|
April 11, 2006 Saving Space Saves $$$ When you run out of space in your warehouse, you have the ultimate decision to make. You can either A) add new space/build another facility or B) create more space in your current building. The most sensible, low cost solution to this problem is of course B. But how do you go about locating and utilizing the hidden space in your current warehouse? The following ten tips are a selected sample from the book "How to Save Warehouse Space: 152 Tested Techniques". These tips will hopefully help you to discover how to maximize the capacity of your facility before you waste thousands of dollars on adding new space. 1. Create reserve storage near receiving and shipping docks. Warehouses often designate large areas for staging inbound and outbound loads near the docks. Instead, use that space for reserve storage. That way, inbound inventory, can be put away directly from a truck, and outbound orders can be picked within 20 or 20 feet of the docks. Either way, you recapture space and reduce travel time. 2. Re-slot forward pick locations. The vast amount of data collected by a WMS on movement by SKU allows more frequent assignments of forward pick locations to the most active products. Frequent re-slotting assures that the right size pick module is used for the product. It may also reduce the size of the forward pick zone by identifying and taking less active items out of the zone. 3. Stack bulk items on the floor by hand rather than with pallets. When there are large quantities of light cartons they can be hand stacked in bulk thus eliminating the space and weight of pallets. 4. Donate the product to schools or charities. In some cases your company can take a tax credit for such donations. Check with your tax advisors. By telling the news media of the donation, the company may get some favorable publicity. Donations to local schools will improve the company's image with local citizens and politicians. 5. Put desks under decked rack sections. Even paperless systems require a place for supervisors and workers to keep information or terminals. By putting desks under racks, you can use all the space above for storage. 6. Load outbound material directly into trucks. If truck arrival and order picking activities could be coordinated, the outbound material can be loaded directly into the trucks after picking, eliminating the need for a shipping staging area. 7. Produce to order. When possible, begin production just before you have to ship the order. This means using the full JIT concept. Many companies are not able to do so, but it may be possible to maintain a production flow of components with final assembly for a specific customer order. Working with your customers to better understand the demand that they see and becoming an integral part of their planning process may bring your company closer to a zero inventory goal. When you produce to order, the shipping dock is the end of the production line, a situation analogous to locating receiving docks at the work center. 8. Use varied shelf heights. Not all products are the same height. The height of individual shelves should be varied to get maximum utility from each shelf. The air space above the product should be large enough to easily retrieve products but this unused space need not be more than one or two inches depending on the cube and weight of the product. 9. Sell to present users. Use your sales history to find the people who have bought the product. Let them know that you have more available for immediate delivery. Consider telling them that you are discontinuing the product and closing out the remaining inventory. Offer a discount because they are loyal customers. 10. Re-evaluate travel aisle widths. Travel aisle widths should only be as wide as necessary to accommodate the specific materials handling equipment in the facility. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SPACE IN YOUR WAREHOUSE AND SAVE $$ To Unsubscribe
to this newsletter please respond to email with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.
|
|
