Warehouse

A warehouse is a facility utilized to store, protect and

secure items for inventory or staging for shipment

 Warehousing refers to the process or methods

employed for storing and retrieving inventory in
a warehouse
 Types of Warehouse

Warehouse

Public Private Bonded Government

Warehouse Warehouse Warehouse Warehouse
 Public Warehouse
 Leased to solve short-term distribution needs
 Operated in accordance with the law for other
people
 Convenient for importer when it is not possible to
take goods in his custody
 Renders many useful services to the trade
 Enables smaller sellers to carry regional stocks
 Private Warehouse
 Owned by firm handling its own distribution
channel
 Goods are produced in large quantities in
anticipation of future demand
 Bonded Warehouse
 It is one which is licensed to accept imported
goods for storage before payment of customs
duties
 The importer gains some control without paying
the duty
 Goods are under the strict supervision of customs
officers
 Government Warehouse
 Mainly located at the important sea ports and in
most cases is owned by the Dock Authorities
 The general public can use this warehouse on
payment of fixed charges
Various Functions of Warehouse
 The storage of goods to permit managing product
flow or to accommodate longer production runs
 Serving as a mixing point where products from
different suppliers are mixed and then distributed
to fulfill customer orders
 A staging area for final packaging or finishing
Warehouse Management System
 The advanced technology and operating processes
that optimize all warehousing functions
 These functions typically begin with receipts from
suppliers and end with shipments to customers
 Include all inventory movements and information
flows in between
 The main task is to receive, handle, store, pick,
dispatch and transport goods
 Warehouse Activities

 Receiving goods
 Identifying goods
 Sorting goods
 Holding goods
 Retrieving goods
 Marshalling goods
 Dispatching goods
 Preparing records
 Warehouse Activities

Receive Identify Dispatch to

goods goods storage

Information
Hold
System

Dispatch the Marshal the

Pick goods
shipment shipment
Warehouse Management

Move from Managing Overhead to Creating a

Competitive Advantage
 Modern Warehouse Management
Modern warehouse management can be defined as
implementation
of computer applications & automated machinery to
improve efficiency of warehouse operations

 Control the movement and storage of materials within

an operation and process the associated transactions.
 Modern Warehouse requires
 Lot of initial setup
 System resources
 Ongoing data management for continuity
Characteristics Warehouse Modern Warehouse

Operations Manual Automated

IT Intervention Less More

Lead/Processing Time Variable Minimum and Fixed

Cost High Comparatively Low

Product Placement Organized More Organized

Paper Work More Less

Workers/Staff Skill Unskilled Skilled

Coordination of Activities Complicated Simple

Time Consumption More Less

 Location of Warehouse
 Location Selection
 Suppliers and Customers locality
 Availability of trained labour.
 Access to roads, ports, airports
 Cost of the space

 Site selection
 Near highway

 Characteristics of the soil

 Its load-bearing capacity
 Resistance to compaction

 The long axes of warehouses are oriented East-West

 The side walls are least exposed to the sun
 Temperature variations inside are minimized
Modern Warehouse Design
 Modern Warehouse Design 
 Foundations and Floor
 Walls
 Doors
 Roof
 Ventilation
 Illumination
Advantages of Modern Warehouse

 Optimum use of resources

 Inventory
 Labor
 Physical Space
 Time
 Costs
 Some Automated Systems
 Material Handling Equipments
 Overhead Conveyor System
 Automated Cranes
 Conveyors
 Forklifts

 Mobile Technology
 Barcode System
 Radio Frequency Identification

 Softwares
 Overhead Conveyors

 Optimizes other operations on the floor space

 Complex operations
 Cost effective as they reduce the use of manpower
 Automated Cranes
 Use to lift heavy goods
 Used for storing them on height in warehouse
 Conveyors
 The belt moves and the material on the belt moves
forward
 Considered a labor saving system
 Allows large volumes to move rapidly through a
process
 Forklifts
 Horizontal transport of goods with stacking jobs
 Move goods onto load-carrying devices like pallets,
wire-mesh boxes or individual parts
 Suited for short trips and mid-range transport
frequency
Auto. Identification & Data
Capture
Automatic Identification & Data Capture (AIDC)
refers to the methods of automatically identifying
objects, collecting data about them, and entering
that data directly into computer system

 The process of obtaining external data, through

analysis of images, sounds or videos

 Getting information and entering that data or

feeding it directly into computer systems
 AIDC Contd…
Modern Warehouse Management often works
on Auto ID Data Capture (AIDC) technology

Some AIDC are -

 Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)
 Barcode Scanners
 Mobile Computers 
 Wireless LANs
 Barcode Scanner
A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an
electronic device for reading printed barcodes

 Barcode consists of many black stripes of varying

widths on a white background
 Barcode readers contain decoder that analyzes the
barcode's image data provided by the sensor
 Sends the barcode's content to the scanner‘s
output port
 Barcode Contd…
 Barcode scanners use Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
to scan the bar code, and reflect the image onto a
Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)
 The CCD transmits the information to a computer
 Retrieves and adds information about the product to
the database
Code Country
890 India
49 Japan
50 United Kingdom
57 Denmark
70 Norway
76 Switzerland
79 Sweden
600 South Africa
609 Mauritius
885 Thailand
955 Malaysia
 Mobile Computers
Mobile computers are devices that incorporates various
softwares to capture data out into the field

 Deployed with the fleet of vehicles for capturing data 

 Better than barcode system
 Wireless LAN
A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) links two or
more devices using some wireless distribution method

 Provides a connection through an access point within

a range
 Gives users the mobility to move around within a
local coverage area
 User can be connected to the network
 Advantages of WLAN
 It is easier to add or move workstations
 It is easier to provide connectivity in areas
where it is difficult to lay cable
 Installation is fast and easy, and it can
eliminate the need to pull cable through walls
and ceiling
 Antenna can be used to connect facility
(located on different site)
 Disadvantages of WLAN
 Data transfer rate decreases with an increase in
number of computers
 Security is more difficult to guarantee and
requires configuration
 Computers operate at a limited distance from an
access point
 WLAN should be a supplement to a wired LAN
and not a complete solution
 Radio Frequency Identification RFID

Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is the use of an

object (RFID tag) applied to a product for the purpose of
identifying and tracking it using radio waves

 Emerged in response to the need for a next generation

barcode
 Tags can be read from several meters away and
beyond the line of sight of the reader
 Provides an accurate knowledge of current inventory
 RFID - Contd…
 RFID system consists of a tag (Transponder) and a
reader (Interrogator)
 Deals with the remote collection of information
(Identification Number) stored on a tag using radio
frequency communications
 Contactless scanning of goods
RFID - Contd…
 RFID Versus Barcode
Characteristics RFID Barcode
Softwares
 Bibliography & Webliography
 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warehouse 
 allwarehousemanagement.com
 eHow.com
 asapauto.com
THANK YOU