Introduction

The role and strategic purpose of warehousing, holding inventory, is changing very rapidly. The warehouse is no longer a repository of inventory that comes to rest. We need larger assembly areas for the shipment and smaller storage areas. We need larger picking areas, more pick slots, and less backup inventory. The design effort is a balance of the right amount of space, labor, and time along with an understanding of strategy, location, and other business information. If the inventory is sitting on the aisles, multiple SKU’s on the same pallet, multiple pallets on the same spot, this hampers the productivity and indicates that there is need to re design.