Your stockroom is the heart of your inventory management system. After all, it’s where your business stores the inventory and assets needed to keep operating productively and profitably.
If your business is committed to reducing storage costs, speeding up tedious inventory-related tasks, meeting customer demands faster, and minimizing inventory shrinkage, spoilage, and obsolescence, then organizing your stockroom correctly is an essential first step.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the five-step process of how to organize a stockroom. Feel free to tweak these tips to meet your business’s unique needs or use these steps as a starting point for your own organizational strategy.
1. Create an inventory list
Before you optimize and organize your storage space, determine precisely what inventory your business has on hand and how much inventory you need. If you already use inventory management software, you can review your inventory records to determine this. If you don’t use inventory software, review the raw data from your inventory spreadsheet or manual inventory list instead.
Once you’ve gathered that information, create a detail-rich inventory list. If you’re using an inventory app as your database, you can add pictures, include attachments, and sync barcodes and QR codes, too.
If you’re unsure what inventory your business has or what inventory you require to operate optimally, conduct an inventory audit, talk to your employees about usage, and then create a thorough stocklist. You can always make adjustments as you become more organized and understand your company’s needs better.
This easy, comprehensive guide will help you:
Free Ebook: Getting Started With Inventory Tracking
2. Make the most of your storage space
Once you know what your business has—and what it needs—it’s time to get organized.
Whether your business has one tiny storage closet or maintains a dozen warehouses, optimizing your storage space is essential. Start by identifying all storage opportunities, on-site and off, including inside company fleets, within filing cabinets, and in your workspace’s forgotten nooks and crannies.
Once you’ve made a list of every place you could store inventory, consider where specific inventory should go. Talk to other employees about what systems work for them and what current processes feel inefficient.
After you have a handle on where inventory should be stored, create the infrastructure needed to support that system. Think about how you need to prepare for better stockroom organization. Increase space by adding vertical and hanging storage. Make high-touch tools and supplies even more accessible by keeping them on rolling carts. Remove inventory from bulky, space-wasting boxes and packaging whenever possible.
And don’t forget to consider the limitations of your storage and the requirements of the inventory you stock. Raw materials, for example, often have stringent storage protocols. When storing such items, you’ll need to consider everything from sun exposure to humidity.
The same goes for high-value assets and other expensive inventory. You may need to implement security measures, such as installing locks or surveillance cameras, to keep this inventory safe.
3. Think about how you stock your shelves
Once you’ve prepared your stockroom with the equipment, it’s time to get granular. You’ll need to make a plan for stocking every shelf and bin. Think strategically about what inventory your employees need easy access to and what stock is only used a couple of times a year.
Optimize your shelves so that the most commonly used items are at eye level and easy to grab. Less commonly used items can go higher. Heavier items should go on the bottom shelves for maximum stability. You can also use shelving dividers and drawers to maximize space.
You can use inventory management software to track where everything goes, noting the specific location of each item—even tiny items like nails, nuts, and bolts. Labels or other identifiers can also clarify where inventory is stored for faster, more accurate restocking.
All inventory, if it expires, should be stocked using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method, where inventory set to expire is placed in front of identical inventory that expires later.
Related: How Do You Organize Inventory?
4. Think about employee safety
Stockrooms cannot be organized only around convenience. All businesses need to consider employee safety, too. There are various safety concerns to consider when organizing a stockroom, many of which are industry-specific. These guidelines are just a few of many considerations:
- The heaviest inventory should always be stored as close to the ground as possible to avoid top-heavy shelves. Ensure your employees are prepared to lift heavy inventory safely.
- Hazardous inventory should be stored according to all rules and regulations, and guidelines should be posted for everyone to see.
- All shelves should be bolted to the wall.
- Safety audits, ongoing training, and compliance with all local, state, and federal safety regulations are a must.
- Consider alternative storage solutions
If you’re low on storage space, consider storing less-needed inventory off-site instead of overcrowding your stockroom.
Two possible solutions are leasing a less expensive storage facility offsite and talking to your most important suppliers about storing inventory for you and then delivering it upon request. This second option is especially helpful for businesses that maintain backstock but usually know before they need to use it.
Related: How to Find Suppliers You Trust
5. Create a standard operating procedure
Once you’ve walked through the first five steps, you’re ready to codify your organization plan. This plan will outline what inventory is needed, where it’s stored and organized, how it’s reordered, tracked, and restocked, how inventory is kept secure, and how employees are kept safe.
Whether you plan to use inventory management software, an inventory spreadsheet, or a sheet of paper to track your inventory, this standard operating procedure (SOP) will help keep your business (and its stockrooms) organized all year long.
If you’ve chosen to use barcodes and QR codes to track inventory, the SOP should also include details on this system.
Many businesses also find it helpful to post maps, charts, and other documentation that show team members exactly how inventory should be stocked. You can also conduct audits from time to time to ensure all SOP–mandated protocols are being followed.
About Sortly
Sortly is an inventory management solution that helps you track, manage, and organize your inventory from any device, in any location. We’re an easy-to-use inventory software that’s perfect for large or small companies. Sortly builds inventory tracking seamlessly into your workday so you can save time and money, satisfy your customers, and help your projects succeed.
With Sortly, you can track inventory, supplies, parts, tools, assets, and anything else that matters to your business. It comes equipped with smart features like barcoding & QR coding, low stock alerts, customizable folders, data-rich reporting, and much more. Best of all, you can update inventory right from your smartphone, whether you’re on the job, in the warehouse, or on the go.
Whether you’re just getting started with inventory management or you’re an expert looking for a more efficient solution, we can transform how your company manages inventory—so you can focus on your business. That’s why over 15,000 businesses globally trust us as their inventory management solution.
Start your two-week free trial of Sortly today.
