Improving the Space Utilization of Warehouse Operations

The maintenance of a warehouse and its stocking strategy is one of the most difficult tasks facing the management team of a facility. In addition to maintaining inventory placement compatible with the inbound and outbound processes, it is also important to constantly strive for maximum space utilization within a warehouse.

Without proper warehouse management, a cycle of inefficiency is inevitable. Items become misplaced and valuable warehouse space is wasted. As a result, fewer or improper items are placed in prime picking areas. If left unchanged, this cycle will begin to have a direct impact on a warehouse’s inbound and outbound efficiency.

WV Auditor is a tool designed to assist you in identifying areas for improvement when it comes to warehouse inventory storage. This module has been designed to audit the space utilization of inventory for a broad range of actions.

The Warehouse Auditing Process

During the auditing process, WV Auditor focuses on both the inventory levels and warehouse space requirements. Each item is analyzed to determine if its current placement is still compatible with the storage and stocking strategies that have been established. It is directly tied in with the WMS to look at the quantity on hand and inventory activity. By looking at these values, WV Auditor may suggest changing the placement of a product.

WV Auditor is configured to review each item on multiple levels to ensure optimal inventory placement and space utilization of the warehouse. It’s a program that checks if:

  • The current location of the item is appropriate for its level of activity
  • The item’s classification or hazard rating is compatible with its current location
  • The type of item has been assigned multiple locations within the warehouse
  • The item can be consolidated to a single location
  • The warehouse space utilization can be improved by relocating the item to a different storage location or configuration
  • The equipment requirements of the item are compatible with the currently assigned location

In addition to the features of WV Auditor, the ability of Warehouse Vision to slot new items that come into your warehouse that are yet to be assigned a specific location can improve your operations significantly. Warehouse Vision will look at these new items and compare them with available locations and space requirements to determine the optimal placement possible.