Category: warehouse slotting

Different Types of Warehouses

February 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Climate-controlled warehouse

As the name goes, these warehouses are used to store items that need to be kept at a specific temperature, mostly perishables. Climate-controlled warehouses can range from humidity-controlled environments that can store fresh fruits, flowers, etc., to freezers that store frozen foods.

Reasons to Choose:

  1. Protection against natural elements
  2. Better inventory security

Smart warehouse

Automation is transforming the way warehouses operate, with AI driving everything from packing to delivering items. With minimal human involvement required and smart technologies taking center stage, modern warehouses are facilitating eCommerce giants like Amazon and Alibaba in speeding up their delivery times while cutting operational costs.

Reasons to Choose:

  1. Lesser chances of error
  2. Reduced manual efforts and cost

Consolidated warehouse

Need to save money on your startup’s shipping expenses? Consolidated warehouses act as a great resource, collecting small shipments from several suppliers and combining them into one full truckload. This allows you to use the same transportation costs that would have gone towards just one shipment – ultimately resulting in considerable savings!

Reasons to Choose:

  1. Economies of scale
  2. No capital investment

Which Warehouse Is the Best for You?

By now, you must have understood that each warehouse has a purpose of its own. You must choose the type that aligns with your business’s requirements.

The World’s Most Incredible Warehouses & Factories

January 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Explore some of the world’s most amazing factories and warehouses! From a luxurious wine cellar to an awe-inspiring factory where airplanes are built, these incredible photos will show you what goes into creating modern marvels.

1. DB Schenker’s Warehouse in Germany

DB Schenker is a giant in the logistics industry, and Christian Stoll captures their modern structures with incredible precision. His photos showcase just how powerful the organization really is.

2. Volkswagen’s Car Towers, Wolfsburg, Germany

The Autostadt in Wolfsburg is a sight to behold. It consists of two gleaming glass towers that stand side by side, powered by advanced technology allowing cars from the Volkswagen plant to move seamlessly between them and into the waiting hands of their new owners.

3. National Archives inWinsford, Cheshire

At the heart of Winsford, Cheshire lies a mysterious mine that has grown to an immense size – enough for 700 football pitches! Extending 100 miles deep under ground and growing every day, this salt cave is not just impressive in its dimensions; it also protects some very valuable materials. From confidential government documents to hospital records and historical archives belonging The National Archives, important items find protection thanks to stable temperatures and dry atmosphere inside the vast corridors of this unique subterranean complex.

4. Bank of England’s Vault Beneath London

Nestled deep beneath the bustling streets of London is a glittering secret – an incredible £156 billion worth of gold! Held within the Bank of England’s fortified vault, row after row of 24-carat golden bars shining in all their 28lb glory await discovery.

5. Amazon Warehouse

Amazon, the colossal online retail giant that began as a humble bookstore in 1994, owns an awe-inspiring warehouse somewhere out there. It’s whereabouts remain mysterious to this day – adding even more intrigue and mythos to one of our generation’s most successful empires!

6. Champagne Warehouse, France

The world’s best wines are aged to perfection in underground cellars like this one in Reims, France. After decades of careful maturation and nurturing, these champagnes reach the peak of their flavor for a truly exquisite experience.

7. M&S Warehouse, Castle Donington

With its grand opening in 2003, Marks and Spencer’s colossal e-commerce headquarters located in Castle Donington, Leicestershire creates a hub of activity. This 900,000 sq ft facility is capable of processing an astonishing one million items per day to satisfy the online shopping needs customers around the world!

Types of Warehouse Storage Systems

March 21, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Multi-Tier Racking

The centerpiece of any warehouse is the pallet racking system. These are made out wood, metal or plastic and hold inventory that’s received in large boxes- depending on how high up they go with an automated mechanism to help place them onto your desired location for storage/safekeeping!

Mostly, multi-tier racking concerns relatively lightweight items that are picked and organized manually. To get the most out of this warehouse storage system, organize each tier strategically and pack items as densely as possible, while at the same time paying attention to weight limits and ceiling-to-rack height compliance guidelines.

Mezzanine Flooring

Mezzanine floors are effective and space-saving storage options for any company with a budget. They’re an excellent way to keep your warehouse floor open while also providing additional safety against inventory loss or damage in case there’s ever something worth watching out for!

The most expensive option for a warehouse is likely going to be the one that has all of its features customised. It’s not just about what you need in terms on storage space, but also how it can best suit your needs and workstyle!

Wire Partitions

While mezzanine flooring is one of the more high-tech options, wire partitions are on the other end of the spectrum. Wire partitions are, effectively, strategically-placed wire cages that are meant to be installed and torn down quickly and easily.

Often, the inventory that is housed within wire partitions are the items that may need special security. Some warehouses are even known to use wire partitions to construct makeshift, temporary offices for managers who work on the floor.

Tips on How to Effectively Plan a Warehouse Layout Design

September 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Principles of an Efficient Warehouse Layout

Before you start designing your warehouse, you should understand what you’re trying to achieve with your warehouse layout design.

