There are a few fundamental concepts to consider when setting up and operating a successful e-commerce fulfillment facility, regardless of the size. Capacity constraints, reduced output, and storage shortages will occur if you don’t follow these principles.
You’ll also need to ensure the warehouse is designed for efficiency, so that your employees can quickly and easily find and ship orders. Here are a few tips on how to design a warehouse that meets the needs of your eCommerce business!
Design Principles for an eCommerce Fulfillment Center Warehouse
1. The Warehouse and Facility Design
When it comes to the design of your fulfillment center, the first step is to understand your storage needs. What products do you sell? How many of each product do you carry in inventory? You’ll need to create a layout that allows you to store all your products efficiently. This could mean using various storage solutions, such as pallets, racks, and shelves.
Overall Size
The first step in good warehouse planning is to ask yourself, “How much storage area do I require?” A decent place to start is by factoring in how many pallets and boxes you expect to move at any one time, then multiplying by the size of your typical pallet or box. It’s fine if this number is significantly greater than your warehouse footprint.
Aisle Width
Racking design and aisle width have a significant impact on storage space needs. The following are the most frequent e-commerce fulfillment center racking designs:
- A standard sit-down/counterbalanced lift truck is used in 12-foot regular aisles.
- A small aisle reach truck may be utilized, allowing for up to a 33% increase in pallet storage capacity over 12-foot lanes.
- A 6-foot extremely narrow aisle width might use either a turret truck or swing arm truck design, and it may provide up to a 66% boost in pallet storage capacity over 12-foot lanes.
These potential enhancements are determined by the rack layout and configuration.
Think in Cubic Feet
You will likely use storage and shelving systems to get the most out of your entire space, so your storage space should be measured in cubic feet.
Number of Dock Doors
In the early stages of design and construction, the cost of providing adequate inbound/outbound dock doors, docks, and staging surfaces is quite low. However, the impact from the lack of doors is significant, because cartons on docks and staging areas cause congestion and flow issues. It’s a recurring problem each time your center reaches shipping and receiving capacity—which may be half the year in some cases.
Conveyors for Horizontal Product Transport
By eliminating handling and walk time, a simple transfer conveyor system may enhance production efficiency. Make sure the equipment is worth it. The conveyor choice should be based on product size and weight, as well as your throughput volume. In any conveyor design, you will need to account for the buildup of packages at the end of the line.
Maintain 10% of Extra Space
When planning the size of the warehouse, consider the need for an overflow area. 10% is generally considered an adequate amount. The extra room allows for temporary surges in inventory, as well as a staging and picking area.
2. Necessary Equipment
Storage Equipment
Storage equipment can encompass many items, including:
- Shelving
- Racks
- Various-sized containers
- Bins
- Drawers
Material Handling Equipment
The term “material handling equipment” refers to machinery that transports, stores, or lifts products from one place to another. This equipment primarily transfers big loads and helps in the raw material storage and management at a facility. The equipment may be manual or automated, and while automatic material handling can cost more up front, it boosts safety and efficiency by lowering incidents, waste, and mistakes. Material handling has long been an important component of almost any sector, but it is currently on the rise due to globalization and online shopping.
Warehouses should have the following material handling equipment on hand, in addition to any other equipment required:
- Forklifts
- Pallet jacks
- Hand trucks
- Platform trucks
Packing and Shipping Equipment
The warehouse’s final steps are packing and shipping, which are by far the most essential. The customer may easily place and pay for an order, but if the goods do not arrive in good condition and on time, the client experience will be negative. Streamlining the packaging and shipping stage of the business can have a dramatic effect on the bottom line.
Here are some items that are must-haves:
- Carton erectors
- Mobile printers
- Stand-on forklifts for order picking
- Hand-held computers to ensure picking list is complete
- Industrial scales
- Strapping and banding equipment
- Stretch wrap machines
- Packing tables
Barcoding Equipment/Inventory Management Software
A barcode inventory system is one in which each product has its own barcode. When a product is sold, the barcode is read, and data sent to a central database. When selecting an object, the warehouse employee scans the barcode. The scanner then informs the worker if they have picked the proper item, and logs the action in your inventory management system. This helps maintain accurate stock levels by allowing you to keep track of your inventory in real time.
3. Automate Repetitive Processes
Bar-code readers (mentioned above) can assist in streamlining picking and reducing cycle counts, while also improving accuracy. A conveyor belt can safely transport heavy containers from one place to another, eliminating the need to carry stock and putting less strain on workers. Lift-trucks and pallet jacks can make the work simpler if a conveyor belt is not available. The use of a laser DIM-weight scanner enables automated calculation of measurements for shipments, ensuring precision and speeding up delivery timeliness. Automated machines can save time and repetitive stress by performing routine, monotonous activities—for example, breaking down pallets or boxes.
4. Optimize Pick Paths
There are numerous order picking approaches (wave picking, batch picking, and zone picking), so you should be aware of the differences so you can choose which one is best for your business. Orders should be completed in such a way that one item from one area is selected before moving on to the following area, and items frequently purchased should be kept close to each other.
5. Integrate All Systems with Warehouse Management Software
Using a warehouse management system (WMS) can help reduce error rates, boost overall warehouse efficiency, and speed up inventory replenishment. Though a WMS won’t directly impact the warehouse layout design, it will influence how you arrange equipment and work stations. Warehouse automation is an important component of optimizing the supply chain, because it eliminates time, effort, and misunderstandings caused by manual, variable activities.
Design and Build the Best eCommerce Fulfillment Center Warehouse with Allied Steel Buildings
Allied Steel Buildings is a top provider of steel buildings for commercial and industrial use. We can assist you in designing and building the finest eCommerce fulfillment center warehouse to fit your unique requirements. Our pre-engineered steel structures are quick to build and come fully equipped with necessary material and accessories for getting your warehouse up and operational quickly. For further information, please contact us today.