Warehousing is one of the most fundamental aspects of HVACR distribution.

Whether kept at a site that handles excess inventory, a hub that feeds a distributor’s branch locations, or at the branches themselves, HVACR equipment, parts, and accessories need to be inventoried accurately and stored efficiently and in a way that enables them to be retrieved, prepped, and delivered to the customer quickly. Warehouse size, staffing, signage, and automation, from the ubiquitous scanning guns to software to the coming of robot pickers, all play a role.

“All the moving parts have to work together,” said Michael Cox, vice president of operations at Mid-City Supply Co. Inc., which is based in Elkhart, Indiana, and has nine locations in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan.

The NEWS recently asked Cox and two other HVACR distribution professionals, plus a warehousing consultant, to discuss best practices for HVACR warehouse management. Here are some of the tips they offered:

Keep Things Neat, Clean, and Organized

“We use those three words multiple times a day, and that’s sort of our fundamental approach,” said Doug Wight, vice president of operations at Refrigeration Sales Corp. (RSC), which is based in Valley View, Ohio, and has eight branches and two distribution centers and covers much of Ohio and part of Western Pennsylvania. RSC even has the “Neat, Clean, and Organized” motto printed on company posters and T-shirts, Wight said.

“I can tell just by walking in if the aisles are clean, if the staging areas are clean,” said Hakan Andersson, CEO of Establish Inc., a supply-chain consulting firm based in New York City that offers warehouse optimization services.

Have Clearly Defined Job Duties, But Don’t Forget About Cross-Training Warehouse Employees So They Can Easily Step Into Other Roles

“There’s a decent about of cross-training, just so the guys can back each other up,” said Wight.

Prioritize Communication between Employees

“Communication from our early a.m. shift to the next shift is vital,” said Cox.

Andersson advocates equipping warehouse workers with two-way radio headsets so they’re able to receive instructions and reply on the go, with both hands-free to pull stock. “You get a very high productivity and a very high quality, because they are focused,” he said.

Double-Check Those Orders

At Mid-City, Cox has a “consolidation team” whose members review every order that’s being prepped for delivery, comparing it to what was requested.

A Mid-City consolidator makes sure an order being pulled for delivery includes the right products, in the right quantity, and that none of the outgoing products are damaged. “You’re getting a second set of eyes on it,” Cox said.

Mid-City will occasionally send undercover test orders, with deliberate errors in them, to its consolidators to make sure they’re on their toes, Cox said. Errors caught — and missed — are tracked, he said.

Track the SKUs

“We count our inventory almost every day as opposed to waiting till the end of the month, quarter, or year,” said Johan Mirana, operations manager at Century A/C Supply, which is based in Houston, Texas, and has 13 locations, including a distribution center, most in the Houston area.

Some classes of product get counted more frequently, Miranda said. “This ensures we touch and count our product as often as we need and provide great accuracy,” he said.

“You need to always keep good accuracy on your inventory, otherwise you don’t know what you can sell, what you can deliver,” said Andersson.

Use Benchmarking to Judge and Improve Performance

“You really don’t know what you’re capable of unless you’re benchmarking against other people who do what you do,” said Wight.

RSC is a member of the trade association WERC, the Warehousing Education and Research Council, which, he said, provides good resources for benchmarking and other aspects of warehouse management. The company also rates its performance against other distributors in The Master Group, an HVAC distributor based in Canada and RSC’s parent company.

Consider the Latest Technology

Scanning guns, which help distributors keep track of products received, stored, and shipped, are everywhere now. However, some distributors are using software to configure and maximize storage space, calculate how much product will fit on a truck, and plan the most efficient delivery routes.

At RSC, where a move to a new distribution center is planned for a few months from now, management is considering two different proposals for an automated order-pulling system. That’s a few years down the road, Wight said, but “we’re definitely planning on doing it.”

At Century, Miranda said, management is starting to research robotics.

“We are always looking into how we can improve our operation efficiencies and hope we can find a gem within this side of innovation,” he said.