Properly organising a warehouse layout
is critical to optimising operations and minimising the unnecessary movement of
materials. By strategically optimising the storage of products according to
demand, organisations can significantly improve productivity, reduce the time
required for order fulfilment, and ultimately enhance customer satisfaction.
Implementing efficient stock management
practices plays a pivotal role in driving the overall success of a warehouse
operation. Critical considerations when deciding on an appropriate storage
system include:
- The nature and characteristics of the products and
unit loads held.
- Ensuring efficient utilisation of the available
warehouse space.
- Quick and easy access to stocks carried.
- Compatibility with information system requirements.
- Maintenance of stock condition and integrity.
- Warehouse staff health and safety.
- The costs of a warehouse system.
The Importance of Evaluation
Evaluating storage system capital costs
is crucial, as it implies going beyond the fundamental equipment required to
establish the storage system. Additional costs that must be brought into
consideration include:
- Fire protection.
- Security of inventory.
- Staff health and safety.
- Workforce needed to operate a warehouse.
- Information management systems.
- Availability of space or land.
- General building services.
One way of classifying storage systems
could be:
- Bulk storage for solids, such as silos, bunkers, and
stockpiles.
- Loose item storage, ex-casting and fabrications held
loose on the floor.
- Pallet storage systems.
- Small item storage for individual items or small unit
loads.
- Nonstandard unit loads such as long lengths of metals
or conduits.
Efficient stock management relies
heavily on strategically placing items in a warehouse according to the demand
for inventory, but not to the detriment of causing congestion when accessing
the inventory to replenish pick-face locations or picking inventory for order
assembly and dispatch.
The crucial objective is to reduce the
distance that products must travel within the warehouse from storage to
dispatch and maintain the free flow of materials without congestion. This plays
a pivotal role in the speed and effectiveness of storage, picking, and general
material handling processes within the facility.
Locating inventory within a warehouse is
critical in ensuring a smooth and productive stock management system and
workflow. By minimising the travel time of products and reducing congestion,
the efficiency and speed of storage, picking, and material handling operations
can be significantly improved, leading to a more streamlined and effective
dispatch of orders.
Selecting Manufacturing and Distribution
Storage Systems
Customers’ demands significantly affect
an organisation's strategic manufacturing or distribution system choice. The
speed and efficiency of these systems are directly influenced by the level of
service required by customers. An organisation must respond operationally to
meet customer needs and the expected service level to satisfy customer
expectations.
An organisation's ability to meet
customer needs and expectations hinges on adequately selecting and utilising
the correct storage system and equipment. By considering the efficiency of
material handling flows and the suitability of storage systems, an organisation
can enhance its overall performance and ensure the highest levels of customer
satisfaction without incurring unnecessary additional costs.
Making well-informed choices about
storage systems is crucial to meeting customer requirements, sustaining a
competitive advantage in the market, and maximising an organisation’s sales,
turnover, and profitability.
Material Handling System Mapping
The layout of manufacturing or
distribution systems is greatly influenced by the dimensions of the building,
encompassing its width, height, and length. At times, the design of
manufacturing and distribution systems may be limited by a building's dimensions
rather than tailored for maximum materials handling efficiency to shorten
travel distances and manufacturing, order picking and assembly efficiency and
effectiveness.
Hence, it is crucial to meticulously
contemplate the selection of a building to ensure that it harmonises with the
organisation's goals and objectives for its manufacturing or distribution
systems. The characteristics and pagination of products received from suppliers
will mean that certain types of storage equipment will be more suitable than
others. The primary inputs into deciding the kinds of storage and distribution
equipment that are suitable will be the characteristics of products in terms of
their:
- Height.
- Width.
- Depth.
- Weight.
- Retail unit quantity.
- Supply unit quantity.
The storage system should support
product examination, positioning in the primary pallet storage racking area,
restocking in the pick-face racking, and then picking and shipping for customer
delivery.
Product Pagination
The effectiveness of the sales order
picking and dispatch process is significantly impacted by the correlation
between the dimensions and pagination of the product's external transit
packaging upon arrival from the supplier. This correlation must be considered
when procuring the right size of storage equipment to guarantee maximum
efficiency in sales order picking and dispatch.
In this situation, it is crucial to
ensure that the storage facilities in a warehouse's main pallet racking area
can accommodate pallets received from suppliers. In contrast, the racking in a
warehouse's picking area should be able to store a pallet of boxes that will be
assembled into customer orders without the need for pallets to be split down
during the replenishment of pick-face locations.
Suppliers must deliver pallets
containing the products boxed, as an organisation's customers will receive
them, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of warehouse order picking
and dispatch operations. The palletised product obtained from the supplier
should match the quantity required to replenish the pick-face location.
It is also important to note that the
units sold and dispatched to the customer should be individual, indicating that
the pallet received from the supplier would be sufficient to fulfil a high
volume of customer orders. Compatibility among the storage equipment used
across warehouse zones is imperative for a warehouse's seamless and efficient
operation.
This compatibility is vital in
facilitating product delivery, storage, picking, and dispatching. A slight
incompatibility in one warehouse zone can disrupt the overall product flow. The
interruptions may lead to increased costs and present possible dangers to the
well-being and security of staff.
For instance, if boxes in a warehouse
picking area cannot be stored in the designated racking and are left in the
aisles, it can create a potential trip hazard for individuals accessing the
area for picking purposes. Therefore, it is crucial to prioritise compatibility
among the storage equipment types to maintain a seamless flow of products
throughout a warehouse.
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