The go Supply Chain Director, Gavin Parnell has compiled a range of different advice that can be used in order to help a growing business to tackle their warehouse challenges as well as helping the company to make a smoother transition as they step up into the next level of their business.

Obviously, Gavin begins by suggesting that the safest course of action would be to take advice from a consultant who will know where the current risks lie in each market. Especially as now is considered to be one of the riskiest times for businesses. The handling of growth is a key logistics issue for a business that has a warehouse at the heart of their operations. And any businesses looking to grow should regularly conduct reviews in order to ensure that that they are operating as efficiently as possible and make sure that they are keeping within best practice guidelines.

The adoption of a consultancy could be beneficial for companies looking to adopt new working processes or technology in their warehouse in order to boost their operations. A consultancy will be better at determining the requirements of a warehousing project over 5-8 years and be able to come up with the most effective long term solution.

Operators who are focused on their business sometimes miss or don’t understand some or all of the external forces that could impact on their plan. Therefore, it is important that advice is sought about best practice, trends and technology. Whether its Industry 4.0 and robotics or the e-commerce revolution taking place, seeking expert advice is vital to a worthwhile investment and avoiding wasting money and time. It is also vital to understand the existing warehouse operation as well as reviewing the what the company needs for the future and its growth plan. Consultants can get a better feel for operations with a visit to an existing site before sitting down and looking at the data. It is important for the client to be engaged with this process to ensure that all of the necessary requirements are understood.

Going forward will include the development of a new warehousing solution, CAD Layout drawings, capital equipment and cost schedules. When looking into designing an efficient layout it is important to keep future growth in mind. There are also the more strategic option of outsourcing and future product lines that also need to be discussed when preparing for growth successfully. These can impact the size of the warehouse and can be tricky for rapidly expanding companies.