1. The storage requirements of chemical companies are very complex. In the case of hazardous chemicals, caution and adherence to safety guidelines are necessary. Chemical manufacturer needs to optimize their warehouse operations to maintain the profitability of their plants while offering competitive prices in the fierce competition.
2. A perfect chemical warehouse management system ensures that everything in the industry runs in the best way. Common warehouse activities may include arranging inventory, managing new material inventory, operating and maintaining appropriate equipment, shipping orders, tracking and improving overall warehouse performance, etc.
3. In chemical enterprises, optimizing warehouse management process is the most important, including planning, organizing, guiding and controlling resources.
Here are some industry specific challenges and why chemical manufacturers have to respond positively.
Labeling of dangerous products in stock and shipment:
Hazard communication standard (HCS 2012), according to the occupational safety and health regulations, requires chemical manufacturers to classify the hazard data of chemicals produced or purchased. They must also inform their employees of the chemicals they are exposed to through hazard manuals, product labels with chemical hazard information, safety data sheets and staff training. Maintain chemical information and print product labels to ensure HCS 2012 compliance. The regulation attaches importance to the consistency and content of chemical labels. Product labels are standardized and must include the following six elements:
1. Signal word – indicates danger, such as warning / danger.
2. Pictograph. Identify hazardous products classified by health risk, chemical risk and environmental risk. Here is an example.
3. Manufacturer’s details: identify the manufacturer’s company name, address and telephone number.
4. First aid and prevention instructions: describe preventive measures for prevention, reaction, storage and disposal.
5. Hazard Description: describe the nature and hazard degree of dangerous products.
6. Product Name: chemical name.
Accuracy of warehouse inventory
Inventory must be stored in the correct location according to the specified location instruction and marked correctly. There are several reasons for inaccurate inventory. There is no real-time inventory count, inventory at the above locations cannot be tracked, and no transfer is recorded for mobile inventory. Most of these problems are due to time factors, process failure or non-conforming process and insufficient training of chemical inventory management system. When workers encounter such a difficult problem in operation, they are likely to avoid it for the benefit of time. Usually, these defects will accumulate and leave inaccurate data in the chemical inventory tracking system.
Review your warehouse management strategy
There are many solutions to alleviate the above problems. Let’s talk about some:
Every warehouse worker, from manager to worker, must be adequately trained to solve different types of errors.
Establish a healthy working knowledge environment about the whole system, so as to provide information and help each other in case of any problems.
Reliable technologies, such as cloud management software and machine learning applications, can provide higher accuracy and transparency for the entire warehouse operation.
Through human resource management solutions, material management solutions and monitoring key performance indicators to track the overall efficiency of the warehouse, the optimization of the chemical warehouse can be realized. Order picking accuracy, warehouse capacity, timely delivery to customers and other measures will improve the overall warehouse productivity.
Using embedded ERP mobile devices and other technologies to simplify the operation. Mobility in supply chain management is essential because it can reduce costs, improve productivity, and improve operational efficiency.
