WAREHOUSE LAYOUT AND DESIGN
Planning a warehouse layout design can be a complex process due to the
various factors involved. This process includes strategically planning a facility
layout that can properly utilize the space available, facilitate the smooth
functioning of operations, and increase efficiency.
Designing a practical warehouse layout is a crucial process as it has a direct
impact on the efficiency and productivity of our warehouse. The planned
layout should arrange the processes in a logical sequence that can help
streamline operations, boost productivity, and reduce expenses. A well-
executed warehouse layout design can provide easy access to stored goods,
minimize travel time, and improve order fulfilment rates.
Additionally, it is vital to consider all the requirements according to our
business needs during the planning phase itself. This is because altering the
planned layout once the construction of our facility starts is costly due to the
additional material and labour costs involved.
Considering the principles below can help us design an efficient layout and
streamline warehouse operations. Here are some of the most crucial factors to
consider:
Define Our Objectives
Defining our objectives begins with the principles we outlined above and is
carried forward by the specific goals our particular business needs to
achieve within your specific industry.
Each business will have different objectives for their warehouse.
Some businesses want to optimize their inventory receiving, while others
need more efficient pick and pack processes, and others will design their
warehouses for crossdocking.
Regardless of your objectives, make sure that your warehouse design helps
us achieve them.
Determine Your Warehouse Inventory Needs
After defining your objectives, you should immediately determine your
inventory and storage needs. You need to plan for the amount of stock you
intend to store, how big or small that stock will be, where the stock will
arrive and where it will depart, etc.
What you’re storing will dictate what you need to store it. This will also
inform your aisle space, pallet rack height, and other equipment you’ll need
to handle your inventory.
Create an Implementation Plan
Detail all the steps required to create your warehouse layout design. Group
tasks according to projects, i.e., building pallet racks is one project, while
buying pallet racking materials is one step within that project.
Allocate appropriate resources to each task and project in your plan. After
you create your plan, double-check everything, especially the time it will
take to implement your plan.
Create a Warehouse Schematic
The first thing we’ll want to do is design a map or blueprint of our warehouse.
We can reference an existing map of our warehouse, or we can make a new
one. Once we have our map set up, the next thing we’ll need to do is to
optimize our space.
Plan for Space Optimization
To create an efficient floor plan, begin with a thorough consideration of how
we intend to use your warehouse. We might be designing a layout suitable for
manufacturing or light product assembly, or for a product storage and shipping
facility (a common warehouse design for ecommerce businesses). Our unique
business needs will dictate how you allocate your space and configure your
warehouse layout.
There are different methods to take when storing products and setting up
workstations. One way is through the use of an organized cluster method,
where products are grouped by type. Each cluster is easily accessible for all
workers.
Another way is to set up our storage in aisles. It’s similar to the way a grocery
store is designed, with the aisles in the back and production and workflow in
the front.
Pick the Right Equipment
The use of different types of equipment in our warehouse, such as lifting &
packing tools, pallet racks, or conveyors, can influence the layout design. By
identifying the equipment needed, we can evaluate and design the most
suitable layout according to your requirements and boost the productivity of
our facility.
Different types of products require different material handling equipment,
which will affect the spacing of your aisles: a forklift will need more space than
a pallet jack.
Have we aisles be between 12-13 feet wide as most conventional forklifts
require a minimum aisle width of 12 feet. This can change, however,
depending on different factors, including the size of your warehouse and our
product storage.
Workflow Areas
After addressing primary units like equipment, stock shelving, and assembly
stations, the next step is thinking about how workers, materials, and goods
move in and around your key elements. You also need to consider the space
needed for your production work to safely occur.
Ensuring the uninterrupted flow of goods, personnel, and equipment is vital to
consider in the design layout for the smooth functioning of your warehouse.
You can avoid inefficient routes and disruptions by strategically planning your
warehouse layout design so as to facilitate each operation in a sequential
manner.
Safe workflows apply to all types of operations, so it’s important to include
adequate production zones and workflow areas on any warehouse layout plan.
