Can vertical storage make retail warehouses profitable?

Business rates for warehouses are forecast to rise steeply, threatening the profitability of some businesses. Energy costs have also increased significantly. This has made cost-saving efficiencies a priority. One way to increase efficiency is vertical storage systems, which enable order pickers to improve how they assemble orders.

Mechanized vertical storage systems stack tote boxes containing goods in multi-storey towers which can be over forty feet tall. This type of storage system requires less floor space and is more suitable for smaller items. They are not as expensive as many other automated systems and work well with manual handling warehouse equipment.

Vertical storage systems are common in manufacturing workspaces for storing and rapidly retrieving parts. With the dramatic rise of e-commerce, they are a solution for many retailers, especially those selling smaller items.

 

A typical mechanized vertical storage system moves tote boxes containing order items to conveyor belts that transport them to order pickers with bespoke picking trolleys.

Max Gigli, the CEO of Italian vertical storage manufacturer Modula, said:

“The portfolio of customers that we have reached has changed a lot. Manufacturing is still our bread and butter, but more and more we see customers … in the retail sector and in the grocery sector.”

Vertical storage systems can hold goods that are part of online orders or can store completed orders waiting for customers to collect them. They are also useful for keeping processed orders that are waiting for delivery workers to transport them to the customer’s home.

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