More on Warehouse Space Optimization - Part I

Warehouse Optimization and Warehouse Space Optimization - Part II

So, we have gotten rid of returns and excess product - now we need to get to the meat of this discussion - how to store better and more of the product you need to keep in your existing facility. To store more product in a given space you must make better use of the total available cube. The following are places where cube can usually be found.

1. OVERHEAD SPACE.

Above shipping, receiving, office and other lower height storage areas, using drive-in rack or pallet flow rack can easily pick up 25% more storage space.

Another use of overhead space is to utilize the storage rack over the pick slots to store the extra inventory of the product being picked below. When replenishment is required, all that is necessary is to drop the product from above. An additional benefit is the elimination of additional conveyor and mezzanine expense.

2. REDUCE AISLE SIZES.

Use narrow aisle fork trucks. Sometimes aisles are kept at a uniformly large distance because it seems to be required by the building's column spacing and fork truck requirements.

3. DEEP PALLET STORAGE

By storing stacked or racked products 2,3,4 or more pallets deep, you will increase the percentage of space used for storage and eliminate several access aisles. Normally, you have one half aisle for each facing of pallet rack. If the product does not stack well, consider using portable/removable stacking frames for at least the lower levels. It also works well to store stable product on the lower 2 levels with the more fragile products on top. I have visited one operation with large numbers of pallets of relatively few items, where product was stored 4 pallets high and 11 pallets deep - one slot held a FULL TRUCKLOAD of their high moving items.

4. ELIMINATE EMPTY SPACE ABOVE PRODUCT IN INDIVIDUAL SLOTS.

If your average pick slot is 1/3 full (stand at the end of the aisle and scan the slots on each side), increasing it to 1/2 full could generate 1/3 more cube. Using a range of pallet and pick slot sizes will allow correct sizing for each individual item based on its carton size and movement.

5. STACK PALLETS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.

Each rack bar requires a clearance above the floor or lower level product. By having fewer bars, you also reduce the cube lost to the space needed by the bars themselves. Each extra bar can mean up to 15 cubic feet lost. If you had 300 bays of pallet rack, eliminating one level of bars could free the equivalent of 9000 cubic feet for pure product storage.

6. STORE HIGH CUBE/HIGH MOVEMENT PRODUCT IN ONE RESERVED AREA OF THE WAREHOUSE.

Just fill these reserved areas with as many pallets as you can hold. This works best for holding product that does not have to be rotated by lot number or date. This can also be used for storing out-of-season items.

7. A FINAL OPTION - DOUBLE DEEP PALLET RACK.

A more costly solution (but still economical compared to a move to a larger facility), this option requires the purchase of special pallet rack and at least one double reach fork truck, as well as wider aisles to accommodate the fork truck reach assembly. This allows pallets to be placed 2 deep and several levels high. This has an additional advantage for replenishment - once the front pallet is depleted, the uncovered rear pallet can be immediately available. For this option to be feasible, of course, your WMS needs to be set up to support double deep slot numbering.

More on Warehouse Space Optimization