Do you own or work within an engineering warehouse? If so, the concept of the warehouse is essential because it can affect how daily processes happen and the workflow workers use to achieve various company goals.
If your warehouse’s current design isn’t working how you’d hoped it would, you should take some time to consider other design concepts. These concepts will benefit you in the long run and make it easier for you to achieve what you want.
We’ve created a list of the design concepts that might serve you better and detailed them below. Read on now and choose a design that will improve daily operations.
Relocate the Offices
One thing that takes up space within your warehouse space is the offices for upper management. We understand work has to be monitored, but when you have offices in the warehouse, it takes up space that could be used for inventory storage purposes.
We recommend you consider relocating where the offices are to make more space within the warehouse for other things. One way to change where offices are is to consider shipping container offices that rest on the edge of the warehouse. This means it’s still easy for managers to monitor workers without being directly in their space.
Not to mention buying shipping containers can be more cost-effective than building more offices onto the warehouse structure without tearing things down. This is best for businesses that are making changes to their warehouse design but doing so on a tight budget.
Make Things One Way Flowing
When you move or flow back and forth within a warehouse, the chance of accidents happening increases. Accidents take time away from the other tasks that need to be completed within the warehouse and can cause you to have more workers out than necessary.
Instead, we recommend implementing a one-way flow design for your warehouse. That means that everything moves one way. For example, the workers will pick up inventory at the back of the warehouse and move it forward to where it will be placed on pallets in preparation for the trucks to pick them up.
Then, they will move forward to the loading dock to be placed on the trucks and sent to their intended destination. If a pallet is returned, it will be returned to the area at the back of the warehouse, where the process begins from an external door.
This again ensures everything is moved forward instead of backward or side to side, which again can be dangerous. And your workers won’t have to worry about hitting someone with the machinery that is typically used to move things within a warehouse.
Inventory Control System
Another design change you should consider is installing an inventory control system. When you don’t know how much you have of each product within your warehouse, filling orders that come in is more challenging.
It could also mean you spend money on replacing this inventory, which is a waste when you find out you had enough of one product without realizing it was there. An inventory system should be able to track orders and make the necessary changes to product counts that employees and department managers can reference.
It should ebb and flow as customer demand ebbs and flows to make it easier for everyone. If you do have this type of system installed, ensure you keep the software up to date to keep up with the volume of work you complete as your business evolves and scales.
While we are discussing different systems to install in the warehouse, you might also look into the materials handling system. This is to ensure your inventory is handled carefully to reduce the chances of product damages that cost you money.
Reevaluate Aisle Design
Another warehouse concept you can adapt to is the reconstruction of the aisle where your inventory is being housed. If the aisles are too close together, it will make it harder for the machinery being used to get up and down each aisle.
As we’ve mentioned before, this will increase the chances of damage to your inventory and injury to the workers. Widening the aisles or reconfiguring how they’re laid out will help you maximize the services you’re offering to your clients.
And understanding the layout design of your warehouse will make it easier for you in the future to determine what works best for you in case you decide to purchase more warehouse space for other business matters.
Along with aisle reconfiguration, you need to think about the storage provided by each shelving unit in each aisle. You need to have enough room for inventory, and it needs to be sturdy to support the weight of the materials you’re placing on them.
The shelving and tracks shouldn’t be flimsy and should be harder to knock over as employees move between each rack doing their job.
Assess Building Codes
Before you begin changing the design concept of the warehouse, you need to find out what the codes are for your building. This will save you from making changes that take up time and resources that you have to go back and modify because you weren’t within coding guidelines.
Before you began operating within this warehouse space, you should’ve been given a manual that lets you know your coding rules. If you can’t find that, you can contact the warehouse seller or rental company and ask for another copy so that you can have it on file.
Design Concepts Not to Overlook in Your Engineering Warehouse
When it comes to the design concept of your warehouse, it matters. A poor design concept can make things more challenging for you and your workers, not only affecting what gets done every day but also negatively impacting the overall morale of those working within the warehouse.
Do you want to know more about design concepts? Scroll through some other informative reads we’ve taken the time to curate and create just for you. You’re going to find a trove of information you didn’t even know you needed.
