Warehousing space is a luxury phenomenon that most, if not all, warehousing managers desire and strive for. Having adequate space in your warehouse not only implies that you can store stock sufficiently but also means you are saving time, money and adhering to health and safety standards in the workplace. Taking this into consideration, this article will discuss:
- Why should you strive for warehouse space
- Reasons for warehouse space quickly reducing
- How to increase warehouse storage capacity
Why Should You Strive For Warehouse Space:
Increased Labour Productivity
Creating more space in warehouse facilities can contribute to the greater productivity of your employees. Having more space enables things to be done quicker and more efficiently. For example, If you were to place yourself in a warehouse employee’s shoes and you were operating a new electric forklift, by having sufficient space it will allow you to quickly manoeuvre the forklift to the desired product racking, obtain the forklift and move the stock to the target location. If however space is limited, being able to manoeuvre in the tight spaces will become longer or logistically impossible consequently adding to greater efficiencies when transporting stock.
Saves Time And Money
Having adequate warehouse space also contributes to better time saving and finance issues. Picture this, if your biggest problem is congestion, then this causes extra paid work. This means you will be constantly moving products that you don’t have room for. Essentially you’ll constantly be in the cycle of moving item 1 out of the way to make room fort item 2. All of this is costing you time and money to fund so this reason alone should be enough for you to strive for warehouse space.
Health And Safety
A final point to consider when aiming for warehouse space are health and safety measures. You can imagine the potential danger that can occur if you are reaching near max capacity space in the warehouse and an employee has mistakenly left a stock pallet in an obstructing position in front of a fire exit. If a fire were to break out and employees are required to be evacuated to one of the closest exit routes out of the warehouse and find that it is obstructed, this is clearly a danger to health and safety which must be reviewed and rectified constantly.
Reasons For Warehouse Space Quickly Reducing
Now that you know why you should strive for adequate space for warehousing operations, it’s perhaps time to understand some of the more uncommon knowledge as to why space in a warehouse diminishes which can be found below:
A Company Is Expanding Rapidly
A successful business is bound to run into warehouse space difficulties solely due to the nature of expansion. If a business is selling a really popular product, they will need to at the very least match demand with supply which, as a result, implies they need to buy the product quickly and more frequently.
Accidental Overbuys
If you have an item that you wish to be stocked for a month but your supplier offers you a superb deal on 3 pallets for the price of one, you are more than likely going to take the offer. Consequently, you are going to need more storage which as a result has led to an accidental overbuy of stock which you are going to need a solution for.
Obsolete Inventory
Inventory that doesn’t move, hasn’t been picked or has been there for lengthened periods of time are wasted space potential in warehousing buildings. As such, they should either be moved somewhere in a less-congested spot or be destroyed.
How To Increase Warehouse Storage Capacity:
Use Appropriate Containers And Storing Items According To Size
You can optimise your available space by separating products by size and storing them with similar items. You should first determine how many different sized items you have in your inventory and place smaller or larger items in separate areas of racking. This strategy helps maximise the space you already have in your warehouse, and you’ll minimise the chance of misplacing the smaller items since they will all be together.
Pareto Principle
The Pareto principle is an incredibly useful theory which can best be fitted to warehousing storage settings. Essentially, the Pareto principle implies that 80% of the activity in a warehouse comes from 20 percent of the items, and these items are the fast-movers within the warehouse”. As such, make sure that high activity products are in easily accessible places for fast turnover and ease of restocking.
Correct Machinery
An incredibly obvious way to increase warehouse storage space is to use the correct machinery. For example, an articulated forklift can reduce the need for space in the warehouse and create increased pallet movements for greater productivity. This is because if narrow aisles are installed, articulated forklifts can manoeuvre with relative ease within the aisle which as a result, can mean you can experience up to 50% more warehouse storage space.
Similarly, by utilising a used reach truck, you are essentially incorporating a smaller vehicle in your warehouse operations that are much more nimble and can hold loads closer to its wheelbase, consequently meaning you can witness greater storage space in your warehouse.