Warehouse Capacity Improvement
Probably the most frequent lament heard from our warehouse clients is the “I am running out of space in the warehouse”. Unless you are that rare company that has control over your forecasting and inventory management functions, you have probably said the same thing.
The first reaction from the warehouse is that you have too much inventory. Although it is easy to dismiss this as typical whining, there usually is some basis to the complaint. Take a quick look at the aging of your inventory and apply the true carrying costs of that aged segment to determine if it makes sense to consider some type of liquidation to reduce inventory levels. Having said that, let’s take a look at some ideas that might increase the storage capacity in your warehouse.
There are the obvious issues of overall layout design and space utilization that affect the storage capacity along with the selection of appropriate storage media. After you achieve an effective layout, it is time to look for the fine tuning that can add to capacity. The following list represents several potential options or issues to consider.
- Rack over doors – Most receiving dock doors are spaced far enough apart to permit rack to be erected that spans the door openings. These racks can provide several levels of product storage above the clear height of the door opening. Many companies use this pallet rack storage for pallet or packaging material inventory storage.
- Tunnels in Rack – In warehouses where pallet rack is utilized, a missed opportunity exist if rack “tunnels” are not used over main or cross aisles. Most warehouses try to align rows of rack on either side of a main or cross aisle. The area above these aisles is wasted unless racking is installed that bridges the aisle between the ends of rows of rack. Even allowing clearance for lift truck traffic, it is possible to add two or three levels of pallet storage on these”tunnels”.
- One area to review is the width of existing aisles in the warehouse. Most material handling equipment is designed with a minimum aisle width or turning radius associated with that particular style. Make sure that you have not overdesigned the aisle width and waste potential storage space. In larger warehouses with many aisles of racking, a small decrease in each aisle width can add additional rack bays for storage. Make sure you don’t go too far in making them too narrow and causing other operational issues.
- After you establish the layout and location characteristics, the next job is to make sure you utilize all of the potential space in each location. We see instances where one or two cases stored in a location designed for a full pallet. It is necessary to have a variety of location sizes to accommodate the variety of storage needs on a product by product basis. Another waste of space occurs in picking areas where only the front portion of the pick slot is utilized with empty space left behind. The slotting process should take care of this, but we see it a lot in many warehouses. Make sure the pick slot is designed to fit the cubic velocity of the SKU. It is impossible to attain 100% of capacity on a daily basis but the higher % you can maintain in established locations, the more space you will have available.
- Although they can be costly to install in some cases, the option of installing a mezzanine makes sense in some situations. If you can find the right use for this type space, you can double the footprint of the warehouse where you install the mezzanine. Issues such as beneficial use and the cost per square foot of space in your area will determine the potential use.
- One of the key ratios to consider in developing space saving ideas is the ratio of aisle space to storage space. One way to reduce the ratio is to block stack pallets of product on the floor and stack them two or three levels high. It requires enough inventory of the same SKU and product that can be stacked without damage. Floor stacking pallets four or five deep is not uncommon in operations with high stackable inventory per SKU. This ability to deep stack pallets with few aisles manages the space ratio to your advantage.
Theses are a few ideas to consider but by no means a complete list. The key is to objectively look for opportunities with an open mind.
Bob Betke is vice president of F. Curtis Barry & Company, a multichannel operations and fulfillment consulting firm with expertise in multichannel systems, warehouse, call center, inventory, and benchmarking; Learn more online at: http://www.fcbco.com
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Hi guys,
Our busy season is spring, but we need to manufacture throughout the year in order to meet our demand. Storage of completed barrels can be incredibly expensive. We solved the problem by renting storage trailers. Folks who need to store non-perishable products may want to consider this.
‘Hope the new year finds you all well.
Jack