Storage Space
Storage is another key factor to consider in your layout. In fact, for pack and
ship (and some assembly operations), efficient arrangement of storage areas is
likely your prime concern.
To determine the storage space, you need as well as the type of storage units
you’ll use, you first need to consider what you’re storing.
When creating your warehouse floor plan, don’t forget overhead spaces. Most
small warehouses easily accommodate 8’-tall shelving, while larger facilities
can house shelving that is 12’ and taller.
If you need overstock areas for large stock purchases or materials storage,
using high shelves is a great way to preserve your warehouse floor space for
production activities.
In addition to storage units, you might need work-area equipment in your
warehouse.
Throughput
Throughput in a warehouse refers to the number of products that are
processed and moved through various warehouse processes such as receiving,
put away, storage, picking, packing, and shipping. By collecting and analysing
this data, you can design a layout to ensure an efficient flow of goods and
accommodate the necessary equipment for your warehouse.
Authority Guidelines
While designing your warehouse layout, it is critical to comply with the
guidelines provided by the local authorities. Abiding by these guidelines not
only ensures the safety of your workers, equipment, or other valuable assets
but also helps you avoid fines and legal problems for your business.
Test Warehouse Traffic Flow Plan
The last step before you start installing equipment, shelves, and tables is to
literally walk your finished plan. To do this, measure off the space and apply
masking tape on the floor to mark the positioning of your main units—whether
they’re equipment, tables, or shelves. You don’t need to do this for every
piece, but it’s important to mock up key workflow and production zone areas.
Then, walk the space as though you’re actually conducting key tasks that will
be performed in the warehouse:
Practice performing work functions: Carry boxes, tools, or materials
while you test your warehouse design. Make sure you have plenty of
clearance in all directions. Roll carts or pallet jacks through the
warehouse layout to ensure items navigate easily along the planned
paths—even when heavily loaded down.
Get employees to test your floor plan: If you have employees, get them
involved in acting out work processes. If you don’t have employees yet,
enlist some family or friends to help role-play key warehouse actions.
Make sure your staff has ample room to conduct the tasks they will be
required to perform.
Check hard-to-change layout areas multiple times: If you have large
spaces within your warehouse layout that will house heavy equipment
or large shelving units, test these areas multiple times. It’s far better to
make traffic flow corrections at this stage (while changes can be easily
made) than to move heavy fixtures and equipment once they’re
installed.
Make sure you put considerable thought into your planning and testing
process and you’ll be rewarded with a cost-effective, efficient, safe, and
productive space—no matter your size or operation.
Record the results, writing down what works well and what may need
changing. Be sure to alter your plans if anything doesn’t seem to work out. It’s
best to work out all the kinks now so that any alterations can be made in the
planning process.
What do we expect of the warehouse as a business unit?
A warehouse is understood as a planned and structured place for the control
and management of a company's merchandise. But what do we hope to obtain
from a facility such as a warehouse or distribution centre? Answering this
question will give us the keys to designing a correct layout of the warehouse or
distribution centre.
Listed below are some potential references or needs for the design of our
warehouse and which will depend on the type of product or the characteristics
of the company:
o Access to the highest number of references on pallets.
o Direct access to small references.
o Possibility of constant relocations according to the season.
o Possibility of grouping of lines.
o Maximum speed of the picker.
o No interference of the picker with other pickers.
o No interference with replacements.
o No stock depletion.
o Stock in real time.
o Visibility of the product and references.
o Maximum storage capacity.
o Ergonomics of the racking systems and handling equipment.
o Physical locations that enable placement of the products according to
their stock depletion (high, medium or low).
o Controlled cost.
o Adequate return on investment.
o Profitable maintenance.
o Enabling shift work.
o Extendible and modifiable based on future premises (more references,
more pallets, more picking units, etc.)
The implementation of an efficient warehouse operation depends on issues
such as those storage systems chosen for the loads or the coordination and
standardisation of processes and human resources.
However, before arriving at and deciding on these issues, every organisation
must look at having a good warehouse design or layout.
