Warehouse Design That Increases Efficiency
Optimizing space and efficiency is the goal of a warehouse design or redesign. The layout that an assessment will promote will, generally:
- allocate space for shipping, receiving and packaging versus inventory storage according to need;
- minimize worker movement;
- maximize accessibility to inventory;
- locate fast-moving items together (if they’re likely to remain fast-moving over time) for quick access to increase picking speed;
- support picker movement in a continuous route with minimal backtracking and cross-traffic;
- limit handling of large items;
- make the best possible use of equipment;
- ensure compliance with safety and security requirements.
Warehousing needs change as clients and their products – and your value-added services – do. It’s important that any warehouse layout be designed with some flexibility in mind. That flexibility should extend to cover seasonal fluctuations in demand and workforce requirements.
