4 Cost Effecctive Ways To Increase Sustainability In Small…

Embracing sustainability in your company not only reduces waste but also enhances your brand’s ethical image. While some may fear the cost implications, many sustainable changes are not as expensive as perceived. It’s not always a costly endeavour, as numerous cost-effective measures can be implemented.

In fact, for small businesses, you can make many free or low-cost changes that won’t impact your bottom line or require hefty funds to achieve. Taking a step back and identifying all aspects of your business, you can change or implement greener alternatives, giving you a great base from which to start. If you need help compiling this list or getting started, these simple yet effective methods can be exactly what you need.

Change Energy Suppliers

Switching to an energy supplier that uses renewable sources is a straightforward step towards sustainability. It’s a simple process that can be cost-effective, and once you’ve made the switch, there’s little else to do except keep an eye on your changeover date and pay the bill as usual. This simplicity should reassure you that sustainability is within reach and you can make a significant impact with minimal effort.

Recycle More

Recycling is a free and easy way to increase your eco credentials and ensure that you are reducing your waste and not contributing to landfill issues. You can recycle so many things within your business, including paper, cardboard, electronic waste, bottles, textiles, plastics, metals, and more. This is a simple yet powerful way to make a difference, and it’s within your reach. It likely won’t cost you any more money unless you need to use regular collection services outside of what you currently use, but it’s worth the investment if required to live until you meet your sustainability goals.

Address Your Consumption

This can be different for all businesses, but looking at what you use and consume as a business and reducing it can be a great way actually to save money and cut down on excessive waste. By reducing consumption, you’re contributing to sustainability and saving money. Areas to look into can be things like the packaging you use for your deliveries. Using custom cardboard boxes, for example, that can be reused or recycled at their end destination, can reduce your postage costs and the amount of protection you need to add to boxes without compromising on quality or protection during shipping. Switching over to digital services and not using excessive paper and stationery can reduce consumption, such as implementing a water drinking station, encouraging people to bring water bottles, helping reduce single-use plastics, etc.

Check Your Supply Chain

Lastly, checking your supply chain and asking for their sustainable efforts can ensure that your efforts aren’t in vain and that the right partners can ensure the changes you make have a more significant impact. Talk to them about what initiatives they have in place, such as using more sustainable fuels for travel, using recyclable materials, planting trees, etc. and ensure that these efforts meet the company ethos you are working towards to compound your own efforts.

4 Effective Ways To Boost Warehouse Efficiency

Warehouses are among the most inefficient business operations. There is plenty of scope for processes to lose momentum or for changes to be implemented that don’t quite gel with current operations. In the never-ending quest for improved productivity and efficiency, things can become distorted, and the results end up making things worse rather than better.

If you’re nodding your head in agreement, it’s time to take a positive step forward. Yes, there may be roadblocks in your processes, but these are opportunities for improvement. By identifying and overcoming these challenges, you can significantly enhance your efficiency.

These are not just theoretical concepts. They are practical tips that can be implemented in your warehouse operations starting today. They are designed to motivate you to overcome inefficiencies and improve your overall performance.

Monitor and Collect Feedback

In the first instance, you need to take a step back from what you’re doing, pay attention to current workflows, and monitor everything. Look at what is involved in performing certain tasks and functions, the time it takes and what each person has to do. From here, you can collect feedback from those working in the area to see what is working for them and what ideas, if any, they have for improvements. Their role is crucial, as they’re the ones doing the job and might have a better insight into the beneficial changes you need to make.

Use The Right Equipment

It goes without saying that the wrong or damaged equipment will make things much harder than they need to be. You need to equip your team with the correct tools for the job, whether this is finding the best forklifts for sale, using pallet jacks, racking strapping tools, etc. Ensuring they have appropriate tools can make everyone’s lives easier and reduce inefficiency from trying to compromise to get the job done.

Create Zones

Creating warehouse zones simply means you are paying attention to how your staff operate and placing similar products together for easier access and picking. If you have items typically ordered together, these need to be placed close by, creating clear points for receiving stock, outgoing orders, and product types are all great zoning starting points so you can improve efficiency across the board. For example, you have one kind of product in one zone and dedicated workers for each zone. If an order needs items from different zones, it’s passed to each person in charge of the zone to complete until it’s done. This removes the need for all employees to be traversing different zones.

Improve Supply Chain

Your supply chain efficiency is going to impact your in-house efficiency directly, and getting things under control can make a massive difference. Tips like diversifying your supply chain by using more suppliers can help you avoid lean periods when one supplier might be facing stock control issues or are unable to fill orders to avoid delays in your operations. It could be that you use historical data to improve forecast stocking supplies so you don’t run low or overstock when you don’t need to, making it easier to navigate the warehouse and stocked inventory. Finding the right option for you is vital to help you avoid supply chain issues and avoid an impact on your overall efficiency.

Monitor and Collect Feedback

In the first instance, you need to take a step back from what you’re doing, pay attention to current workflows, contract data extraction software and monitor everything. Look at what is involved in performing certain tasks and functions, the time it takes and what each person has to do. From here, you can collect feedback from those working in the area to see what is working for them and what ideas, if any, they have for improvements. Their role is crucial, as they’re the ones doing the job and might have a better insight into the beneficial changes you need to make.

Things to consider when renovating an apartment block

Are you a landlord and have recently purchased an apartment block that you are planning on renovating? You’ve come to the right place. We have put together our guide on things to consider when renovating an apartment block. 

When renovating an apartment block, there are many things for you to consider – a lot comes down to the budgets you have available to you. You will need to decide on whether new flooring is going to be needed, will you require any planning permissions for any extensions you may want to take out? A Fire Fighting Pump is useful in case a fire does break out and you need to get water to the properties that are higher up and any major renovations such as new kitchens. 

Keep on reading to learn more about the different considerations when renovating an apartment block. 

Will you require new flooring?

When you are walking around the apartment block and the properties, do you think they will need new flooring? Having good flooring is important as it will make the apartment block look more appealing and desirable for the people who will be moving in after you have finished with the renovations. New flooring will come at an expense, however, there are many options for you to choose from, ranging from affordable to expensive. The one you choose will depend on your clientele. The right flooring will help make a room feel bigger. 

Will you require any planning permission? 

Are there any major changes that you would like to make that may require planning permission? When renovating an apartment block, you may want to add extensions or make big changes and often these will require planning permission. Therefore, before making the changes, it’s important you speak to an expert to see if you will require any. When reaching out, they may also be able to suggest additional changes that you can make that will improve your apartment block. 

What major renovations will you need to make? 

Put a spreadsheet together and list any major renovations that you will need to make. Maybe you will need to put a new kitchen into a few of the apartments? Maybe they will require a new bathroom or the ceiling to be replastered? This will all have a cost associated with it, so by listing it all down, you can start to put a budget together. Having a budget is important as this will reduce the chances of overspending. When you have a spreadsheet, you can also use this to collaborate with the other workers who will be assisting you with this project. An apartment block renovation is a big job that will require a good team of workers to support you. 

We hope our guide has given you some inspiration on considerations when renovating an apartment block. Are there any considerations that you think we should add that we haven’t included? Which of the above tips did you find most useful? Let us know in the comment box below, we look forward to hearing from you.