LAYOUT OF A WAREHOUSE

PRESENTED BY: KUZIWA NYANHANDA

R 139792 BC

The goal of layout is to maximize your warehouse functions to achieve the greatest efficiency and space utilization

LAYOUT OF A WAREHOUSE

A warehouse is typically divided into the following areas to support its everyday processes:

Receiving

Reserve Storage

Forward Pick

Sorting and/or assembly

Quality

Shipping

Therefore, the warehouse layout must satisfy these four primary functions:

1. Product storage

2. Inbound operations

3. Outbound operations

4. Value-added processes

1)Product Storage

The first step is determining space requirements for the four functions just mentioned. Determining space requirements for each of these is a complicated process which requires analysis of historical and projected volumes to include units, cube, and weight requirements.

A typical analysis looks back at one year’s worth of history and then projected sales growth over the next three and five years.

2) Inbound Operations

This is done by answering the following question “How much space does receiving require?”

Data is gathered to determine the typical receipt profile…

Profiles should include:Average number of lines on a receiptAverage quantity and cube of a receiptAverage number of trucks received per dayUnit of measure (pallets, cartons, pieces, etc…)

The overall receiving process is also considered

3) Outbound Operations

How much space do picking and shipping require?

A number of factors are considered here: • Are we picking cases or pallets?• Are we batch picking or picking orders straight

through?• Will we need to store pallets of product in shipping

or direct load to trailer?• Will we pick and hold orders for long periods of

time? • Will we perform QC audits in shipping?

4) Value Added Processes

How much space is required for value added services?Consider:

What type of value added service will be performed:

Price labelingRe-labeling productKittingStoringShipping

Another important factor to consider is whether the value added service be performed in a separate section or will it be part of picking, packing, receiving, etc…?

Warehouse design criteria address physical facility characteristics and product movement. Three factors to be considered in the design process are: the number of store's in the facility, height utilization, and product flow.

Design Criteria

Accessibility means being able to get at the goods wanted with a minimum amount of work

Goods are stored not just on the floor, but in the cubic space of the warehouse and warehouse capacity depends on how high goods can be stored

the number of store's in the facility

height utilization

Regardless of facility size, the design should maximize the usage of the available cubic space by allowing for the greatest use of height on each floor.

Most warehouses have 20- to 30-feet ceilings (1 foot = 12 inch; 1 inch = 2.54 cm), although modern automated and high-rise facilities can effectively use ceiling heights up to 100 feet. Through the use of racking or other hardware, it should be possible to store products up to the building's ceiling. Maximum effective warehouse height is limited by the safe lifting capabilities of material-handling equipment, such as forklifts.

product flow

Product volume is the major concern when defining a warehouse storage plan.High-volume sales or throughput product should be stored in a location that minimizes the distance it is moved, such as near primary aisles and in low storage racks. Such a location minimizes travel distance and the need for extended lifting.On the other hand, low-volume product can be assigned locations that are distant from primary aisles or higher up in storage racks.

Design Criteria (cont….)

Material Flow Planning

There are four primary flow patterns:

1. U-Shaped

2. Straight Through

3. Modular

4. Multi-story

Material Flow Planning1.U-Shaped: Product comes in one side of the building, moves to the back

(palletstorage), moves across the back (to forward pick and other process), andback to the front (Shipping)

Pallet Storage

Receiving

Forward Pick

Sorting

Shipping

Packing

Advantages of U-Shaped Flow Pattern: Facilitates cross-docking, best use of dock space (receiving and shipping can share dock doors), allows for expansion.

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2.Straight Through: Product comes in one side of the building (receiving),flows directly through the building (pallet storage to forward pick, to processing, to the far end of the building (shipping).

Receiving

Pallet Storage

Forward Pick

Shipping

Sorting/Packing

Best for heavy cross-docking operations and operations with very systematic processes (Dell, computer manufacturing)

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3. Modular: Best suited for operations that have individual processes that are large enough to merit multiple stand alone processes.

Cross-docking

Stand Alone Process 1

Sta

nd A

lone

Pro

cess 4

Stand Alone Process 2

Sta

nd A

lone

Pro

cess 3

Flow

Flow

Flow

Flow

Flow

ReceivingReceiving Receiving Receiving Receiving

Shipping Shipping Shipping Shipping Shipping

4.Multistory: Best used in locations where space is limited. Multistory is the leastefficient of the designs and adds complexity to the overall process.

CONCLUSION

The Layout of a warehouse is determined by the type of products that the company handles, whether there is need for any extra work on the products, and the space available in the building.

Thank you !!!