4 Reasons Warehouse Design Matters

How warehouse desgin affects productivity.

Whether you’re redesigning your current warehouse design or building at an entirely new location, the design you land on can have a huge impact on the overall operations of your business. What’s more, the design you choose for your warehouse is something that needs to sustain years of business growth.

Let’s take a look at four reasons why warehouse design should matter to your business and how it can affect the company’s bottom line.

 

1. Design Can Affect Flow

For warehouse managers, business flow is an important aspect of each day. If your warehouse isn’t flowing correctly, bottlenecks and backups can cause havoc and lose money.

The ideal warehouse design should aim to eliminate these costly bottlenecks and keep the flow of employees and materials steady. Warehouse designers will be able to pinpoint areas that are restricting this movement and open up your floor so that more productivity can occur.

By outlining your warehouse floor and identifying the goals of each area, a productive design brainstorm will attempt to pick up on any problems before they even have a possibility of happening.

2. Design Requirements Matter

You may have the most logistically designed warehouse in the city of Houston, but if it doesn’t meet certain requirements, then it’s all for naught.

Occupancy requirements, both for your workers and inventory, can be a make or break for warehouses. If you have too much space, you will be wasting money over time on operational costs and space that is lying empty. Not enough room for your people and materials, and you’ll see slow growth and most likely an expensive move or rebuild further down the road.

It’s important when working with a designer to crunch your business numbers and determine your occupancy requirements so your warehouse can operate profitably for years to come.

3. Changes May Need to Be Made

No one can predict the future, but warehouse operations can change year over year, and that brings a certain aspect of the unknown for many owners. Warehouse design often needs to be flexible to adjust for these changes, but many don’t offer strong options.

When choosing your warehouse design, think about where you’d like to see your business in five or 10 years. Operational requirements may also vary as your business continues to evolve, so there may be a need for flexibility. If you have a strong design, changes to the layout or size of your warehouse may be easy to make, allowing you to keep your location and have minimal impact on future operations.

4. Business Breaks

One trend many businesses are latching on to is the need to be environmentally friendly. Some businesses have individual sustainability goals, with some even receiving breaks or incentives if they’re met year over year.

Aside from this, many green designs also allow the business owner to save on operational costs. For example, a design that allows for more natural lighting can save warehouses the cost of having expensive overhead lighting turned on for the majority of the workday.

Small, energy-efficient design changes can make a huge impact on the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of a warehouse. Working with a designer who understands the benefits of these design changes can often be beneficial.

To the average eye, warehouse design may seem like a simple process. However, working with an experienced designer can open your eyes to new possibilities and identify current problems that will affect your end-of-year numbers. While these four reasons should be enough to sway you, there are countless other benefits to a strong and modern warehouse design.

Need help with warehouse design? The professionals at Cato Industrial Racks can help you design or redesign your distribution center so it works in the most efficient way to suit your organization’s needs. For more information, please call 832-447-1276 or fill out our form.