Warehouse Planning For SMEs
As a small to medium-size enterprise, you're likely already familiar with the need to optimise existing workflows and practises to improve output, enhance productivity or improve upon processes. The same concept of optimisation doesn't just apply to your workforce – with proper management and forward-thinking, it's possible to apply the same concept to your warehouse to make the most use out of your facility.
Whether your business is moving onto bigger and better things with a larger space, or updating your existing space to improve efficiency, we've got some tips to help.
As specialists in warehouse planning for a range of sectors, we understand the specific challenges faced by SMEs in optimising their work effectively. So let’s take a closer look at some of the critical things you need to consider in SME warehouse planning.
Start With Workflow-Focused Floorplans
Workflow is crucial to the day-to-day running of any business. The more efficient the flow from one production stage to another, the less time you waste getting from A to B. By taking a good look at your current floorplan, you can identify funnels - areas where the flow is 'trapped' by inefficiency, leading to slower output and greater difficulty in getting tasks done. Identifying these problem areas is step one to defining a new, more effective floorplan.
By putting workflow first, you're able to adjust the pathway needed to get your product or service from the first step in the process to the final output. Getting a good overview allows you to make more changes and optimisations along the way. If you plan to bring in warehouse automation to improve productivity, starting with a clear overview of where this would be most effective can give you all the guidance needed to succeed.
Once your plans are complete, and your new floorplan is tentatively mapped out, the next step is looking at ways to get your warehouse planning from concept to reality. Here are a few of the ways you can improve productivity, meet demand, and provide your SME with the space to grow:
Specialised Storage-First Solutions
Storage is a key concern and priority for any business, and there's never enough of it to go around in an inherited or standardised warehouse layout. To meet your business's specific needs and goals, you need storage that's as specialised as your requirements.
Pallet racking is one fundamental way to save floor space, optimise the productivity of workflows and improve upon organisation within your business. With everything in its correct place, the path to enhanced efficiency is far more achievable.
The choice of pallet racking system you need will depend on the level of storage you require and the versatility of the items in storage. In warehouses where large amounts of the same material require storage, highly efficient solutions such as narrow aisle racking or satellite racking may provide the best solution and clearance. On the other hand, storage needed for a selection of different materials or order requirements may best suit selective racking, allowing for the easy picking of individual product lines.
The benefit of investing in storage is reducing the amount of time wasted on the gathering and picking of materials. Suitable storage helps streamline workflows that would otherwise be limited by the time taken to find and select the right parts or components.
The more optimised and efficient your storage solution, the more practical it is for work to continue steadily. Updating your storage can also give you access to more modern solutions, with computerised automation offering an alternative to more traditional picking methods for greater efficiency.
Making The Most Of Your Floor Space
While it may feel like what you see is what you get for warehouse floor space, the average warehouse structure is more than able to accommodate at least a single mezzanine floor with excellent clearance, if not two, in certain circumstances. Instead of limiting yourself to the footage available on the ground floor of your warehouse, choosing to build up can add plenty of additional functionality, as well as opportunities to add greater use for a building you're already paying for.
Common uses for mezzanine levels include office mezzanines and meeting spaces, providing a cleaner and less industrial space to meet clients and carry out computer and office-based work with separation from production carried on below. The benefit of mezzanine floors is twofold. Not only do you get more space to serve your business as it expands, but you can provide a greater degree of separation between work and rest for employees. This practice, in turn, improves productivity on-site through the implementation of separate canteens, seating areas, and lunchrooms.
Introducing a mezzanine floor is also an excellent way to consolidate all of your resources into one location. If you are hiring office space elsewhere or have a separate building for on-warehouse employees, bringing everything into one area can enhance productivity in reporting, audits and any work that involves direct communication with the warehouse itself. By introducing suitable office space, you can save time and money in the day-to-day running of your business.
Effective Division For Enhanced Productivity
An open-plan space may seem like the way to get the most efficiency out of your workflow – after all, with everything out in the open, nothing is stopping your production in its tracks. But while open-plan workplaces sound great in principle, in reality, a certain degree of division can be far more beneficial to direct work in the first ways. Steel partitions are an excellent way to divide off spaces in the workplace to improve productivity without sacrificing the overall openness of warehouse space.
For SMEs working in sectors that require refrigeration, secure areas or even clean room partitioning, steel partitions provide an effective solution. The placement of your partitions must work alongside the workflow of your business. But when utilised successfully, proper partitioning can provide dedicated working areas that improve productivity, enhance appropriate division of duties, and pave the way for automation in specific areas that otherwise wouldn't be achievable in an open-plan environment.
Division of workspaces can also provide new opportunities to your business. For example, some contracts may require secure or high-security spaces to produce specific projects. Similarly, introducing new products to your business may require specialist storage in temperature-controlled rooms. Steel partitions give you the freedom to improve productivity and expand what your business can offer.
Utilising The Right Workplace Equipment
The equipment you provide in your workplace is integral in several ways. Firstly, the right equipment can support employees in doing their jobs day-to-day. A well-designed locker room and separated rest area can create a strong division that encourages better productivity on the floor. Secondly, workplace equipment helps maintain safety standards and ensure everyone is ready for work. With lockers and storage spaces to keep unnecessary clutter out of the work area, employees can focus on the task at hand.
Picking the right workplace equipment depends from business to business, but ensuring you leave space and capacity of appropriate storage and company-required areas is integral to running your business effectively. Alongside 'transition spaces' between work and outside, you'll also want to consider equipment such as on-site kitchens, facilities and dedicated office equipment to ensure you're meeting employee needs and providing the resources for them to do their best work.
As an SME, you'll need to provide specific facilities in line with the needs of your employees on-site. That includes safe and secure storage, preferably with workplace lockers, as well as the facilities needed for breaks during a full day of work. Investing in the right workplace equipment can also make you scalable as you bring on new employees, ensuring you meet required compliances as your business grows.
Consider The Future When Planning Today
One of the biggest mistakes many SMEs make when warehouse planning is only looking at the here and now. But as your business grows and changes, the requirements for productivity will also differ over time. When thinking about the best way to layout your warehouse space, it's always a good idea to be flexible to changing needs and growth requirements over time. If you don't want to tear everything down and start again, planning with the future in mind can set you up for success.
How can you think forward beyond your needs now? One way to ensure you won't find your facilities lacking in the near future is to factor in extra space and flexibility in your planning. Even if you plan to build a half-mezzanine now, leaving the possibility of an expanded mezzanine in the future can help ensure you don't run out of space. Similarly, leaving ample room for storage can provide you with the opportunity in the future to expand your racking system or swap a shorter palette rack out for something taller.
Whether you are yet to make use of new premises or your business has grown far beyond expectations in your current facilities, thoughtful warehouse planning can help you improve productivity as effectively as possible. As an SME, focusing on the ways to enhance your existing space and make way for automation is key to a long and successful future – and taking the time for planning is an excellent place to start.
Find The Right Warehouse Solutions For Your Business
SMEs face a range of challenges, so it’s vital that whatever kind of warehouse is needed, it is able to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. From warehouses for e-commerce businesses, to specialist facilities and warehouses for the engineering sector, or warehouses for logistics providers, here at Avanta we’re experienced in delivering tailored solutions for a wide range of clients.
Whether you’re planning to update an existing space, move into a new facility, or need to refit a warehouse vacated by another company, get in touch to find out how we can help. We provide a full turnkey solution that can include everything from creating mezzanine levels to installing the most suitable racking and storage system for your needs, to segmenting the space with the latest in partitioning solutions to develop exactly the commercial workspaces you need.