Consider These Things When Designing Your Warehouse

Things To Keep In Mind When Planning How Your Warehouse Will Function

When you have a number of items to store for pre and post production, utilizing a warehouse, to house them, is probably your best option. One thing to keep in mind is that just placing things in a warehouse without forethought or planning can lead to things getting out of hand rather quickly. You will want to implement a system to stage things efficiently so that they can be found and retrieved easily. When designing a warehouse management system, these things should be on the to-do list.

Racking Systems

You will want a racking system specifically for the items that you need to store. For long or oddly shaped items, cantilever racking is your best bet. This type of rack is opened and easily accessible making it perfect for hard to shelve items. It also has the benefit of being easy to install. In most cases, however, you will probably opt to use pallet racking. These racks hold palletized items on racks that have multiple levels. Spacing will have to be taken into consideration as forklifts and rider reaches are required to move pallets in and out.

Maximize Your Space

In any warehouse environment, space is at a premium. It is also finite. Holding onto items, both good and bad, for too long can eventually fill the warehouse to compacity. There need to be mechanisms built into every management system that triggers the removal of excess items that are no longer required. Moving these items to an offsite facility that is solely for overstock is a good idea.

The Management System Is The Glue That Keeps Things Running

Included in the most important aspects of the warehouse design is the management system. This will allow you to effectively stay on top of what items are in the warehouse, how many of each item there is, where each item is located, and when items come in and out. Without a proper management system, workflow in the warehouse would slow to a crawl. That management system will also help paint an accurate picture of when items should be ordered and how things are selling.

These are but a few of the things that should be factored into the planning and design of a well-running warehouse. Once your plan is set, the actual racking needed, you can focus on the things needed to get your warehouse up and running. Companies like Simply Rack can supply your racks for storage while there are a number of WMS software options to choose from to oversee inventory. With a little effort, you’ll be up and running in no time.