How Warehouse Management Is Similar to That of a Small City

Warehouses are commercial buildings that have been constructed for the storage of goods. Depending on the size, warehouses are used by various traders including manufacturers, importers, and wholesalers. However, small warehouses can sometimes prove to be problematic to the users especially when they are used to store a large quantity of goods. The best technique to avoid such problems is to properly design your warehouse so that it can be more efficient. The first factor to consider while designing a warehouse is the flow. The design should have a logical sequence of operations in which activities are located close to the one that proceeds it (Battini, Persona & Sgarbossa, 2014). This will ensure that there is an uninterrupted movement of materials in and out of the warehouse. Unless proper floor of activities is adequately done, small warehouses can be flooded just like small cities, and this can cause interruptions in the activities. 

Accessibility is another factor that must be considered while designing a small warehouse. Items should be placed at points where they are accessible from the entrance. The design must be made in a way which creates space for the accessibility of the goods. When a warehouse is small, the design should also take into account the space factor. Much of the space needs to be allocated to the stock processing and operational storage. Working areas should be given the least space possible. This will help maximize on the little space available to store a large number of goods. Other factors such as throughput must also be considered in the design of the warehouse. The speed at which each item leaves the warehouse must be considered, and those that have high velocity should be placed next to the entrance while those with low velocity be placed far much inside. 

Reference 

Battini, D., Persona, A., & Sgarbossa, F. (2014). An innovative real-time system to integrate ergonomic evaluations into warehouse design and management. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 77, 1-10.