Living in the space age – Office Depot offers advice on warehouse optimisation

It can be easy to forget how important maximising space within the storage cube actually is. Some may believe it only makes a minor difference and is therefore not worth the effort – this couldn’t be further from the truth, says Mike McCreesh VP supply chain Europe at Office Depot.

Simon Duddy: When planning the acquisition or construction of a new warehouse facility, how much does maximising the storage cube come into considerations?

Mike McCreesh: Minimum space equals maximum profits. Space is therefore a major commodity that can be used in a way that maximises outputs and subsequently, profits. 

Maximising available space within the storage cube should be the guiding force when either building or planning a warehouse space. Instead of being a mere add on, space optimisation must guide cube layout in a number of innovative ways – both manual and automated.  Naturally, it is not worth using automated systems to pick items that are rarely ordered – these can just be collected manually by warehouse staff. However, for faster moving items, mechanised picking systems can save valuable time and help to increase foot fall.

Agile aisle solutions are a key advantage – these must respond to how frequently specific products are ordered, as a way of making the most of ‘quick access’ solutions. Achieving this means planners have to understand the unique mix of inventory that is housed within the storage space and crucially, the expected level of activity. 

Fast-moving products fit better within wide aisles as these provide easy access and the ability to pick more products at a faster rate. However, storing slow-moving products within VNAs (Very Narrow Aisles) makes sense – picking speed is less of a priority for goods that are ordered infrequently. 

This need for a mix of aisle space capacity within the storage cube reflects the inherent variety of inventory that exists within a typical space – it is therefore necessary to sub-divide inventory into categories, for example, very fast, fast, medium, slow and very slow. Specific storage solutions and warehouse locations can then be allocated to each category. 

And this ‘mix’ mentality should run throughout the entire warehouse setting: 

Although this approach brings obvious benefits in terms of driving efficiencies and servicing end users, a well-ordered and optimised warehouse can allow larger providers to develop new revenue streams. For example, banks and other large corporates often use the warehouse space of business solutions providers as stockrooms for their own inventory, that are then delivered to their branches or sites at regular intervals. 

SD: How can a warehouse be remodeled to improve storage utilisation?

MM: There are a number of ways in which an existing storage space can be optimised to improve efficiencies and output. Creating mezzanine floors adds much-needed floor space without sacrificing or ‘doubling up’ on space-related requirements within existing areas of the storage cube. Organising existing space as well as any additional areas that are created ties back to the priority categories that have been outlined above. The way in which items are collected in the warehouse should therefore cover automated, semi-automated and manual order picking. The reason for this is that faster picking speeds are only an advantage when allocated to items that are highly popular. 

Although individual requirements throughout the storage cube may seem fragmented and difficult to co-ordinate at first sight, CAD design and 3D modeling can bring all these requirements together. It does this by overlaying possible solutions to the existing warehouse and allowing amendments or manipulations to be made fairly inexpensively. In this way, the most effective layout can be closely analysed without committing fully to a specific brief. 

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SD: How important is it to strike a balance between efficient storage and fast retrieval? How do you strike a balance for different product types?

MM: This is vital and again, goes back to ensuring that a full inventory is properly split into categories that determine how frequently they are ordered. For faster moving categories, ease of access and a certain level of automation will be required in order to strike the right balance and ensure delivery targets are met head on – and in fact, the intelligence of some systems is such that as well as physically picking items, the remaining inventory can be accurately logged so it can be replenished in enough time not to affect orders adversely. 

For slower moving categories, it doesn’t make sense to invest in fully or even partly automated space when it comes to storing these items. The infrequent nature of demand dictates that these are stored and picked manually. This ensures that sought after automated space can be allocated to the right products, meaning that it is used as efficiently as possible.

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