Warehouse design is a critical element within the field of logistics management. Warehouses and distribution centres are a major expenses for any business and inefficiency in their design can lead to lower service levels and higher operating costs.
New build designs require significant capital investment and even reconfiguration of existing facilities may require large investment in storage media and material handling changes. Considering these costs, coupled with return on investment requirements which demand that a facility is future-proof, it is critical to get warehouses and distribution centres professionally designed.
Of course, the physical warehouse layout is only one aspect of an optimised design. Within a warehouse every process also needs to be reviewed to ensure that its cycle time is minimised and that touch points across the whole operation are reduced. Our warehouse design consultants are experienced in every technical and operational aspect of warehousing, making sure that our clients warehouses operate at the lowest cost and to the service levels required.
Our Expert Partners are here to deliver design efficiency into your warehouse. Our Award-Winning Warehouse and Distribution Centre Design and Operations Consultants have significant expertise and operational experience with a full understanding of what is essential for effective and efficient standard bulk and small order pick e-commerce fulfilment operations.
We specialise in optimising the cost of space, equipment and labour. As a result, you achieve greater productivity and time-saving.Building in flexibility and growth potential is important so that your business can easily expand in the future.
We remodel existing operations in order to cope with changes in throughput and stock profiles.Improving overall layout efficiency will keep costs down.
Let our team reduce waste and improve profitability in your warehouse operations.
Warehouse Operations Management requires a systematic and process driven approach to maintain order and efficiency within a warehouse or distribution centre. Well designed operational processes can improve profitability, reduce waste and facilitate improved management of variability.
Within warehouse operations management the focus for operational process improvement is on the efficiency of moving material and the utilisation of resources such as people, handling equipment and facilities. The material movements and utilisation must also be balanced to the service level requirements. All warehouse operations should look to continuously monitor and improve efficiency in order to control cost and deliver the required service.
We can help you improve your operating processes to drive efficiency.
Developing efficient operating processes requires fact-based analysis combined with a pragmatic appreciation of business constraints. Whilst there are numerous different methodologies including Kaizan, Six Sigma, TQM and variations thereof, they all focus on a core approach; continuous focus on being organised, methodical and efficient.
Our warehouse consultants are technically skilled in the assessment of processes using a range of methodologies. They also bring considerable knowledge of the realities of day-to-day warehouse operations, gained through direct experience in managing logistics operations. There are many areas where our consultants can support improvement in Warehouse Operations Management, including:
The areas of warehouse operations management we can help with:
If you’re planning a warehouse move, use our services to find the optimal new warehouse location. Identifying optimal locations for warehouses and other fixed facilities within the supply chain is a major decision for any business. Warehouse location drives transportation costs, and where new supply routes are being introduced, or an existing supply chain is being re-engineered, then full and comprehensive warehouse location analysis needs to be undertaken. Location analysis requires applied mathematics and is often referred to as ‘Centre of Gravity Modelling’, although it’s also known as p-media and the grid method. In principle, the aim of the centre of gravity model is to identify the geographical location where distance and/or transport costs are minimised. We can identify the optimal warehouse location to minimise transport costs. As transport costs usually have a linear relationship with distance, and also have a greater degree of variability than warehouse costs across the UK, then identifying the right location for your warehouse can significantly reduce operating costs. Using our own in-house developed tools, we are able to support you in undertaking centre of gravity modelling, and warehouse sizing and demand allocation, based on a range of possible drivers including transport costs, distance and service lead times. Warehouse location analysis we can undertake for you:
We’ll do the warehouse search for you and project manage the full implementation. Finding suitable warehouse facilities can be a real challenge that our consultants are able to undertake for you. The growth of online retail, along with limited land availability for industrial development, has precipitated a 70% decline in warehouse facility availability in the last 10 years. Most major land agents are forecasting that limitations in availability are set to continue as land available for development is increasingly allocated to higher value residential or commercial retail development. With limitations on warehouse facility availability, there is an increasing need for flexibility and agility in identifying and securing suitable properties. A blueprint of the size and type of facility must be established before approaching the market, but this blueprint should be flexible so as not to narrow the number of suitable properties. For example, you may need to consider trading floor space for eaves height, or the potential for installing mezzanine floors. Also, especially for older warehouse stock under 100,000 sq ft, dock-level access is relatively uncommon and alternative ‘faux level doors’ or scissor lifts may need to be considered. Let the consulting team take the strain, from search through to design and commissioning. Our consultants can provide clients with a full-service offering; from designing the size and configuration of warehouse required, through to searching, identifying and assessing operational cost impacts against suitable warehouse facilities on the market. Furthermore, once a suitable property has been located and agreed, our warehouse consultants can project manage the conveyancing and contract agreement process, oversee the fit-out and manage all the implementation requirements until the site is fully operational. Areas of consultancy support we can provide include: