An Overview of Things You’ll Need to Consider When Fitting Out a Warehouse
A well-designed warehouse can help you optimize your processes and reduce distribution times. However, if you aren’t maximizing the space available in your warehouse, it can have a detrimental impact on your supply chain, workflow, and cause delivery delays. Whether you’re starting a new warehouse or already have one, you’ll need to change the plan at some point to improve productivity. Although there is no,one solution for warehouse layout, there are several guidelines you can follow to maximize your warehouse’s productivity and income.
Planning
- What’s the plan?- As with most things that are worth something, it all starts with the planning, as a first step, you’ll want to create a blueprint or a map of your warehouse. If you already have the existing warehouse plans, then it will be really useful for you and, anybody helping you in order to create a new one.
You can start by just using a pen and paper if you like or, if you’re the technical type, you could use software that has the ability to map out things like fabric duct designed for decent air flow ,infact, the entire layout and construction characteristics of your building can be built on a computer before you start taking things apart. You may want to hire a warehouse design expert to establish the most practical layout that meets your needs and meets your standards. Make no compromises when it comes to sizing your workspace., you want the most accurate measurements you can get.
- Choosing your equipment – Whatever the purpose of your warehouse, you’ll need equipment to keep it running, but what equipment will help you improve your current systems? The variety of equipment available to you is massive, but you may be limited by space.
Different types of products necessitate different material handling equipment, which influences aisle spacing; for example, a forklift will require more space than a pallet jack. Make your aisles 12-13 feet wide because most conventional forklifts require a minimum aisle width of around 12 feet.
- Test the production potential of your new space and record the results – Before you design or modify your warehouse, you should conduct a test. The best way to do this is to measure the proposed layout, establish the perimeter, and then walk through it. You don’t have to go through all of the sections, but you should check out the high zone areas.Don’t forget to use any testing equipment to ensure that everything moves freely and unobtrusively. Allow your employees to test the new design as well, as they will be the ones working on the floor.
- Make adjustments– Once you’ve conducted your testing and ‘dummy’ runs you will want to take the suggestions of your workforce as well as your own ideas, put them together and make some adjustments to the plan, normally there are efficiencies to be made that aren’t considered until one takes a step back to evaluate.
Pay attention to feedback
Customer or employee feedback is really precious, even if it doesn’t seem that way at the time because, most people, if asked, are pretty honest about what they think about your premises layout and how it either provides them with a positive experience, or not. Accept the feedback with open arms and, make changes if needed.
