Our integrated supply and service approach to Turnkey Solutions means your Storage Solutions team has tighter control over all facets of your project, ensuring you meet your timeline and budget. Oversight for each component and executing entire projects as one team means efficiencies that generate better results with fewer surprises along the way.
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As a growing company, we are constantly looking to expand our footprint. With that being said, we are thrilled to welcome Chris Goodman to Storage Solutions.
Chris is a graduate of Penn State University where he received a degree in Business Administration. Since then, he has gained a passion for sales. His last position was in sales for a corrugation company. Chris will be working as a National Accounts Manager for us out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We are excited to see how he excels in his new role here at Storage Solutions. Welcome to the team, Chris!
When he’s not working, he loves to play golf! 4-Man scrambles are his favorite. Some of his other hobbies include; shooting traps at his local gun club and volunteering for his local soup kitchen during the holidays. Chris loves modern sports cars and hopes to own one someday.
“I’m excited to expand Storage Solutions’ footprint in the Pennsylvania area. There are many new warehouses being constructed. I can’t wait to get into these spaces and begin selling!”
Are you interested in becoming part of the Storage Solutions team? Apply here today!
At Storage Solutions, we pride ourselves on finding creative solutions for our clients through our “Simple. Smart. Strategic.” approach. We work with our clients to uncover their unique challenges, then turn around and provide solutions tailored to address those challenges while factoring in opportunities for future growth.
In speaking with one of our clients, we discovered a unique situation that required some out-of-the-box thinking. They were looking to increase picking efficiency in several of their facilities that moved small cube, slow-moving products. They had a situation in which one or two pallets would take up a ton of floor space, limiting the fluidity they needed to optimize their pick process.
So, in speaking with our clients and listening to their challenges, we walked the facilities and examined their order data. We identified several storage solutions that would benefit their entire footprint including installing structural racking with carton flow and adding pick positions along the way. Because we took a holistic approach to their operations, we were able to think outside the box a little and identify creative solutions to best facilitate those slow-moving products.
Our solution was to integrate cantilever shelving, a product that is becoming popular in the e-commerce sector. We took the floor-level bays and replaced the pallet positions with cantilever shelving, which is connected to the pallet rack uprights. This configuration gives all the benefits of shelving on the floor level while making the best use of the vertical capacity.
To maximize storage cubic utilization and storage capacity within the facility, we took a traditional pallet rack structure and modified it at the ground level, adding some accessories to incorporate shelving. This setup still allows the storage of pallets above that, so the only limitation on storage capacity is the height of the facility itself. This solution provided a near-custom fit and created a cleaner, neater working environment for the employees.
With this answer, we were able to get these small-cube, slow-moving objects on a shorter pick path, while condensing the storage in that area instead of hand-stacking products on a beam. Because of the nature of the size of the items being stored, we were able to place twice as many items in the same amount of space because you are utilizing the shelf space better.
We had seen this solution work elsewhere, particularly in each-pick or case-pick operations, but it is a solution that we do not see utilized as often as it could – or should – be. From a similar cost standpoint, one could put actual shelving units in those pallet positions, but sizing becomes an issue, which leads to a clunkier work environment (for the lack of a better term).
We are able to find creative solutions like integrating cantilever shelving into pallet rack because we provide our solutions based on hearing our clients’ unique challenges and addressing them head-on with strategic solutions for which they don’t have to pay out of the nose. We form trusted partnerships through this approach; we deliver results.
If you are in need to increase your storage capacity, operational efficiency or introduce new technologies to improve your processes, give us a call and let us learn more about what challenges you are seeing in your facility. We can work with you to get you started in the right direction, even if it is a little off the beaten path.
As an increasing number of distribution centers and warehouses adapt to rapidly changing times, pick modules have become more popular as systems to increase storage utilization and labor efficiency. Due to changes in consumer demand, orders are becoming smaller, and expectation between the time an item is ordered and when it is delivered continues to shrink.
In turn, this new dynamic is causing retailers to require less inventory at their stores physically. Warehouses are responding by shifting to store a wider variety of products and SKUs. So, to make fulfillment quicker and easier when inventory grows broader and more profound, pick modules are being widely adopted to support the changing environment.
Our friends at UNARCO Material Handling, Inc. do a great job of explaining the functionality of these systems:
“The idea behind the Pick Module is optimum flow efficiency. Palletized loads are moved by gravity through the system before being broken into cartons and pieces, then sent to pick areas and finally shipped to the consumer. Technology, coupled with integrated conveyor and sortation systems, direct the flow of in-bound product through the order fulfillment stage.”
Industries of all types have seen pick modules improve the operations of their distribution centers. Any facility that processes small-parts or small order fulfillment – think about parts distributors or e-commerce companies – can particularly benefit from adopting pick modules.
