Contemporary warehouse design
Today's warehousing and inventory management best practices are continually evolving
This article is excerpted from the Complete Guide to Warehouse Management from Cherry's Industrial Equipment.
Every warehouse manager wants to implement cost-effective, confident solutions across today’s cutting-edge warehouse operations — solutions that improve order efficiency, employee productivity, inventory management and warehouse safety and security.
Insufficient space and poorly designed warehouses are two of the most commonly cited challenges for warehouse managers. Regardless of warehouse type — from an around-the-clock retail facility to cold dairy storage — revisiting your floor plans can mitigate many concerns.
Warehouse floors must be large and spacious enough to maneuver equipment and personnel easily. Yet they must also maximize square footage through ample shelving and storage. They must have designated warehouse spaces for critical functions, such as loading and shipment docks, order processing and packaging and a central office. Yet these spaces cannot take away from the warehouse’s vital storage space.
What’s more, all these components must be stationed in a lean, organized floor plan. Warehouse employees must know that floor plan like the back of their hand. Any changes in layout, additional shelving or storage re-organization must be done with care, as once this kind of infrastructure is in place, it'll take significant time, energy and resources to re-do.
It’s a reality small and large-scale operations inevitably confront — What do you do when space runs out? Most companies simply won’t have the resources for a warehouse extension or relocation. Making the most of what you have is therefore paramount, especially amidst shifting inventory, changing warehouse functionality and the drive to be more cost-effective.
RECOMMENDED DESIGNATED WAREHOUSE SPACES
Managing warehouse design and layout takes foresight. It also takes a little adaptability and communication with your employees, garnering feedback on actual warehouse spatial usage and flow. These points are crucial to understand to adopt more evergreen warehouse storage.
Floor plans for warehouses will vary depending on your industry and the type of stored products. However, the following designated areas are fundamental for a high-functioning, leanly managed warehouse.
1. SHIPMENT AND RECEIVING
Intuitively, all warehouses have some space where new products or inventory are received from vendors. Shipping and receiving areas typically house large amounts of staff and low amounts of technical equipment compared to other areas on the floor — though this doesn't mean they're without technological affordances. These areas run best using efficient scheduling and labeling tools that don’t take up a significant amount of room, keeping lanes clear to allow set unloading and sorting manual operations.
2. CONSIGNMENT
Consignment areas are where newly received inventory gets assessed, labeled according to stock-keeping unit (SKU) and put into the inventory management system before being taken to its relevant stack area in storage. In most warehouses, they sit adjacent to shipping and receiving docks to allow an automatic, minimal transfer of products. For spatially strapped warehouses, consignment can be included as part of office work.
3. ORDER PROCESSING
Order processing occurs in a few steps. It begins with receiving orders and SKU analysis, usually through computerized systems, then moves on to product retrieval and packaging according to the customer’s exact specifications. Order processing layout should reflect this multi-functionality, with a mix of automated, digital and manual solutions that make the most of limited processing space. Order processing should also have computer systems in place where inventory can be updated in real time to reflect activity.
4. HANDLING AND PACKAGING
This is where ordered stock is brought to be checked, packaged, sealed, labeled and weighed. For large-scale, high-turnover warehouses that process many different types of inventory, these can be broken up into individual segments that handle only specific products. However, it's more likely handling and packaging is consolidated into one location and overseen by employees in the order-processing domain.
5. RECONSIGNMENT
Reconsignment is an area for returned or improperly indexed items. For consumer-goods warehouses and e-commerce, these are imperative designated spaces with personnel dedicated to them. Not only does reconsignment ensure your inventory is up-to-date and accounting gets real-time adjustments, but it keeps your regular workflow uninterrupted.
6. STORAGE STACKS
Storage will make up the bulk of your warehouse's design layout. Stacks will be comprised of various shelving and storage units, organized with the utmost retrievability, navigability and consignment features possible for your industry. Managing warehouse storage can be augmented through the use of strategic equipment, such as contemporary pallet inverters, pallet changers or lift tables.
7. OUTGOING SHIPPING
Finally, all warehouses include a designated outbound shipping area to send out fully processed, outgoing orders. Similar to receiving docks, these should have dedicated personnel and a dock manager set in a precise location that won't interfere with other transportation operations yet keeps the warehouse layout streamlined.
BEST PRACTICES FOR USING WAREHOUSE SPACE
The surest ways to use warehouse space don't revolutionize or add to what you currently have. Instead, they aim to simplify it.
You want the flow of executing a work order — from receiving to retrieving to packaging and shipment — to occur as linearly as possible. Designing a warehouse should, therefore, keep linear movement streams top of mind.
The end goal is to have warehouse employees always working in clear, quick and linear patterns while moving around and working on the floor. Management and warehouse organization are all laid out to aid in swift, serial product location and transportation, with minimal turns, gaps, process interruptions or lags.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The November/December issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Applied Industrial Technologies. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dr. Bharani Nagarathnam and Frank Hurtte, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
