Inventory or Building?

What Comes First, Building or Inventory?

The warehouse layout design challenge can occur before or after securing a building.

A pallet of inventory constrained within a transparent box that represents a building. Asks the question, "what comes first, building or inventory?"

Design for the Inventory

Designing for inventory is “unconstrained”. Design the best storage solution that meets inventory requirements. Explore deep rack for high-volume SKUs. Leverage high-bay storage to take advantage of a high ceiling.

A pallet of inventory indicates designing for the inventory. Three tips are shown: use the best storage system, wrap a shell around the layout, find the best building.

Design for the Building

When the four walls and ceiling of an existing building constrain the storage design, work within the building “box”. Maximize storage row capacity with half-bay extensions when needed. Flex the flue width between the back-to-back storage rows and keep the aisles as narrow as possible give material handling specifications.