When your company is small and still growing, you may have some limitations with the space you are working in. Often small companies have small warehouse or storage spaces because they are working within a budget. The key to making a small space work is optimizing the space you have to allow it to be more effective for you.
Vertical Space
One of the best uses of space in a small warehouse, storage area, or loading dock is not on the floor, but above it. Many times the need to increase storage capacity means adding pallet rack systems to the space and using them to stack goods above the floor space. This allows you to continue to use the area on the floor that you need, and store additional pallets in the area without taking away from the footprint of the warehouse in any way.
There are many different rack systems available so finding the right one for your situation is a good place to start. Many companies find it is easier to hire a rack company to help them layout the area and install the racks, then to try and do it themselves. The company will have access to the tools, equipment, and a wide variety of racks to choose from and can show you how each one works, then help you choose the right one for your situation.
Design and Layout
When you are considering the layout of your space, take the time to measure the space and look at how things will fit best. Often drawing the floor plan out on paper is a good way to see what will fit and what may not. Graph paper is a good medium for this because the lines on the paper can represent a scale and with a few measurements, you can quickly determine what will fit without leaving your desk.
If you will be loading and unloading racks with a forklift, you need to know what the space requirements of the machine are when you begin to layout the floor plan. Adding in additional racks for storage and not being able to effectively load and unload the racks is not a good use of the space you have available. You may want to consider feeder racks that you load from the back and retrieve the product from the front as a way to avoid running up and down the isles with a fork truck all day.
Consider talking to a pallet rack company about suggestions that they might have regarding your specific needs.
