Qualities of a good ware house

Qualities of a good warehouse

1. It must be located in those places where goods are produced in greater quantities and are used at a mature stage.
2. It should be fully equipped and have all the necessary facilities to store goods for a long time without being spoilt or damaged.
3. It should be large enough to allow future expansion and storage of different types of goods safely.
4. It should have a good transport system so that the goods do not go bad due to delay in delivery of goods to the market. It would also facilitate the transportation of raw materials to production centres.
5. It should have efficient staff in order to acquire efficiency and protect goods against any loss or damage.
6. It should have adequate protection measures so that chances of losses or damages would be prevented by all means possible.
7. It should be located as near as possible to the buyers so that the transport cost to the market is minimized.
8. It should stock goods according to people's demand in order to avoid wastage of goods and money (resources).

Organization of a warehouse / management of a warehouse

In the organization of a warehouse, the owner is at the top of the list followed by the general manager who is usually the chief executive. A warehouse has the following departments with their responsibilities.

a. Purchases department

This department is headed by a purchasing manager responsible for buying stock to the warehouse.

Its major duties are:

• Placing orders for goods needed in the warehouse with the most suitable manufacturer.
• Looking for cheap sources of supply so that a businessman is able to make high profits.
• He is responsible for assessing the changes in fashion and tastes so that only goods demanded are stored in a warehouse which would avoid losses to the businessman.
• Receiving goods from the suppliers and making sure that they are safely stored.
• Maintaining a list of regular suppliers for easy contact and purchasing of goods when required.
• It is responsible for packing, blending or branding goods thereby ensuring that goods are ready for sale.

b. Sales department

This is headed by a sales manager, and he is responsible for the profitability of the entire business. It is responsible for the following:

• To carry out sales promotion strategies such as advertising, branding, free samples, etc.
• To receive orders from the customers and dispatching goods as required by the buyer.
• It also maintains the list of all regular customers classifying them according to areas or credit worthiness so that he can attend to them appropriately.
• It arranges for the transport of goods from the warehouse to the retailer's premises according to the agreed terms.
• It handles the customers' complaints regarding the goods supplied and making sure that appropriate steps are taken to solve problems related to these complaints.
• It ensures that required goods are available so as to avoid strategies which may cause price fluctuations.
• It maintains a regular sales force arranging for its travelling so as to acquire efficiency in the warehouse.
• To ensure that there is credit control so as to avoid incurring bad debt.

c. Accounts department

This is headed by a chief accountant and handles all accounting works. The major activities it carries out include:

• Receiving and effecting payments on behalf of customers.
• Preparing budget and enforcing costing systems which make proper accountability of the warehouse funds.
• Ensuring that all the financial commitments of the business are conveniently met.
• It carries out financial accounts at the end of each year in the form of preparing the balance sheet.
• Preparing invoices and statements to be sent to customers so that accountability can be made by the chief accountant easily.
• Preparation of wage sheet and payment of wages.

d. Secretary department

It's headed by the secretary or office manager, and it handles all the correspondence, legal affairs and personnel matters and records. It is responsible for the following duties:

• To keep up to date with correspondence this may be regarding the sales of goods.
• Maintaining the necessary files which cause the smooth running of the business possible.
• Advising the management on matters of legal importance e.g. company registration, dividends.
• Appointing staff members or in case of senior employees, advice the general manager and the owner on their appointments.
• Arranging for the training of personnel so that there is efficiency in duties performed by the staff.
• Maintain staff records which can be referenced in case of promotions and any other appointments among the staff.

e. Sales promotion department

It is headed by the sales promotion manager who is responsible for the following:

• Handling all advertisements aimed at promoting sales.
• Printing catalogues and prices and other documents which can be sent to prospective buyers.
• Arranging for special demonstrations of goods offered by the business with the aim of promoting the volume of sales.
• Participating in trade shows like SABA-SABA trade fair and international trade fairs so as to interact with prospective buyers.
• Attending to customer's complaints and making sure that such complaints are solved.