Ultimately, it comes down to getting workers more comfortable, ergonomic access to these smaller picks & using automation to deliver the work to workers to minimize travel in the operation. The pick module systems can be designed to fit the needs of the stored parts and how they are picked. So, which style of pick module is the best for your business?
Pick modules that utilize rivet or steel shelving offer a degree of customization to support storage capacity optimization. Each shelving unit can be customized to fit whatever product is stored there, which is useful in warehouses that process many similarly-sized items or variations of the same product. They are relatively cost-effective. However, both rivet and steel shelving are considered less durable than pallet rack supported systems. You can learn more about the differences between the rivet and steel shelving here.
Pick modules configured with traditional pallet racking offer managers the heaviest-duty of the various styles. While they also are the most costly to invest in, they also provide the longest-term solution, because you are essentially designing a system that can be flexible to suit your needs as you grow. By working with a design consultant with years of experience in storage design, you can account for potential growth from your organization, allowing you to easily reconfigure your pick module when bringing in new customers and products.
Storage bins are an additional method of improving your spatial capacity within a pick module. Among the smallest storage mediums available, containers help keep similar items in one area without intermingling with different products. Typically, they are useful when you want to pick very small products that are not easily contained by packaging, as opposed to full-cases or large cube eaches. They are available in various colors and sizes to best utilize the storage space and make picking easier for the worker.
Light-duty cantilever shelving is among the most cost-effective storage solutions for pick modules. Primarily the cantilevered design offers uninterrupted shelving, which can be configured to whatever height provides the most vertical utilization. The world’s most popular online retailers utilize light-duty cantilever shelving because their shelves can span hundreds of feet without wasting inches between racking. Because they process such a high volume, each wasted inch can add up across thousands of shelving feet.
Whether you are looking to adapt to changing consumer demand or looking to adopt efficient tools to improve your fulfillment processes, we are here to help. Our team of storage experts can work with you to learn more about your business, what unique challenges you may face, and then create solutions tailored to suit your needs. Give us a call today!
For decades, conveyor systems have been a standard solution in warehouses to move products through the fulfillment process. They grew popular because they can handle the heavy-lifting of transporting products while saving the wear-and-tear on your workers, who would otherwise be required to move those products physically.
Unfortunately, conveyor systems can be expensive, bulky, and take up too much room on the warehouse floor. More importantly, they offer an inherent lack of flexibility as companies adapt to changes in the way consumers are ordering products.
One solution we see in this area is integrating autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) alongside conveyors. For the right tasks, these AMRs can give businesses the adaptability to adjust their operations to meet where consumer demand is going. For warehouses and distribution centers, flexibility is more important now than ever. The speed of change is accelerating, and warehouses that rely solely on conveyor systems may not be able to react with the swiftness they need to.
Where AMRs can replace conveyors is in the areas of transportation and work distribution. They assist in moving products from one pick zone to the next or from a pick zone to a packing area or a quality control area. They can also move products from pick locations to a put-to-light area. Several applications potentially make sense for this change. Really, other than when a package must move through a place at a very high rate, AMRs can potentially make sense to replace conveyors.
By integrating AMRs, you can have your labor force working on more valuable tasks like picking versus physically moving products themselves. We have broken down the many advantages of these AMRs in warehouse operations prior (link), but this relatively new technology is a smart, flexible technology that can sometimes replace functionality historically handled by conveyance.
Look, conveyors will never go away completely. There are some things a conveyor does that really can’t be replaced altogether. Especially with high-speed transportation or sortation, a conveyor will probably be needed. However, full reliance on these monuments of infrastructure may keep your company from adapting as necessary to changes within the supply chain industry.
Really, an investment like this is an investment in your facility’s ability to be dynamic in response to demand changes. As e-commerce continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, facilities need to follow suit and understand how to react accordingly. By prioritizing adaptability in your processes, you can meet the challenge of changing demand quicker. That means down the road, your costs will be fewer, your downtime will lessen, and ultimately your customers will be more satisfied.
Of course, if you need any assistance in evaluating your facility design, the Storage Solutions team will help. Our experts have decades of experience in equipping warehouses and distribution centers with the right mix of tools to get the job done right. We understand that, as the industry continues to change, adaptability is becoming increasingly important. Armed with the right combination of technology with tried-and-true mechanisms, warehouses can respond to dynamic changes with relative ease.
If you are considering adding conveyor systems to your facility, talk with us first. While we recognize the value that these systems have traditionally brought to warehouse operations, technology has evolved to the point where they may not be the best option any longer. Our team of experts can talk with you about your processes, challenges, and then design a custom workflow to amplify efficiencies without breaking the bank.
