Operion Group
    NL

    Warehouse

    Warehouse redesign or relocation without stopping operations

    You do not move a warehouse over the weekend and then you are done. Customers keep ordering. Here you read how to plan a redesign or relocation in steps, so that orders keep leaving.

    Explained

    Two situations, the same concern

    You can redesign a warehouse on the same spot, or move it to another building. In both cases you move stock while orders keep coming in. The difference is the space: with a redesign on site you have no second location and you shift zones in steps, with a relocation you work on two sites for a time.

    In both situations the aim is that customers notice as little as possible. That does not work with one big action, but with a plan that divides the work into pieces and tests each piece first.

    Preparation

    First know what you are moving

    A relocation is the best moment to clear up. What you do not use, you do not take along. That is the first step of 5S: sorting. A ranking of items by how often they are ordered, the ABC analysis, shows which items can move first and which last.

    You also design the new layout before the first pallet is moved. The new warehouse layout determines where zones go, which routes run and what the places are called. Also read about designing a warehouse.

    Execution

    Move in steps

    The principle is simple: first what is needed least, last what is needed most often. In practice it runs like this:

    • Slow movers first

      What is rarely ordered can be moved without risk. That way your team practises with the new places without putting orders at risk.

    • Zone by zone

      You move per zone or item group, not everything at once. After each step you check that orders still run well.

    • Fast movers last

      The items needed every day move last, at a moment when you need them least.

    • One place per item

      There is always one place where an item can be found. A double location in the system leads to searching.

    System

    The system moves along

    If you use a WMS or another stock system, the locations have to be in the system beforehand. You create the new places and their codes before anything has moved, and you book every move straight away. How such a structure works, you read at the location system of a warehouse.

    After a move you check that the stock is right. You do that with a small count per zone, such as cycle counting. That way you find differences on the day they arise, instead of months later.

    Team

    Your team does the work

    A relocation succeeds thanks to the people who work in the warehouse every day. Involve them early: they know which items often go wrong and which routes are awkward. Explain in advance what changes and who is responsible for what, and hold short meetings during the move to see what goes well and what does not.

    Certainty

    Testing and a fallback

    Before you start the real work, you try it with part of the items. If something goes wrong, the damage is small. For the changeover itself, the moment the new way of working applies, you agree a fallback in advance: how do you go back if it does not work? That moment is called the go-live.

    The aim is always the same: work that keeps flowing. That calm movement is called flow. If you cannot move without an interruption, you plan the interruption for the quietest moment and tell customers in advance what to expect.

    Customers

    Keep your customers informed

    A relocation or redesign can affect deliveries, especially in the last phase. Tell your customers in advance what to expect, in plain language and without needless detail. Anyone who hears in time that a delivery shifts is less surprised than someone who notices afterwards.

    Also agree internally who is in contact with customers and with carriers, so that there is one point of contact and nobody gives conflicting information.

    Watch out

    What often goes wrong

    We see three things return in warehouses that move or re-lay:

    • Wanting everything at once

      One big action seems faster, but then a mistake shows up everywhere on the floor at once.

    • No fallback

      Anyone who has not thought about what to do if it does not work improvises at the worst moment.

    • Involving the team late

      Employees who only hear on the day itself what is changing, cooperate less and make more mistakes.

    Service

    Redesign as a service with a fixed scope

    Redesigning or relocating a warehouse falls under our Redesign service. It covers the layout, the processes and the configuration of your WMS. We agree the scope and the price in advance. Do you not yet know what has to happen? Then start with the warehouse scan.

    Read on

    More about warehouse optimisation

    Terms for this topic

    Warehouse layout5SGo-liveFlow

    Explained at BizBloqs

    What a system does and how you manage stock, BizBloqs explains itself:

    Part of our warehouse services

    Redesigning or relocating a warehouse is part of our warehouse services. We agree the scope and the price with you in advance.

    View the warehouse services

    Redesign or relocate your warehouse?

    Tell us what you want to change and what must not stop. We will tell you what the redesign covers and what the fixed price is.