Steps in planning your warehouse or distribution centre-Part 1

In today's economy , investors or directors do not compromise in mistakes especially an investment of a facility that is critical component of the supply chain , they required detailed planning to meet expected return on investment

The projection of inventory on hand and projected increment in turnover, how the inventory movement (fast moving, slow moving) will decide the floor area of the storage, the storage requirement (high bay storage or ground storage).

During planning  a new distribution center layout , the following requirements will decide the design of the warehouse:

• Low movement / Low Storage Requirements. This scenario needs a simple, smaller warehouse operation. To have  automation or sophisticated storage and picking mediums or devices do not justified the investment. Thus , designated floor storage with  stacked pallets and  simple pallet racks  are sufficient  in the warehouse  along with manual handling.
• Low movement / High Storage Requirements. This scenario needs a  high bay, multi-level and  high-density storage .  Order  picking  can be   manual or semi-manual.
• High movement / Low Storage Requirements. This scenario requires  a  condensed picking area supported by a reasonable  buffer of stocks to cater for under stock.  This  justifies for  a  picking system and the use of automated material handling systems.
• High movement / High Storage Requirements. This scenario is a requirement to have a workable  Logistic Sortation and Warehousing solutions for the  distribution center.  This  high picking  activity and high storage requirements  justify the use of  automated order picking systems, conveying the products , identifying the products  and a sorting systems for outbound. In short looking for a workable and reliable partner whom has the expertise is  a vital step to reduce over investment and under perform management team of the partner

Once the storage and picking scenario is well studied and  after taking into account the economic forecasts for the coming 5-10 years ahead , the planning process is now off and running.