Bin Locations are an important part of modern, efficient warehouse logistics. Behind every successful business is a well-managed warehouse. This comprises attentive stock, space, and order management made possible through automation using apps like EasyScan. Bin locations are a significant part of this.
Maybe they are something you don’t yet have as a small business or a necessary first step to setting up your warehouse as a new e-commerce shop.Whatever your situation, bin locations are useful and have many advantages for your warehouse logistics.
In this article, I explain what bin locations are, their benefits, and how to use them to fulfill orders. In my simple breakdown, I help you get to grips with this easy way to maximize space, efficiency, and order processing in your business warehouse.
What are bin locations?
Bin locations are designated spaces where inventory items are stored. This is an essential facet of warehouse organization.
What do bin locations look like?
They can be a number of different things. A typical bin location might look like a shelf, pallet, a designated space or area, or an actual bin. They can be organized in many different ways to suit your type and size of stock.
Bin locations must be labeled. Typically, businesses use an alphanumeric code with different digits representing different parts of their warehouse. For example, each warehouse floor, shelf, and bin might have a letter or number. Have a logical organization system for your bin locations and codes so employees can know exactly where items are. This is necessary for helping pickers find bins when fulfilling orders.
Bin locations with different uses
Some different types of bins can be designated for different uses. Fixed bins are locations that remain in the same place even if stock runs out. You can use multiple for a single product, or have multiple fixed bins with different products in them.
Random bins are another option. These are not kept for any specific product. When you receive stock, random bins can be used for temporary storage or if another location is not available. They can also be kept spare in case you need to expand the number of fixed bin locations. This is ideal if your business grows and you add to your stock.
Holding bins can be used where you have new or unavailable stock that needs packing, returning, or changing in some way before it can be sent to customers or back to suppliers.
Benefits of bin locations
There are plenty of benefits to having well-organized bin locations in your warehouse. Here, I take you through the top 3, with some information on how EasyScan plays a part in the set-up and management of bin locations.
1. Know where products are
First, knowing exactly where products are is important. This is part of a wider process of inventory management that EasyScan makes extremely simple. Barcode your stock, label its location, scan it to create inventory reports, and fulfill orders using the app. Then you can manage your different stock locations using these inventory reports. It will help you know exactly where products are in your single or multiple locations.
This organization structure using bin locations and EasyScan means you are less likely to misplace or lose stock due to human error. You will be able to track everything without much effort and know what products you have available for your customers as well as where they are kept.
2. Keep your warehouse organised
Second, using bin locations keeps your warehouse organized. As I’ve already mentioned, with EasyScan, you can track exactly what inventory you have in your warehouse. Combining this with the use of bin locations means you have designated spaces for everything you sell. This allows you to maximize space in your warehouse and minimize clutter and unnecessary mess at the same time.
Optimizing your storage space using bin locations is extremely important as both a small or bigger business. Maximizing space allows you to store and stock more products without needing rapidly increasing space as you grow. Remember, always having spare bins or room for extra bin locations is a great way to ensure your business can grow into your warehouse space whilst maintaining efficiency and organization.
3. Pick quicker with bin locations
Third, bin locations help warehouse employees pick products much more quickly. The codes on bins corresponding to different locations can be used by employees to find products fast, meaning they spend less time walking around the warehouse looking for items.
This cuts down costs as it makes order picking and packing more efficient. It means you are able to fulfill orders faster. Check out our article on how to ship more parcels as a small business to further streamline this process.
Conclusion
It’s very plain to see how bin locations can benefit your business. They are a simple way to organize and manage stock alongside automation apps like EasyScan. Creating a straightforward bin location system with stock codes and barcodes means picking and distributing orders is made much more efficient. It helps to eliminate human error and speed up processing times on your orders.
If you haven’t already got a suitable bin system for your warehouse, it is always a beneficial idea to implement one!
