Warehouse Types, Mechanization, and Product Characteristics
Warehouse Location
Central: Located close to the factory to reduce costs. Their principal function is to supply regional warehouses/stores. They should be capable of handling large load units and heavy trucks.
Regional: Located near their influence zone. Their mission is to distribute merchandise to wholesalers and retailers located in their zone. They must be prepared to receive heavy trucks and then load trucks with less capacity.
Transit: These arise when the influence zone is larger than a single journey. They are facilities located in strategic places where the outbound/inbound flow of merchandise is as fast as possible. Usually, they just have mechanical means for loading and unloading.
Mechanization Degree
Conventional: Maximum height of 6 to 7 meters. They are equipped with pallet racking, and their mechanical means are as sophisticated as a retractable mast forklift.
Sub-classification:
- Conventional counterbalanced forklift
- Retractable mast forklift
- Drive-in/Drive-through rack
- Dynamic rack
Drive-in/Drive-through rack: Allow the forklift to cross inside the rack for loading/unloading. There are no hallways. They are used in warehouses that have just one per line (FILO/FIFO).
Dynamic racking: Exclusive for FIFO warehouses. The load slides by gravity force but with speed controllers to avoid collisions between packages.
High Density: High-density warehouses have an accessibility index of 100%, and their capacity/volume relation is higher than 50%. To accomplish the density index, their height should be at least 10 meters, with hallways from 1.4 to 1.7 meters (depending on the machine). The whole facility could be built from racks/shelves (one on top of the other). Equipment includes stacker cranes or trilateral forklifts.
Automatic: The more routine the movement of goods inside, the greater the automation. Homogeneous charges are required. To get the maximum degree of automation, the facility should have:
- Automatic load/unload machinery installed on the racks/shelves.
- An automatic feed system for this equipment.
Product Characteristics
Physical:
- Volume and weight
- Packaging unit
- Fragility and resistance
- Physical identification of the product
- Dangerousness
- Preservation
- Security
- Expiration and obsolescence
Operational:
- Handling unit
- Product system of identification and location
- Minimal unit of sale
- Need for product conditioning
- Means of containment
- Group location
- Follow-up LIFO/FIFO system
NIMF No. 15
NIMF No. 15 is the regulation for wood used in international trade. In Colombia, it is controlled by ICA (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario).
Palletizing Products
Palletizing products offers:
- Efficient handling
- Less time for unloading and loading
- Rationalization of space
- Risk reduction
Positive effects:
- Lower cost in the logistics process
- Better client service
- Lower cost for storage
- Facilitated inventory
Packaging Design
The objective of packaging design is more than preserving the product; it is to optimize palletizing. This includes:
- Package/container measures
- Package container per box
- Boxes per pallet
The starting point of any logistics system should be product characteristics that determine how to palletize (self-supporting, half-supporting, non-self-supporting).