High Bay Solutions for Efficient Slow-Moving Product Storage

March 13, 2023 1:23 pm

A Canadian manufacturer of farming equipment needed to find a solution to accommodate their growing stockpile of slow-moving agricultural implements, as Canadian law requires them to store certain parts for up to 25 years.

Overtime, this manufacturer had been seeing an increasing number of impediments to their warehouse operations, as their collection of slow-moving parts was steadily growing — though their warehouse space was not. As such, this manufacturer was looking for an industrial storage solution that could help them expand useable warehouse space, to store the slow-moving inventory up and out of the way of their main order fulfillment.

For this, the manufacturer turned to a global professional services team to help them identify the most streamlined storage solution. At first, they were considering either a goods-to-person or a four-level platform. Yet, this end-user didn’t have enough business to justify the goods-to-person solution and the platforms would require they make an investment in floor reinforcement, as well as three sets of stairs and three platforms.

Instead, the professional services team suggested a more unconventional solution: high-rise shelving bays, accessible by order picker trucks.

With 20 years of experience in supply chain strategy and facility design, the services team knew what they were doing. As such, the end-user went with their proposal and opted for 38’ high-rise shelving bays from Western Pacific for the job. With these new high-bay units, this manufacturer was able to reclaim 38’ of overhead space, creating an abundance of storage space for their slower-moving inventory. And by moving this slow-moving inventory up, they were able to free up space on the ground floor — where 90% of their picks occur —allowing their central order fulfillment processes to carry on without obstruction.

With this, the end-user was able to continue to comply with Canadian regulations, while achieving efficiency in their order fulfillment operations.

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