Tips for warehouse sizing:
- Don’t get fooled by “averages”
- Consider using statistical tools, such as standard deviation, and P.90 probability to analyze operational data – both in and out bound
- Understand which system components can expand capacity by adding labor, and which can’t
- Design expansion capability in from the start; SKU count almost always goes up, not down over time
- Get executives to sign off on future sales projections that will serve as the basis of the design; if they won’t or can’t, then round up
- Be very leery of unrealized plans to increase inventory turns; easier said then done
- Consider ability to add overtime and additional shifts to expand initial system capacity
- Recognize more companies regret having less capacity than those that think systems were over-specified
- You can usually add labor to increase throughput in pick modules, but if a sorter is maxed out, there is not much you can do