Different Types of Warehouses
Warehouses may seem like a simple, straightforward concept, but they actually include a variety of different types of warehouses that all have their own niche. The type of warehousing that’s right for you depends on your specific industry, location, and needs. From private warehousing, distribution centers, and climate-controlled warehouses, there’s an option to suit every business.
Warehouses may seem like a simple, straightforward concept, but they actually include a variety of different types of warehouses that all have their own niche. The type of warehousing that’s right for you depends on your specific industry, location, and needs. From private warehousing, distribution centers, and climate-controlled warehouses, there’s an option to suit every business.
Distribution Center
Distribution centers are warehouses where goods are stored temporarily. In these warehouses products are received from suppliers, sorted and packed and then rapidly shipped out to customers. An example of a distribution center is a warehouse that handles perishable products. They will receive shipments in the morning and distribute them by the end of the same day.
Private Warehouse
These warehouses are privately owned and generally used by retail corporations or engineering companies to store their inventory.
Public Warehouse
Public warehouses can be leased to companies with short-term distribution needs. For example, retailers with their own private warehouse may seek out additional storage space at a public warehouse just to keep surplus of inventory for a short while. Once spaces free up in their own warehouse, they’ll discontinue the use of the public space. Private warehouses will have higher fixed costs but lower unit operating costs, whereas the public warehouses will potentially cost you higher in terms of variable costs.
Automated Warehouse
Automated warehouses are, nearly completed automated. With very little manpower required for supervision, these warehouses operate using the latest software technology, cranes, and carriers to maintain and carry out their duties.
Climate-Controlled Warehouse
Warehouses store many different products, often including those that need to be kept at a specific temperature. Items that require special handling conditions should be kept in a climate-controlled warehouse. This can range from freezing temperatures to keep frozen products in tact to humidity-controlled environments for delicate botanical products and even dirt-free facilities to keep sensitive computer equipment safe. Moreover, they are control environments to ensure desired quality and usability with humidity, microorganism prevention mechanisms.
Retail Warehouse
Retail warehouses are stores dealing in consumer goods that are operated in single-level buildings. Generally, they are limited to 1000 square meter retail spaces. The floor space is mostly majorly allocated to sales with some of the space also being utilized for back office and storage purposes.
Fulfillment Warehouse
Fulfillment warehouses are third-party warehouses used by e-Commerce companies to control costs and manage strategic benefits. The products are lifted from the seller site and stored here until they are dispatched for delivery after processing.
Hazmat Warehouse
This is an abbreviation for the Hazardous Materials Warehouse which is designed to safely store chemicals and physically dangerous substances. It also includes radioactive and biologically dangerous materials. Special provisions are made because these substances can damage their surrounding environment and put lives at risk. In cases of Hazmat warehouses, compliance is also a primary factor in design. Government agencies are involved to ensure safety at such sites.
Overseas Warehouses
These warehouses are catered for the overseas trade. In cross-border trade e-commerce, overseas warehouses refer to domestic enterprises transporting commodities to target market countries through bulk transportation, establishing warehouses and storing commodities locally, then, according to the local sales order, the one-stop control and management service of sorting, packaging and distribution will be carried out directly from the local warehouse in a timely manner.
Packing Warehouses
The main purpose of packing warehouses was the picking, checking, labelling and packing of goods for export. Railway Warehouses These warehouses were built close to the major stations in railway hubs.
Canal Warehouses
Canal warehouses were used for trans-shipment and storage.
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Warehouse management and distribution logistics involve the physical warehouse where products are stored, as well as the receipt and movement of goods takes place. Warehouse management aims to control the storage and movement of products and materials within a warehouse. These operations include the receipting of inwards goods, tracking, stacking and stock movement through the warehouse.
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When a customer wants a product that has been stored in the warehouse, the same need to be picked off the shelf (or off the floor) and get it ready for shipping. Depending on how big is the warehouse, picking can take a while. (Many distribution centers cover more than 1 million square feet.). Hence, warehouse order picking methods are an important aspect within any warehouse.
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One of the warehousing best practices that retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Target have adopted is known as cross-docking. During this process the inbound products are unloaded at a distribution center and then sorted by destination, and eventually reloaded onto outbound trucks. In real parlance, the goods are not at all warehoused but just moved across the dock (hence the name).
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Warehouses can be places where piles of packed or loose products occupy space. If left disorganized, it will become very challenging to identify products for packing or picking. Hence, proper organization of warehouse is very important. Warehouse labeling systems eliminate this problem by making sure products are easily identified and managed during the warehousing and shipping process. Labeling is the most functional and cost-effective way to keep your warehouse organized and operating efficiently.
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One of the most important decisions when running a warehouse is its layout. Warehouse layout defines the physical arrangement of storage racks, loading and unloading areas, equipment and other facility areas in the warehouse. A good layout aligned with the business needs could have a significant effect on the efficiency.
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What is a Warehouse & why companies need them?
All organizations hold stocks. In virtually every supply chain, gaps exist between when something is produced and when a customer is ready to buy or receive it. Stocks occur at any point in the supply chain where the flow of materials is interrupted. This implies that products need to be stored during this period of gap.
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Before shipping, businesses need to make sure that the items will arrive in good condition. Packaging is a form of protection against environmental threats that the product will face from the time it leaves warehouse facility until the time it reached the customer. The packaging is intended to provide protection for the item as it is being handled in the warehouse or when the item is being shipped.
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Miscellaneous Warehouse Processes
At the end of each inventory control, the Contractor provides the Ordering Person with an inventory report which contains a list of all stock adjustments. The Ordering Person uses the report to create, by use of his/her own means, necessary value and accounting adjustments related to the stock. Let us look at some to the mislaneous warehouse processes not covered earlier.
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When products arrive at a facility, there need to be a defined process to let them in. The process for accepting inventory when it arrives is called "Receiving". Any warehousing operation must be able to receive inventory or freight from trucks at loading docks and then stow them away in a storage location. Receiving often involves scheduling appointments for deliveries to occur, along with unloading the goods and performing a quality inspection.
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After products have been received and passed a quality inspection, they need to be stored so that you can find them when you need them. This process is called putaway. The spot where you store a particular product is called a location. One section of a warehouse might have small locations for light items; another area may have large locations on the floor for heavy items.
