Warehousing

Warehouse A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, Wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters, customs etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. Today warehouses are not used to store things but rather to receive, breakdown, repackage and distribute components to a manufacturing location or finished products to customers

Warehouses  Some warehouses are completely automated, with very few workers working inside.  The pallets and product are moved with a system of automated conveyors and automated storage and retrieval machines coordinated by programmable logic controllers  The direction and tracking of materials in the warehouse is coordinated by the WMS, or Warehouse Management System, a database driven computer program.  The WMS is used by logistics personnel to improve the efficiency of the warehouse by directing putaways and to maintain accurate inventory by recording warehouse transactions.

FUNCTIONS OF A WAREHOUSE ● Receiving, Storing, switching, change SKU size, ● Allows stock rotation (FIFO, LIFO), ● Buffer stock for customers – retail or commercial, ● Command and control centre – inventory control, ● Enables off-the-shelf (JIT) for customers, ● Provides a more-local 'Market Presence'.

MAIN ECONOMIC BENEFITS: Groupage (Consolidation)  Goods from a number of suppliers are grouped together for single delivery points,  A range of goods from single suppliers are grouped together for each customer.

Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Consolidation Warehouse Store B Store C Store A Supply Chain Management

Break Bulk: ● Receives customer orders from manufacturer and delivers to different customers.

Plant Break-Bulk Warehouse Store B Store C Store A Supply Chain Management

CROSS-DOCK = No storage(?) Cross-dock (from multiple suppliers): ● goods sorted as they arrive, ● goods moved across dock and loaded onto trailers, ● benefits - optimal vehicle use and low handling costs, ● requires sophisticated planning techniques.

Sainsbury's distribution timetable ● Early evening - Goods arrive at warehouse from supplier. ● Overnight - Sorted and packed. ● Early morning - Despatched. ● 7.30am - On store floor.

Warehousing Functionality  Consolidation and Break-Bulk  Assortment (Cross Docking, Mixing)  Postponement (Packaging, Labelling)  Stockpiling (Seasonal, Bulk-Buy)  Reverse Logistics

Warehouse Ownership Classi fication:  Private (Ownership or Lease)  Public (Standardized service)  Contract (Customized, mutual benefits)

Warehouse Planning:  Site selection  Design  Product mix  Future expansion

Warehouse Security  Pilferage protection (Theft,)  Product deterioration (Damages)

Safety and Maintenance  Health and safety  Incidents  Environment

Warehouse management System (WMS) Computer software designed to manage the storage and movement of items throughout the warehouse.

Home Assignment: Role of Barcodes, RFID’s and Voice picking technology in Warehouse

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