At some point, you will need to build a warehouse for your business. This is very important for smaller companies that are starting to grow. A dedicated warehouse is also important if you plan to expand to a new region since it can provide the foundation for your distribution network.
This makes designing and building your new warehouse an important responsibility. Here are some tips on how to build your warehouse to be the best for your business:
Understand Your Logistical Flow
Before anything, you should sit down and understand what exactly will happen in your warehouse. Knowing the logistical flow of how things come in and out of your warehouse can affect your design decisions and more.
For example, when products or materials go into your warehouse, you need to know where they will go. Do they go on a simple shelf? Do you need special storage facilities like refrigerators and more? Besides that, you need to know how your warehouses are organized so that you can potentially improve things if necessary.
Find the Right Location
A warehouse’s location is just as important as a retail store’s location. But you will have different factors to look at. Instead of foot traffic, your main goal is to pick an accessible place. This means close to major roads and other means of transport. It might seem like a great idea to put your warehouse on some cheap land, but if the location is off the beaten path then you will end up with increased transport costs.
Besides access, the location needs to be somewhere close to all of the places that need the warehouse’s services. If you have multiple stores that need supplies from your warehouse, then a central location would be better.
Proper Flooring
Your warehouse floor can surprisingly affect many factors in your operations. With people and products passing through at a faster pace, your floor needs to be tough. If your floor can’t handle being trampled on constantly or having a forklift pass through regularly, then you might have a problem. There are several modern industrial flooring solutions that can ensure that your floors can handle the strain.
Besides that, you should start from the ground up. Instead of the traditional concrete slab construction, you can choose to use steel mesh construction to provide additional reinforcement to your floors.
Use The Latest Technology
In the past, warehouses just had men picking up products and materials from the shelves and signing out for them. Nowadays, you need to be more efficient and this is where modern technology comes in. For example, modern warehouse technology can have items shelved and retrieved by automatic shelving robots. This is faster and allows for 24/7 operations.
Combined with online inventories, you can be miles away at your home office and still know exactly how many supplies you have in the warehouse. Consider what technologies you want to integrate into your operations for maximum results.
With a new warehouse, there is more potential for your logistics. Instead of just being a room somewhere, your warehouse allows you to better manage your supply chain. You can expect good results, especially if you have designed your warehouse properly.
