【3D Immersive Scanning】How Matterport helps warehouse planning? Tips, advice, and examples from a real company!
Warehouse Planning: 5 Considerations, Tips, and Examples
Renovating or creating a new warehouse space is a daunting task. Planning the placement of equipment, materials, inventory, workstations, and even external vehicles all require design planning. It can feel like playing a game of Tetris in a warehouse, but following some basic principles of warehouse layout can guide you through this sometimes stressful design process with ease. With a little thought and the right tools, such as a Matterport 3D environment scanner, you can easily plan the layout of your facility to maximize its efficiency!
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What is warehouse planning?
Warehouse planning is the process of designing a facility's space with maximum efficiency in mind. The layout must consider the movement of materials, optimized equipment placement, and traffic flow. Once planners have determined the layout, they finalize comprehensive diagrams detailing the design.
Why is warehouse design important?
Strategic warehouse design and layout offer owners and managers a wealth of advantages. This meticulously planned approach to facilities and outdoor space yields multiple benefits, both now and in the future! Here are three of them:
First, optimized space utilization
If facility owners do not consider the layout when expanding their warehouse, all areas may not be used as effectively as possible, and wasted space leads to monetary and productivity losses.
Strategically designing a warehouse layout can help owners and managers maximize every square inch based on their unique needs. Redesigning the space to accommodate your traffic patterns, workstations, storage, and equipment needs means you can streamline each stage of the process to meet tight schedules and growing demands, achieving a balance between supply and demand!
For example, when redesigning a facility that warehouses retail products, you can find additional space to increase the amount of inventory that can be held at any given time. Inventory can also be organized to make order picking and packing more efficient.
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Second, increased productivity
Whether you own or manage a distribution center, retail warehouse, or flexible space, optimizing your warehouse layout can make it easier to manage and increase productivity.
The layout of equipment, inventory, and workstations can determine a warehouse's productivity! The way space is designed is important when workers need to pick and pack inventory or handle materials and equipment. A well-organized space can make it easier for people to move within the facility and allow for smoother traffic flow between different workstations and departments. For example, a layout that allows enough space for designated and separate pedestrian and vehicle traffic can reduce safety incidents, thereby increasing productivity. Therefore, employees can create more efficient workflows, leading to increased productivity!
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Third, reduced costs
Planning the layout can reduce warehouse operating costs in many ways—from using less space to store goods and equipment to better inventory tracking.
Warehouse space is expensive, and every inch adds up. One study showed that the average cost per square foot in 2023 was $13.50-$13.75. When space is at a premium, maximizing efficiency is crucial!
For example, a more strategic warehouse design can reclaim the total area required for inventory, reducing lease costs. When your facility is optimized, you can also install more equipment or inventory in the same space, so the total cost of warehousing goods is reduced. Additionally, planning space for loading docks to handle vehicle traffic quickly can reduce waiting and waste from vehicles backing up. Just like a well-functioning port.
A well-planned space can also reduce operating costs related to picking, packing, and shrinkage. A well-designed space makes it easier for workers to pick and pack orders, meaning they can fulfill more orders faster. The correct storage system can help organize inventory better, thereby reducing product loss and theft.
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4 Key Considerations When Designing a Warehouse Layout
Before delving into perfecting your warehouse design and layout, you first need to consider some key factors.
1. Available Space
First, do some homework. Analyze your space to gain a basic understanding of the feasibility of your warehouse layout.
When evaluating your space, you will need the following details:
• Building floor plan
• Building shape (found on the floor plan)
• Available warehouse space dimensions
• Measurements of any separate storage areas
• Any existing equipment
• Any permanent fixtures within the building (e.g., hot water tanks, existing restrooms, etc.)
• External loading areas, routes, and vehicle access space.
Your goal is to gather all important details about your warehouse to fully utilize the potential of every square inch. Many of the measurements above will determine parts of your warehouse design and layout. For example, the location of entrances and exits will determine where you can set up shipping and receiving areas.
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2. Aisle Layout Planning
Aisles (and how they are configured) are the heart of a warehouse, and they are also one of the factors that determine the success or failure of a layout.
Aisles are where you store inventory or materials, whether using shelves, racks, pallets, or some combination. Make sure you organize products in a way that allows workers to easily find the right goods and quickly move them to the next stage of the supply chain.
