Now that the holidays have come and gone, your warehouse inventory may be lower than usual. But as always, your stock will soon go back up again.
Now that the holidays have come and gone, your warehouse inventory may be lower than usual. But as always, your stock will soon go back up again. That means you’ll need to find ways to increase the amount of storage in your facility. Let’s find out how.
Choose Space Saving Equipment
The first step in this process is to evaluate the equipment you have now. Do your research to find which pieces of equipment will save the most space. Work with an expert in this field who can help you determine which storage methods are best for your warehouse. Does your floorplan accommodate single-deep or double-deep storage? That’s one of the most important questions to answer. Modular components can also make a difference as well. It all comes down to what your facility needs.
Go Vertical
Sometimes, your floor plan isn’t wide enough. Rather than expand your facility, think about how to go up instead of out. Going vertical is another consideration. There are vertical cubes you can use to facilitate this storage method – stack the items you have now to help keep everything organized. Think about how tall your building is, where the aisles are located, where other rooms inside the warehouse are, and if you have pallets already in your building.
Captive lifting and handling systems are one option to use – these are cranes much like the amusement games you might see where you can select and attempt to retrieve a prize. However, pallet racking is another method that allows you to use vertical storage. Pallet racking allows you to store heavier products off the ground allowing more floor space for other items and for workers and visitors to walk through more safely.
Keep Everyone Safe
Lastly, you must keep everyone in the building safe. Even with forklifts and other machines that allow your workers to move and retrieve items throughout your warehouse, other systems are necessary to cut down on the amount of risky lifting and moving they need to do. Upgrading to an automated storage and retrieval system can help you accomplish this goal. These systems will retrieve items without needing your workers to do it physically. The workspace is kept well-lit so that your workers can see what they’re doing, and these systems are equipped with on-off switches and emergency shutoff switches too, in case something should fall to the floor.
Make Space Work for You with Metro Shelving!
If you’re a homeowner or run a business, you can depend on Metro Shelving. If you need to outfit a warehouse, give us a call at (800) 400-7500. Call us even if you aren’t looking to outfit a warehouse because if your garage, laundry room, or kitchen pantry are in need of help, we can help you too. Are you on social media? Follow us on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.