In any warehouse, every square foot of the space is important. When a company starts to scale, one of the biggest stressors can be having enough square footage to grow and expand operations.
What if we told you the best solution in every situation is not always to move to a larger warehouse? What if we told you there are potential strategies you can utilize right now to create more space in your warehouse?
In this article, we will chat with our warehouse expert, Matt Howard, to bring you our top tips to save floor space in your warehouse today.
Matt’s first suggestion for saving floor space in a warehouse has to do with evaluating your racking and shelving situation. One way to help conserve floor space is to look and see if there is any “dead space” between shelves or racking.
When there is a lot of dead space one could put an extra beam in and then add more product to that section of shelves. In the photo below, the red box shows the “dead space” where an extra beam could be added to support more equipment or products. This tip helps to utilize space that already exists within the warehouse.
Sometimes the answer to creating more space in the warehouse is to “build up” with warehouse racking. Oftentimes, warehouses have tall ceilings that can accommodate tall structures. Racking can come in handy in utilizing this vertical space in the warehouse.
It is important to consult with warehouse professionals to determine if your space is a good fit for taller, vertical racking. You want to ensure that the racking is secure and that you have the correct equipment to access the products that are higher in the warehouse.
Matt suggests that adding racking generaly is a great idea if you have the space for it. Consider, if you have items sitting on the floor that could easily be relocated to a racking system. Instead of having the items take up room on the floor, allow the racking to take up the room on the floor and reorganize the racking. This will create a more organized and effective space.
Our Warehouse expert, Matt Howard, shares the following:
“One thing that a lot of operations have in their warehouse is a holding area. This holding area could have anything in it, including old racking, used computer chairs, a pallet of old computers, or broken carts. If they were to go through and clean their operation up they might be able to find more warehouse floor space. Just clean up these holding areas and you will discover you have more space.”
Instead of delaying, go through these areas with your team and identify the items that should be removed from your warehouse. In some instances, if you have working equipment you no longer need, you can sell these items and create revenue that can be used towards the warehouse or other aspects of your business.
The most important thing is to set aside time to determine if each item in the holding space has a use in your warehouse. If it doesn’t, don’t hesitate to move on from the item and free yourself much needed warehouse space.
Have you spent hours and hours evaluating your warehouse situation with no new insights into how you are going to free up space? The solution you might need is to bring someone else into the warehouse. A fresh set of eyes may help you see new ideas that you may not have considered before.
Matt Howard says, “One way to see opportunities of hidden floor space is to bring someone in that doesn’t work in the warehouse. Walk with them and have them ask questions as to why aspects of the warehouse are the way they are. A fresh set of eyes in the warehouse is a good place to start to find these opportunities.”
This fresh set of eyes may be a professional warehousing company like WarehouseOS, or it may be another individual who spends time in a different warehouse. Either way, a new perspective can help you spark new ideas and thoughts.
In some situations, these tips can be helpful but don’t create enough space for the company to continue scaling. In these situations, it makes sense to research and seek out new warehouse opportunities.
The video above this article walk through one of our many successful customers, Sparkle in Pink, moving to a new distribution center.
If you are in a situation where you are looking to relocate, we would love to help you create the most organized and efficient version possible of your warehouse. Our team can help you from start to finish through the moving process, providing professional opinion, best practices, and a team to get the job done.
We’re also excited to offer a free warehouse consultation with Matt Howard to help you compete with the best brands out there and optimize your warehouse operations. You’ll receive expert advice, no strings attached. This free consultation can help give you the insight you need into your warehouse operation.
Contact us today for your free warehouse consultation.
We hope these tips, suggested by our Warehouse expert Matt, help you create the space you need within your warehouse. If you are unsure of the next best step for your warehouse, reach out to us at Hoj Innovations today. We have helped thousands of companies over the years develop a plan for a more efficient warehouse operation. If you don’t know where to start, give us a call and we can discuss your options with you.
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