Here are 3 major principles to keep in mind when planning your warehouse:

Space

Consider how to maximise the space you can afford, taking into consideration storage, stock, offices, working areas, empty pallet storage, battery charging, etc.

With a wide variety of vertical racks and freestanding equipment, you should be able to design your warehouse in the way you need it initially, while being flexible enough to change it in the future if desired.

Flow

Warehouse flow can be summarised as the uninterrupted movement of materials, people, and traffic within your building.

Your first goal should be to cut down on any areas of high traffic or potential for cross-flow crashes.

So, each activity that an employee performs must be located as close as possible to the activity that precedes it and proceeds from it.

That also means materials used to perform those activities should be situated as close as possible to each workstation.

Your second goal should be to eliminate as much movement and disruption as possible.

Accessibility

Every product and all products on pallets should be accessible by everyone, usually without the need to move one product to get to another.

That means structuring your pallet racks in rows that are wide enough to accommodate pallet jacks and trucks, and stacking and stocking items strategically for minimal interference with one another.

Millenium SI Solutions for Common Warehouse Problems

August 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Use Your Vertical Space

Look up and make sure you’re using all the vertical space available. Investigate storage media to take advantage of your clear span height. How much cubic feet of vertical space is not being used? Be sure to know how your design might impact your sprinkler design and fire code.

Analyze Your Department Space

Identify functions that do not require high ceilings in areas where lower stacking heights are dictated by the clear height. We often see unused overhead space where large departments like packing and shipping are performed.

Consolidate Locations

If you have multiple locations for storing the same item, consider combining them to create better warehouse space utilisation. This can be done during the putaway process and as a standalone function.

Drop Shipping As An Option

If you store and ship large items, consider utilising some form of drop shipping to reduce your in-house inventory and costs.

Use Off-Site Location for Overstock

If you store a large quantity of excess inventory for a few items, consider some type of offsite storage for the excess, thus freeing up space for supporting the fulfillment operation.

Mezzanine Installation

If your building layout permits, consider the use of a mezzanine to house functions that do not require high-bay storage. These can be expensive and are fairly permanent, but will maximise warehouse space utilisation.

5 Critical Pallet Rack Safety Hazards

June 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Physical damage to the pallet rack

Often this damage occurs from lift truck collisions. Sufficient clearance space and clear aisles are both great ways to prevent this kind of damage. Always encourage employees to promptly report all minor impacts or observable damage.

Misaligned Racking Safety Hazard

This can cause collapse or failure of your pallet racking system. During inspection, use the manufacturer’s instructions to check that racks are properly aligned, plum, and level.

Loose Floor Fittings

OSHA is clear that rack columns are bottom-anchored to the floor with column base plates secured with anchor bolts.

Suitability of forklift truck

Your material handling equipment and pallet jacks should be sized to meet your needs.

Weight of stored goods versus capacity of racking system

To prevent dangerously overloaded racks, ANSI/RMI MH16.1 suggests posting the maximum permissible unit load, average unit load, and maximum total load per bay.

In the end, whether your racks are damaged, overloaded, improperly anchored or misaligned, they’re a serious safety hazard that can result in serious injury. OSHA recommends warehouse managers develop a thorough maintenance and inspection program. Be liberal with safety audits that include everything from pallet rack signage all the way up your material handling equipment.

What is warehouse slotting?

October 3, 2019 / / 0 Comments

If your employees are wasting a lot of time searching for products in your warehouse, then your business could benefit from better warehouse slotting.

Warehouse slotting is the process of deciding how to organise the inventory in your warehouse for maximum efficiency.

What is slotting?

Slotting creates a strategy behind how you organise your warehouse, aiming to save employees time spent walking up and down aisles when picking orders and replenishing stock.

To create an efficient slotting strategy, you will need to carefully examine and analyse your inventory and sales data.

It often increases warehouse efficiency to group all your most popular products together and products that are commonly ordered together side-by-side.

Popular products should be located towards the front of your warehouse, and less popular items further back.

Benefits of warehouse slotting

Optimising your warehouse layout using slotting has many benefits including:

  • Increased employee productivity.
  • Better utilisation of space.
  • More accurate and organised inventory data.
  • Faster replenishment of products.
  • Faster order picking.
  • Improved workplace ergonomics.
  • Improved product visibility.
  • Improved order picking accuracy.
  • Less picking errors and happier customers.

To keep your slotting current, you will need to accept that it is an ongoing work in progress. You are likely to need to keep moving things around in response to factors like seasonality and market trends to keep things operating as efficiently as possible.

Using the right warehouse storage can also help to streamline processes in the warehouse. Here at Millennium Storage and Interiors, we provide warehouses with live carton storage systems ideal for improving organisation in your warehouse and reducing order preparation time.

For help and advice with improving your warehouse storage solutions, get in touch with our team of experts here at Millennium Storage and Interiors by calling us on 01942 603 344.

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