Simple storage system - optimal arrangement with locations

Make a plan for your storage system!

Start by drawing your warehouse on a piece of paper so that you can plan the placement of racks so that you get the most out of the space and so that you achieve the most optimal picking routes. You have to remember to take into account whether your shelves are freestanding or need to be screwed to the wall, and therefore a work paper can be super useful. Because once you have set up the shelves correctly, it is more difficult to move them around, even if it is only a matter of minor changes in the arrangement. And remember to take into account in the planning whether it will be possible to expand with more shelf space on an ongoing basis, because there must also be room for that.

We have chosen free-standing, tall metal shelves for our warehouse, and we have chosen a system which we can keep expanding so we don't lock ourselves into a solution that can't be expanded. Every time we expand with new product groups, it is easy to expand the storage space with more shelves, so that we not only save time on a daily basis but also when expanding the warehouse, where there is no need to move around but simply put more end tables and shelves on the existing one . It also gives more peace of mind with uniformity. And then we have put large pallet racks up against the end walls, as they have to be fixed, and as it provides better lighting, because the "heaviest" racks do not take up space in the middle of the warehouse and block the light.

We run a webshop, so we also had to take into account the optimal placement of packing tables and work tables. We can recommend placing packing stations close to the warehouse, so that you minimize the number of steps, while at the same time giving a better overview of the warehouse.

Signage and locations

It may seem banal and straightforward, but many people often forget the importance of signs and location numbers. If you choose metal racks for your warehouse, you can use magnetic signs for marking both aisle numbers (we use aisles A-H here) and for marking location numbers. A large sign at the end of each shelf row with a number or a letter helps to create the big overview, and location numbers with marking of shelves and locations are a huge help in creating an overview of the actual location of each individual item. In addition, we have used time to place the items in groups that are either similar or complimentary - ie. goods that are often sold together. This means that if our storage system goes down temporarily, we can easily guess where the goods are.

In addition, we have spent time placing the items in groups that are either similar or complimentary - ie. goods that are often sold together. This means that if our storage system goes down temporarily, we can easily guess where the goods are.

Continuous adjustment and optimization

The work with optimizing a warehouse never stops - but that's not a bad thing. Because if you have done it smartly - with magnetic signs for your storage racks - then you can easily move your storage boxes and locations around, because they are not tied to anything special but are movable.

There are as many ways to do inventory management as there are companies. There is no one size fits all, because you cannot create the optimal solution as plug and play. But there are some simple rules you can follow for building your storage racks for optimal logistics:

Name each shelf with a consecutive number or letter (eg A, B, C or 1, 2, 3). If you have many aisles with shelves, it can also be an advantage to mix letters and numbers (A1, A2, A3 - and next row: B1, B2, B3, etc.).

Name each shelf with consecutive numbers or letters (we see it mostly used with numbers for shelf numbers, because it is often easier for the employees to count down with numbers instead of with the alphabet).

Name each box's location on the shelf with consecutive numbers or letters (again we would recommend numbers here - easier in everyday life for most).

Making location numbers

You can see a photo of our warehouse above with DYMO labels on magnetic tape for flexible location marking, and we have built up location numbers in our warehouse like this:

• Each row has a letter and each shelf has consecutive numbers. We show below the C rack, where we have C1, C2, C3, etc.
• Each shelf has a number. In the example above with the C5 shelf, we show shelf no. 5 and 6, which are designated as C5.5 and C5.6.
• The last development is placement on the shelves. The focus of the photo is, for example, an item on rack C5, shelf 5 and location no. 6. This gives location number C5.5-6.