Therefore, when choosing a warehouse layout, the first consideration should be the number and configuration of aisles.
3. Quantity and Type of Products/Materials Processed
The quantity and types of goods flowing through a warehouse will also narrow down the range of most effective layouts for a facility.
Suppose your factory produces salsa. You may need refrigerated capabilities to store perishable ingredients like tomatoes and bell peppers. You'll need a separate area to store dry goods and other essential items, such as spices, jars, and labels.
On the other hand, if you are an e-commerce company selling non-perishable products with a high product turnover rate, a layout with sufficient shelf clearance for busy pickers and plenty of packing stations for workers to fulfill customer orders will best suit your needs.
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4. Order Fulfillment
Warehouse design alone can increase the speed and efficiency of order fulfillment. Suppose you sell various kitchen appliances and home goods and store your own inventory; you will need to set up your warehouse in a way that allows products to be easily picked, packed, and shipped to customers.
In this case, you will need to address several specific areas in your warehouse layout, including:
• Receiving Area: This area is where goods can be received before new products enter shelves or pallet racks. This station is typically located near the receiving dock.
• Packing Area: A dedicated station where workers package products and send them to customers. This workstation requires a large amount of tape, boxes, plastic bags, and labels.
• Staging Area: Packed orders are transferred from packing to carts or conveyor belts and then transported for outbound shipping.
Effectively placed stations allow workers to prepare orders for shipment faster, meaning they can complete more orders per shift.
5. Safety Measures and Worker Well-being
Every warehouse needs to comply with many essential safety regulations, some of which will affect your layout.
Basic safety measures and equipment that should be present in a warehouse include:
• Proper ventilation
• Temperature control
• Adequate lighting for workers
• Defined escape routes in emergencies
• Designated locations for fire extinguishers
• Ample space in aisles and loading docks
To learn more about required warehouse safety standards, please visit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) website.
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How to Design a Warehouse Layout
Now that you know what factors to consider when designing your warehouse, it's time to begin the planning process! Following these steps will guide you through renovating a warehouse or building a facility from scratch:
Obtain the warehouse floor plan
As mentioned above, the building's layout will greatly affect the type of design suitable for your space. To understand its possibilities, you can purchase a copy of the building's floor plan or create one from scratch.
The floor plan provides a bird's-eye view of the building's layout, as well as the dimensions and total square footage of the space. This is the foundation of your final warehouse design.
Need a floor plan? Matterport can help you capture all the details of your space through digital twins. With a virtual version of your space, you can quickly generate schematic floor plans of your warehouse to visualize the layout, dimensions, and processes. From there, you can use the schematic floor plan as a starting point for design and layout discussions.
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Choose the Best Warehouse Layout Design
Although every warehouse owner and manager has unique needs for their layout, they often start with the same initial layouts. Many warehouses are variations of one of four common layouts, chosen based on the advantages and disadvantages of each.
The four common warehouse layouts include:
U-shaped: Typically, one side of a U-shaped warehouse serves as the shipping area, while the other side receives incoming goods and materials. The remaining space in the middle is used for storage solutions and product pre-processing. U-shaped warehouses are versatile and suitable for warehouses of all sizes, supporting quick inbound and outbound flow of goods. However, if the U-shape is too narrow, the shipping and receiving areas can become prone to traffic jams on busier days.
L-shaped: This layout separates inbound and outbound goods at the two ends of the L-shape. Goods or materials can flow unidirectionally within the warehouse, breaking potential bottlenecks. This layout is best suited for small to medium-sized warehouses.
I-shaped: Similar to the "L" shape, shipping and receiving are located on opposite sides of the warehouse. Again, this type means products can move uninterruptedly from one end of the warehouse to the other, and the rectangular shape makes it easier to maximize space. Very suitable for businesses with high volumes of inbound and outbound products.
Herringbone: In this layout, the main aisle is the "spine," and diagonal aisles extending from the main aisle are the "ribs." This can shorten the time workers spend picking products for orders due to increased visibility of goods. However, because this layout requires more space and investment, it is best suited for large warehouses.
Create a warehouse floor plan
Once you have selected a design that suits your building and desired warehouse process, create a floor plan to document the new layout.
However, fitting all equipment, workstations, and aisles into your layout and doing so accurately is not an easy task. Tracking all measurements individually is a headache. Fortunately, you can use digital twins to reference the dimensions and proximity of objects like fixtures or doorways in the actual facility (24/7).
