Renovating your warehouse can be a great way to perfect the space for maximum efficiency, as you will have the opportunity to change everything for your business. However, it’s key to remember that the most important part of the renovation process is planning. If you set goals to improve your warehouse operations after the renovations, you’ll be one step closer to increasing productivity in your facility. There are certain aspects that you need to consider before you reconfigure your current space. Within this article, you’ll find seven things that you need to keep in mind before beginning a warehouse renovation project.

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Evaluate Building Quality

It’s advisable to have an inspection done on the building you want to renovate, as this will allow you to identify any faults or defects. You can arrange a comprehensive survey of different items, such as roofing, plumbing, electrics, insulation, heating, and ventilation. This will help you understand what kind of shape the warehouse is in and determine what you might need to repair before any renovation begins. Consider how easy it is to keep the building clean and comfortable, as this will affect maintenance costs. In addition, with warehouses, it’s also crucial to make sure that the area hasn’t been contaminated with industrial chemicals, solvents, or any other hazardous materials.

Determine Your Needs

The next essential step in conducting a successful renovation project is to determine your specific requirements. For example, if you want to ensure a durable and cost-effective asphalt car park or driveway for your warehouse, it’s important to find a reliable asphalt supplier, such as Hanson, who provides asphalt with nationwide delivery. Moreover, their high-quality asphalt solutions have been designed to be the perfect choice for a variety of surfacing applications. This asphalt contractor has also worked on developing a lower carbon  asphalt solution, as part of their ongoing innovation to be sustainable.

Consider Roof Improvements

Now is the perfect time to check the roof for leaks, as a leaky roof can quickly ruin inventory. Also, if you’re looking to install solar panels on your roof to boost your facility’s power, you can do this when improving your roof. It may be beneficial to consider future rooftop structural additions as well because the roof will need to accommodate both current air conditioner and water units, as well as future structures. Additionally, bear in mind that lighter-coloured roofs tend to reflect heat, which means you can keep your warehouse cooler in the summer.

Organise Your Aisles

Remember to think about traffic patterns in your warehouse carefully, as you’ll need to consider the layout of your warehouse to enable vehicles and people to travel the aisles. The layout of a warehouse is especially important if you plan on having a lot of traffic flow in and out regularly. To protect employees and customers from vehicular accidents, you can implement designated foot-traffic-only lanes in aisles. Be sure to examine the distance from receiving doors to shipping doors and any other major areas, that will receive or send out products.

Arrange Shelving Layouts

The method you use to arrange your shelving layouts will depend on who you have assigned to stock and pick from the inventory. For example, if you have human operators working with forklifts, it may be best not to build shelves too high. Otherwise, this could put items out of range of forklifts and it will also be more dangerous for forklifts and their human operators if items are placed too high. In comparison, if you have an automated storage and retrieval system, that doesn’t require people to operate it, you can install higher shelves.

Redo Your Flooring

Clearing out your warehouse to renovate may present you with a chance to redo your floor, which needs to be flat and non-skid. It’s crucial to prevent any dips, as this could cause shelving to lean and create hazards. As your flooring supports the entire warehouse, it’s a key area that you wouldn’t want to skimp on. If you’re looking to renovate the flooring, you’ll need to consider how much it will cost to keep it clean and how long it will last. For instance, concrete may be more affordable than carpeted floors in the long term, since maintenance costs associated with carpets are typically high.

Plan For Specialised Areas

Although most of the space in your warehouse will be dedicated to inventory storage, there are specialised areas that you need to consider to improve your warehouse management system. For example, creating office space within a warehouse will put your managers closer to employees. It may be useful to add an intake area near the docking bay which will allow space for new products to wait until employees are ready to stock them. This can also be a place for items to await outgoing shipping, resulting in better workflow management. Also, be sure to keep a storage area for supplies, that are often used by employees, such as boxes and cleaning materials.

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