The rapid rise of online shopping has created challenges for warehouses. Customers demand quick and efficient service and will go to a competitor if not satisfied. To meet these challenges, many new warehouses are needed or existing ones reorganised.
Warehouse storage rack suppliers are experts at organising warehouses to make them more efficient. Organising warehouse racks well contributes to the success of processing online orders by making the picking and packing of orders quicker and more streamlined.
The floor plan
If you are designing a new warehouse system or reorganising an existing warehouse, the first step is to make a floor plan. On the plan, you can decide where you want to store items and how to maximise the available space. Whatever system you use, it must be easily understandable by the people who will be working in the warehouse.
In the floor plan, indicate where items will be stored together. A popular system is to group items in high-demand together and locate them near the packing and dispatch station so that they travel a short distance. Many businesses find that 80% of the orders are for 20% of the stock, so the area where the 20% are stored will have high traffic.
Different shelving solutions
Warehouse rack suppliers will advise you on the different types of shelving solutions. These include:
• Flow-through racking
• Drive-in racking
• Cantilever racking
• Push-back shelves
The solution for a business is dependent on the business type, and the volume of goods coming into and out of the warehouse. You may need storage bins for small items or cold areas for temperature sensitive goods.
Other assets
As well as warehouse racking, other areas and warehouse equipment need to be considered. Warehouse storage rack suppliers usually supply trolleys, packing tables, and other manual handling equipment. If any forklifts or other equipment have batteries, there need to be a recharging area. Staff need rest areas for their breaks, and office space may be needed too.
After the racking is installed
After installation, each rack needs to be labelled clearly with location numbers so that goods can easily be found. It is worth considering an automatic system that has sensors on the racking used to guide operators to specific locations with the help of visual or audio signals.
Automated systems can produce picking lists based on the shortest routes between locations.
Staff need training in efficient picking and packing training should include both how to process goods quickly and how to do this safely. If areas have forklifts and manual handling trolleys putting items on and taking them off racking, this has to be done so that there are no collisions. Racks have to be safely stacked with goods so that there is no chance of items falling off. Goods need carefully placing on trolleys to make stable loads, and regular maintenance checks should be scheduled.
With careful planning and assistance from warehouse rack suppliers, the picking, packing and dispatching of orders can be done efficiently, quickly and safely.
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