed its own runner, Jistix enables the runner to complete 25% more jobs per day. Before implementing Jistix, the runner often had days where he just could not complete all of the orders that agents requested.  But after implementing Jistix, the runner saved so much time that he was able to handle every agent’s order, on the date that each agent wanted it done. As a result, agents could tell their clients exactly when their sign would get installed, and their clients were never disappointed.

 

EXAMPLE 1: For a large installer with warehouses in four major cities, Jistix empowers one Operations Manager to oversee all of their operations across all four cities.  Customer service is centralized in one city, and that helps to keep costs under control, while ensuring consistent standardization across all markets. The installer offers different services, service levels and prices in each market, based on the needs of each individual market. But they manage it all from headquarters, and they are continuing to expand to new markets.

 

If you are not using chaotic storage today, give us a call, and we would be happy to talk you through it.