Maximize Warehouse Layouts
Efficient Warehouse Layouts
In this blog, we’ll be discussing methods to improve your warehouse layout design. We’ll be highlighting the issues that are at the top of the list when it comes to inefficiencies in the warehousing business and how we can improve them. The warehouse facility layout may not be planned according to the use cases of your business. If your warehouse layout was planned before your business grew, you may need to update the layout to accommodate future business and current conditions. The warehouse layout design is a science and needs to be flexible in order to future-proof your business and meet business efficiency needs.
InsulWall® Temperature Control Curtains
Storage systems within your warehouse can also be compromised due to inefficient warehouse layout designs. Organizing your warehouse layout can improve the efficiency of order picking and maximizing the amount of storage your warehouse can handle. The trick is to accommodate all of the products and optimize the available warehouse surface area as best as possible. For instance, the warehouse layout must be thoroughly planned to incorporate the needs of the types of products that will be warehoused in each section. Warehouse environment control is important for ensuring product quality, longevity, and minimizes the risk of negligence. For example, InsulWall® Temperature Control Curtains establish the exact environment your warehouse needs to provide optimal warehousing services for your clients.
Shaver Industries’ InsulWall® Temperature Control Curtains are an insulated, flexible warehouse curtain wall that’s flexible, insulated, modular, and adaptable to virtually any warehouse environment. An alternative to rigid panels and traditional dry wall, InsulWall helps organizations create humidity and temperature-controlled warehouse space with ease and efficiency. Whether your business is storing seasonal produce, craft beer, chocolate, pharmaceuticals, or has machinery that requires humidity and temperature control – InsulWall helps partition your warehouse space to create the right environment for your business needs.
Planning Warehouse Layouts
Organizing your warehouse layout during the design phase is crucial to ensure that you start the process with optimal efficiency. Whether it’s a short-term or long-term process, the planning phase is one of the most important steps. Consider your current warehouse layout or the amount of available surface area. Above all, with safety, inventory, efficiency and order flow in mind – conceptualize the process from an operations standpoint. For example, when orders are to be picked, they are sent to packaging, shipping and make their way out the door. Visualize the process and ensure that your warehouse layout plan is optimal to accommodate the process while ensuring safety and efficiency.
Dividing your warehouse with Industrial Curtains & Dividers
Industrial Curtain Enclosures
If your current warehouse needs an upgrade in it’s layout or if you’re setting up a new warehouse space, Shaver Industries’ Industrial Curtains & Dividers are pivotal to maximizing your warehouse space while offering a dynamic approach to the layout configuration. Our versatile Industrial Curtains & Dividers are made to your specific needs and may be designed with on-the-go adjustability in mind. The curtain walls can be retracted from one side depending on your daily activities and closed quickly & easily to divide warehouse and shop work areas. Industrial curtain walls are a cost-advantage to fixed permanent walls, costing around 70% less than a permanent fixed wall and installation taking only a few days. The industrial curtain dividers walls are designed to exact specification and custom materials based on your company standards and/or operation to ensure the warehoused products are in an optimal environment.
Pro Tip: Have your employees provide weekly feedback on the organization of the warehouse. This feedback is crucial to improving the efficiency of the warehouse and their safety.
Warehouse Accessibility
While designing your warehouse layout, accessibility is fundamental to ensure quick & easy accessibility to your products and entire warehouse. The layout should be organized to establish a simple way for employees to navigate through your facility while maximizing the time needed to pick orders. Accessibility has a direct impact on productivity and efficiency, likely increasing your business return on investment and optimizing employee safety.
Firstly, organizing the accessibility of your warehoused products can be categorized into two categories: Dynamic Storage and Static Storage. Dynamic storage is sectioning off your most popular products and ensuring that accessibility to this area of your warehouse is accessed quickly & easily. Static storage is a section of your warehouse which is made up of products that need to be warehoused for a longer period of time and are picked less often. One recommendation is to store vertically, but there are different methods of doing this. Stacking is a common way, but it should only be used on loads with great internal strength, like bags of soil, and for rigid packages like cardboard or plastic boxes. A racking shelf should be used for all other items.
Secondly, another way to utilize all your space for storage is to separate your dynamic and static storage. Dynamic storage is the section of your storage space that’s set up for popular items. Your static storage is made up of products that sit for a little before they are shipped out. Using the dynamic & storage systems is a more conventional way of organizing your warehouse. Johnson Controls, manufactures fire safety products, reported a 30 percent process improvement in their warehouse using this system.
PVC Strip Doors
Most importantly, efficient entryways into sections of the warehouse maximizes product flow efficiency. Our PVC Strip Doors are the most popular choice for warehouses to ensure quick access to warehouse sections. PVC Strip Doors have been to tested and certified to meet all relevant federal and international standards and regulations. Shaver Industries provides over 10 different types of PVC strip products which come in a variety of different widths and thicknesses to best meet your custom needs and applications. Using our PVC Strip Doors in combination with our Industrial Curtain Dividers can maximize the efficiency of your warehouse by ensuring quick access and providing a versatile layout design.
Shipping Flow
Industrial Roll Up Doors
Keeping the shipping area of the warehouse separate is important to efficiently organize the orders that have been picked and are on their way out the door. The shipping area is where all the product packing and shipping preparation transpires. Dedicating a specific area to arrange shipping orders is an efficient way to minimize mistakes and optimize needed loading time. High quality Industrial Roll Up Doors are important for environmental control of your shipping area – especially when it comes to efficiency. Our Industrial Roll Up Doors can be ordered with up to 18 FT in width, allowing for a custom warehouse shipping experience. We provide a vast range of different power roll-up doors for both interior and exterior applications. Our Industrial Roll Up Doors come in a variety of different speeds, frequencies, materials, sizes and accessories – giving Shaver Industries the ability to provide the best door for your warehouse at the most economical price. Shaver Industries’ Roll Up Doors are manufactured for commercial warehouses and save energy and time by opening and closing the door’s opening up to 12 times faster than a traditional sectional overhead door. The Industrial Roll Up Doors allows the same exterior door to be used in both warm & cold weather situations. Allow air to flow through in summer and keep heat in during cooler months while controlling airborne contaminants like dust and debris
In conclusion, there are various ways to organize a warehouse layout – the most important rule is to assess after you’ve put your planning into play. Optimizing for the next few months to ensure proper warehouse flow is crucial. Polling your employees is also a strategy in receiving feedback to establish an efficient layout plan. The employees are your eyes and ears on the ground and will be dealing with the bottlenecks daily. Committing to employee feedback will be an ongoing process, but will increase efficiency and validate a commitment to optimizing your business efforts.
