How to manage and find extra storage space in your warehouse?
Warehouses are the key part of the supply chain. A well-managed and efficient warehouse leads to the smooth running of the business. Warehouses play a key role in the supply chain. A lean, efficient warehouse keeps businesses running efficiently; therefore, the warehouse organization can make or break a business’s bottom line. Effective warehouse design certainly encompasses layout and space optimization, including warehouse labelling, racking, technology, and designated picking and receiving areas. Warehouses that are clean and well organized are ready to receive merchandise, prepare orders, load and ship containers, and keep customers happy.
Unfortunately, organizing a warehouse efficiently is easier said than done. Each decision should support the organization’s goals while increasing productivity, optimizing space, reducing costs, and delivering superior customer service.
Why do warehouses run out of space?
There are times when the warehouses run out of space, that is due to many reasons-
Business growth- The business is growing at a rapid pace. More products and stock are added to the inventories. There are huge orders from particular inventories. Due to this reason, the honour increases the stock in the warehouse to fulfil the orders.
Overbuying products- The purchasing department may have over-bought the products. Imagine you had space in your warehouse for ten products, but due to a deal offer or some other reason the purchasing department bought 25 such products. In this case, the warehouse runs out of space.
Dead inventories- Some inventories are now not in use, the products which are now unavailable from the selling panel due to they are out of trend, or no one uses them, they are old. Such products in the warehouse become dead inventories, which can’t be thrown away and take a lot of space out of the warehouse.
How to maximize space inside the warehouse?
Distribution centres or warehouses constantly face the new challenges of efficiently optimizing space due to the limited availability of the space. It is nothing big to understand and know that running a large-scale warehouse can give a high cost and burden to the business. This is why warehouses or distribution centres must run as efficiently as possible and work on warehouse space optimization to organize all the inventories in the best possible way to ship the product easily to the customer. It requires a knowledgeable warehouse manager to analyse the available space and use it in an optimized way. Above are the measures you can use to maximize the space inside your warehouses.
- Extend rack up vertically- Horizontal racks in the warehouse are common; they store the products. You can extend the rack up vertically in your warehouse, which will bring in more space to your warehouse.
- Install floor level in a warehouse- You can use floor shelves in your warehouse, the flooring shelves will let you use the complete height of the warehouse, and top products can be stored in the warehouse.
- Identify underutilized space- Identify the underutilized space, space where more products can be stored, and it can be used for storing more products; then this space can be used.
- Remove extra or waste stock- Dead inventories, extra and waste products need to be removed from the warehouse; once you remove the dead inventories and waste stock, there would be more space in your warehouse.
- Sort the SKU’S- Use labelling and ensure using particular space with shelves and racks to maintain the SKU. Don’t flatter the products here and there in the warehouse; sort the SKU inventories to get maximum space.
- Use drop shipping- Use drop shipping for selling; you can tie up with different sellers and sell their products on your ecommerce and directly ship them from their warehouses.
- Utilization of your building- You can use the building of your warehouse, use multi flooring in your warehouse, and this will double up space in your warehouse, and you will not run out of the space.
- Combine shipping and receiving doors- If you are using different doors for shipping and receiving the products, then use the same door or space to ship and receive the products. This will save the space which can be used for storing.
Conclusion
The flexibility to manage long-term and short-term projection needs is the characteristic of a good and efficient warehouse. It is important to note that using any one of these warehouse space optimization methods or combining these techniques can help improve the management of the warehouse and the performance of the business.
However, it is vital to consider that each storage facility has its only operational requirement that must first and foremost be addressed. Every warehouse has specific operational requirements that must be addressed. Whether you are redesigning an existing warehouse or developing a new one, it is important to focus on balance to provide flexibility for future business requisite.
