How to Save Space in Your E-Commerce Distribution Center?

Managing and efficiently using warehouse shelving space is one of the main challenges of running an e-commerce distribution center.

There are many things that can be done to make this type of operation more efficient. Those range from using storage mezzanine platforms and other vertical space solutions to complex slotting systems to dynamically allocate space for SKU’s depending on their quantity.

     

Warehouse space is typically considered full when it is over 80% capacity. The reason for this is that’s when it starts to lose efficiency. There is a need for more than 20% free space to operate it well, with room to spare so items can be moved around, changed shelves, replenished, and for passages to be free for forklifts and other traffic. A warehouse at 100% capacity is not just full, it’s locked-in.

With storage spaces rising in demand, and therefore in price, it is all the more important to find ways to make better use of the ones already available.

Before exploring more robust solutions such as storage mezzanine platforms to name an example, it can help to try and reduce capacity by liquidating old stock or reducing the inventory of low-demand items.

This however, has a certain limit to its usefulness and sooner or later, a more creative approach will be needed.

The use of vertical space in most warehouses can be improved a great deal. An examination of how many cubic feet of space is not being used may discover a lot of room for improvement. It is prudent to keep in mind that fire codes and sprinkler systems may prevent certain expansions of shelving but it is not impossible to gain some 20% capacity by going up.

One other thing that can help and which has been mentioned above are industrial mezzanines which can be an asset for both storage and access to higher storage tiers. Those robust structures can add space where shelving is not possible to install or grant access to loading crews, improving work speeds and increasing the operational efficiency of the supply chain.

Reducing aisle widths can also have a considerable impact on a facility’s capacity. Matching the width to be close to the minimal need for operating equipment without compromising safety is the best approach.

There are more solutions that implement both organizational and technical methods to increasing a warehouse capacity before an operation really has to expand. For more information on the subject and more details about storage mezzanine platforms and metal mezzanine systems.