With Matterport's facility management features, capture your building in realistic 3D to create a virtual version of your warehouse. The digital twin includes precise measurements of the interior, exterior, and exact dimensions of all equipment. From there, use virtual staging to make design modifications to your space. For example, you want to try a U-shaped design, but after laying it out, you find that the aisles don't have enough space for material handling equipment like forklifts. Then, you can leverage the convenience of the digital model to make changes, find a layout that better suits your space, with instant preview and no manual arrangement, saving more time.
Because creating and adjusting warehouse floor plans is so simple, owners and managers can also use digital twins to optimize equipment installation, eliminating equipment conflicts and change orders caused by inaccurate site planning, which can save significant time and money. When using realistic digital replicas to determine the scope of changes, planning mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) work to accommodate new equipment will be more accurate.
Develop a plan for training employees
Once the warehouse floor plan is finalized, communicate the changes to employees. They need to understand the details of the new layout—even if they are supporting operations from a remote location off-site.
Again, this is where Matterport digital twins can do the heavy lifting. New and visiting employees can quickly understand your space through a 3D walkthrough of the new warehouse layout. They will be able to quickly evaluate design modifications and it will be easier to brief workers on updates to particularly complex facilities. With a comprehensive 3D model and floor plan, you can easily train employees on warehouse emergency procedures. Use the floor plan to create and share emergency routes, response strategies, and safety standards.
This was the case for Northumbrian Water, a UK utility company. After collaborating with Matterport to create 3D models of their facilities, they were able to significantly reduce site visits by engineers and project managers. Employees could understand the facility layout before visiting, thus reducing repeat visits, and virtual site meetings can now be held via Microsoft Teams.
Case Study Link: Northumbrian Water
Develop a supplier engagement plan
Inevitably, you will need to develop a strategy to keep your facilities and equipment running smoothly. You must regularly work with suppliers such as plumbers and electricians to keep your warehouse running smoothly.
Fortunately, Matterport's 3D environment scanner makes it easy to plan for the design and ongoing maintenance of your facility. The facility management solution creates a visual record of all your current equipment and assets, and then allows you to use digital tags to mark them, with notes about repair, maintenance, and training details.
From there, you can quickly share your equipment inventory and related notes with maintenance personnel for more context. This visual inventory management feature also makes it easy for maintenance personnel and staff to locate specific machinery in your facility.
This is another area where Northumbrian University has greatly benefited. Northumbrian Water invests $250-300 million annually in renovating and creating new water management and delivery systems. With so many facilities and systems, tracking all these assets is a headache.
However, Matterport combined with Sitedesk enables Northumbrian to visualize and link all these systems. Because these facilities and systems are interconnected, managers can easily and quickly access key details such as equipment models, installation dates, purchase costs, and maintenance schedules.
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Real Warehouse Model Examples
Digital twins are a powerful tool that ensures facility managers and owners choose the correct layout and maximize their space. Now, you can draw inspiration from some real-world warehouse model examples of possibilities.
For example, a digital twin can give you a complete understanding of an empty space, such as this lower-level storage area.
Facility managers and owners can also rely on virtual staging to help configure equipment and workstations in the space. With digital twins, you can capture the precise dimensions of your warehouse, making it easy to virtually experiment with different layouts and designs.
For warehouses with multiple rooms or nooks, you can get a bird's-eye view of the floor plan to easily visualize the space when considering the layout. You can also manipulate the 3D model in a "dollhouse" view to explore it from any rotational angle.
Warehouse Design and Layout FAQ
What are the goals of a warehouse layout?
When analyzing a facility for optimal warehouse design and layout, the goal is to better utilize space. This may mean optimizing flow patterns and traffic between workstations and departments, or using extra space to store additional inventory.
What is the best way to communicate warehouse layout changes?
For each new warehouse layout, we recommend occupying the space with a digital twin. This new virtual version of the layout can more comprehensively communicate design changes and how they will affect employees compared to simple photos or videos.
What is the best warehouse layout strategy?
The overall goal of choosing the right warehouse layout is to ensure an uninterrupted flow of goods and people in the space, but each business will use a warehouse differently, depending on budget, workflow, equipment, personnel, and the amount of available space. When developing a strategy, evaluate all these factors and analyze your space to understand what works best for your warehouse and needs.
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