The interest in automation is increasing under the impact of changing supply chains, labour availability/scarcity, the perennial drive to improve productivity and efficiency, and order response times.

Successfully growing your business sometimes means you outstrip your warehouse capacity. Optimising storage and rationalising stockholding is the first step to freeing up space. A new warehouse is the only option once all avenues have been exhausted. Ensure you choose wisely.

Industry 4.0, the so-called fourth industrial revolution, has already begun and is being rapidly adopted by leading companies. The reasons are simple – greater revenues and reduced costs through digital interconnectivity between machines, systems, processes and suppliers. The technologies involved can be daunting when viewed as a whole but, in any case, technology is only part of the story. Adapting appropriate mind-sets and processes must be progressed first before technology can be overlaid successfully.

Every business at some point will consider designing or redesigning a warehouse facility to fix some bugbears and inefficiencies, to cater for expansion or simply as a result of relocation. This can be seen as a godsend by warehouse managers and an opportunity to start from scratch with the benefit of experience and hindsight.

To the uninitiated, it may seem that warehouse design is not exactly rocket science. However, the devil is in the detail and a recurring excessive cost can easily be caused by a flaw that is experienced perhaps hundreds of times a day when operational, each one costing a minute or two. Poor design may be difficult to detect because the operation runs smoothly, possibly better than previously, and the weak points about the design are simply not immediately obvious. Detailed planning is the key to success.

A warehouse is a very large cost item, in terms of balance sheet, facility running costs, and equipment and staffing. Day to day utilisation costs can be minimised through efficiency of design that makes all operations as fast and effortless as possible with minimal materials handling. That implies that investing time and care at the design stage reaps rewards for the next 10 or 15 years. The converse also applies and unavoidable excessive overheads may be incurred on a daily basis through badly laid out and inadequate design, or through adopting a facility just because it exists and appears to provide a fast and convenient solution.

Flaws in warehouse design and layout cost money over the life of the facility. While not every eventuality can be foreseen and prevented, there are some common design mistakes that recur time after time in warehouses all over the world.

Sound warehouse layout and design is the basis of efficient warehousing. If order picking has slowed down, or you find you are running at or near capacity in your warehouse, you are almost certainly not be getting the most from your current layout.

There is no doubt that growth is a sign of business success. When growth exceeds available warehouse space, however, efficiency and productivity can suffer and margin reduces. If your business is experiencing any of the symptoms below, a new distribution warehouse layout may be the solution you are looking for.

The layout of your warehouse is vital to the success of your business. Unless space is being used to its full potential, the productivity, inventory control, shipping and safety of your warehouse could be in jeopardy. This article explores the elements which must be in place to ensure an efficient warehouse layout.