“What is Warehousing, Logistics Guide
What is warehousing?
Warehousing is the process of storing physical inventory for sale or distribution. Warehouses are used by all different types of businesses that need to temporarily store products in bulk before shipping them to other locations or individually to end consumers.
Elements of Warehousing
While warehousing may seem simple as it primarily involves leaving product in storage, there are many processes involved to ensure efficient completion and quick access to and from inventory, including:
capacity planning
Space is a key resource. Therefore, when products are expected to be shipped, employees need to plan where the products will be stored to make the most efficient use of the space.
Receive inbound goods
When products arrive at the warehouse, workers need to receive the items and carefully move them to the staging area for processing.
track inventory
As items move in and out of the warehouse, registration in the warehouse inventory management system is required to ensure administrators can track what is currently in inventory and plan for future changes.
store product
Once the product has been received and processed, it needs to be stored. This may involve placing products in boxes and pallets and then using mobile devices to transport them to the appropriate storage space.
climate control
Depending on the nature of the product, factors such as temperature, humidity or pressure may need to be kept constant. For example, frozen goods need to be stored in areas with temperatures below freezing. These requirements will affect how and where products are stored within the facility to ensure proper quality.
reorganization
As new products are introduced, existing inventory may need to be moved to ensure the most efficient use of the entire space. Any changes need to be tracked and updated in the inventory management system.
Pickup and Shipment
Finally, when products need to be shipped out, employees need to pick, handle, pack, load, and then release them from inventory to make room for new inbound products.
Best Warehousing Options to Consider
Fulfillment companies have many responsibilities, from design to picking and packing to final shipping. Ideally, you’d want to handle all of these tasks under one roof, but that’s rarely the case. You may need to survey the playing field and place your work in multiple locations.
Here are the best places to perform the order fulfillment process:
private warehouse
This particular distribution center is usually owned and managed by the channel supplier. This will be your manufacturer, trader or whoever is the first to resell on exclusive distribution channels. Some notable examples of private repositories include:
Warehouses owned and managed by wholesalers and retailers
Warehouses rented out by retailers
Warehouse located near farmers farmland
Warehouse built by the manufacturer’s production unit
Warehouses owned or leased by wholesalers
public warehouse
Public warehouses are government-owned distribution facilities. These warehouses are usually leased to small traders who do not have the financial means to own a warehouse. If you’re working on a short-term delivery project, one of these government warehouses may be your best option. Most public storage space is used by manufacturers, producers, exporters and importers associated with the franchise.
Bonded Storage Center
It’s the perfect mix of private and public warehouse space. Bonded storage centers are owned, managed and controlled by private and government agencies. These storage facilities are best for importing goods when import duties have to be paid. When you need to handle global shipments, you will most likely do business through a bonded warehouse. These warehouses are usually located near the port and are usually owned by the terminal authority.
Cooperative warehouse
This is your most economical type of storage system. Cooperative warehouses are managed by cooperatives organized voluntarily. Co-op organizations don’t make a profit, so they don’t charge high distribution rents.
distribution facility
These facilities are nearly twice the size of traditional warehouses and large enough to accommodate multiple supply chain operations simultaneously. These centers provide computer control to make the movement of goods fast, reliable and easy. Goods are delivered to the processing facility on the morning of the operation and then quickly transferred to a nearby distribution center. This is the best place to do business when there are large, urgent quantities of perishables that need to be shipped.
Warehouse and Distribution Center
While a warehouse is technically any building used to store physical products, regardless of its purpose, a distribution center is more specifically a warehouse designed to fulfill orders for distribution to other businesses or consumers. Therefore, the design of distribution centers requires not only compact storage, but also efficient picking, packing, and shipping.
Warehousing FAQs:
Why does warehousing exist in the supply chain?
Warehousing is a necessary step in the supply chain to ensure that inventory is ready when an order is received and is ready for packaging and shipping. Some manufacturers offer drop shipping services, but shipping from a single manufacturing facility increases shipping time and increases last-mile shipping costs.
What are the four functions of warehousing?
Warehouses are used to receive and store inventory; pick, pack, and ship orders; send tracking information; and maintain accurate inventory counts.
What is the main function of the warehouse?
The main function of a warehouse is to store inventory based on product demand (cold storage, humidity control, bulky, bulky, etc.) and maintain accurate inventory counts to reduce the chance of shrinking or obsolete inventory.”
