Warehouse Design Principles
While designing a warehouse the following principles should be taken care of.
- Design Criteria: There are basically three criteria for designing a warehouse
- Number of floors:Â Ideally there should be a single floor as more than one floor would result in movement of goods upward and downward from one floor to another. This would result in wastage of time and energy. But if land is a scarce and costly then more then one floor as storage would be justified in terms of cost.
- Height utilization:Â As far as possible ail space should be utilized even the vertical space as each space costs money. Height should be utilized as much as it is safe to lift and store the material.
- Product flows:Â Product flow should be straight. This means that goods should enter from one door and exit from another door ensuring that the path of entrance and exit don’t cross each other.
2. Â Handling of material: Two principles govern material handling technology
- Movement continuity:Â This principle’ states that it is better for the material handler to make small number of larger movements than large number of smaller movements. For too much of exchange of material from one hander to another handler could lead to delay as well as spoilage of goods.
- Movement scale economics : The material handler should move or handle the largest quantity possible. This reduces per unit cost of handling of material.
3. Â Storage Plan: While designing the warehouse, product characteristics should be taken into consideration. Some of the product considerations are as follows
- Sales:Â Fast moving goods or the goods whose sales are high should travel the minimum distance and should be easily accessible. This will reduce travel distance and save time.
- Weight:Â Relatively heavier items should be stored near the ground level, whereas lighter items could be stored at a higher level.
- Volume:Â Bulky material may require a open space for storage, whereas smaller goods may require drawers or shelves.
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