Keeping a warehouse clean and organized is one of the biggest challenges of any factory or warehouse manager, and the larger the space, the more complicated the task becomes. In Brisbane, where the climate is generally cool and rainy throughout the year, storage spaces can accumulate dust and mold over time if you don’t have a regular maintenance schedule in place.
Fortunately, large-scale or industrial cleaning equipment, such as walk-behind scrubbers, burnishers, walk-behind sweepers, and more, exist to help you get the job done well and in less time.
How do you ensure that your warehouse is clean and all equipment pieces are working properly? Here are six ways to do it:
1. Keep a maintenance schedule
The point of a maintenance schedule is to nip problems in the bud and to make sure your equipment is working as expected so that none of your production lines are interrupted. Different types of factories will have different types of machines, so there really is no cookie-cutter plan to keep a maintenance schedule. This part can cover schedules for parts inspections, cleaning, machine troubleshooting, and more. Once you have created this plan, be sure to stick to it, or revise as needed.
2. Keep the floors clean
This is the most basic task of all and it involves the entire team working on site. Most warehouses and factories are usually large, so you will have plenty of floor space that can accumulate dust or debris over time. These can pose safety and health risks if not addressed on a daily basis. A simple daily sweeping will suffice, then you just schedule walk behind scrubbers and sweepers weekly for a thorough cleaning.
3. Check the machines regularly
Preventive maintenance is an important element of factory or warehouse management. This helps ensure that machines continue to run correctly and are kept from breaking down at critical times. Maintenance checks will help you spot potential problem points at a time when production is down so that you don’t have to worry about them during peak times.
4. Hire a professional for large machines
You can invest in quality cleaning equipment if you have the staff to handle it for you. But if you don’t have a dedicated team, it’s best to bring a professional in to regularly inspect and do a sweep of your high-value and critical machines. Even if you don’t think there’s something wrong, setting periodic checks with a professional will help prevent bigger problems in the future.
5. Use water pressure to handle large cleaning tasks
When dealing with sides of huge machines or concrete flooring, you will need the help of strong water pressure to get the debris and dirt out quickly. Pressure washers are designed to handle grime and huge stains, and they are easy for your staff to handle. Just be sure that the area is dried before you continue with factory operations to prevent accidents.
6. Schedule deep cleans quarterly
Sweeps and water washes you can do daily or weekly, but you also need to schedule deep cleaning jobs on a quarterly basis (or monthly, if necessary). Its schedule will depend on what type of factory you operate. To get this done, you can assign a team to handle all deep cleaning tasks, delegating a person or two to specific areas or equipment, and giving them the right tools to do so.
After that, have them make note of how long each process took to complete and gather feedback on how to make the task more thorough, easier, and quicker. This will help you set a process that everybody can follow moving forward.
Having a clean and organized warehouse starts with the staff who understand its importance. Conduct consultations with your team regularly, as they might have suggestions on how to keep everything in order, given that they are the ones with actual daily exposure to the site. Communicate why it’s crucial that your warehouse is checked daily and that preventive measures are in place. This way, workers can spot irregularities that they can report immediately.
