BEST PRACTICE

WAREHOUSE
LABELING &
BIN-LOCATIONS
Warehouse Storage Objectives

 Visual management in place – Bin locations, shelving layout, Material labels, Material
Label location, Bar Coding
 Material Storage
 Bulk material / Main Storage location near receiving
 Small WIP / point of use material / mini supermarket bins at line side
 Finished goods near shipping
 Consignment area properly zoned off from other material
 Obsolete material / Quarantined Zone / Damaged goods area
 Bin-Locations

 Labeling our bin locations correctly is essential to our production operations. The more logical and concise, the easier and faster it will be for our
production team to find and pick product. Bin locations are typically organized by zones, bays/racks, shelves and bins.
 Bin locations should be named as short and easy to read as possible. Avoid using special characters such as “_” “,” or anything similar.
 It is recommended to use an alphanumeric combination such as “A0101A01”. This way, location labels will be noticeably different from SKUs
and using Alpha codes with numbers will help break down the location without using special characters.
 The smallest unit (bins) can often have multiple products mixed in one location, so make sure that these bin units are reasonably small so that
product can be easily found by anyone. In any given location, the picker should be able to find the item with the correct SKU within a short
amount of time
 It is recommended that all location labels are organized from their biggest unit (zone)to the smallest unit (bin) For example:
 The first position is the zone, generally sectioned off between sets of columns
 The second position should then be the bay/rack with in that zone, The bays/Racks should have a good material traffic flow and not set up
randomly in the zone. Tables line side can count as a bay or rack when Bin-locating material as well.
 The third position should be the level of the shelf (generally numbered from the left corner, ground up).
 The fourth position should then be the bin number on that shelf, from left to right. Make sure to put the material labels for bins under the bin
space, that way the stickers will reflect what is directly above on the shelf. Or if the label needs to be placed above or to the side of the
material, adding an “arrow” to indicate where the material is in reference to the label will be needed.
Bin-Location
Zone Graph
 Bin-Location Example
 Here is an example of what a best practice RiteScreen location identifier should look like:

 A01 – Location Zone, example would be to grid Location Bay/Rack Location Bin
Identifier Identifier
out the warehouse using the support beams that
run throughout.
 01 – The section of bay/rack within the Location
Zone
 A – The shelf identifier located on the rack,
starting from the bottom working to the top in
Alphabetic order.
 01 – the location of the bin on the shelf, in Location Zone Location Shelf
numeric order starting from Left to Right Identifier Identifier
Bin-Location
Label Example
 Here is an example of what a best
practice RiteScreen Bin-Location
label should look like:
 This label can be printed directly
from Bar Tender on the Sato printers.
 Premade 2X4 label template is found
on the SharePoint under, Supply
Chain> Inventory.
SHELVIN
G
LAYOUT
TABLE
LAYOUT
FLOOR
LAYOUT
Material Label
Example
 Here is an example of what a best
practice RiteScreen Material label
should look like:
 These labels can be printed directly
from Bar Tender on the Sato printers.
 Barcodes
 RiteScreen scanner will use the GS1
layout for the barcoding needs in the
facilities, this barcode can also be
utilized by our top suppliers
 Premade label templates, in both 4X6
and 2X4, are found on the SharePoint
under, Supply Chain> Inventory.
 Arrows pointing towards the location
are useful in identifying the correct
location when multiple labels are
present
Label Locations

 The clear best practices for actual label placement throughout our facility include:
 Place at eye-height and in a standard location on each shelf If your mobile devices cannot scan
labels on higher shelves labels should also be placed at eye-height
 Use easy to read color schemes for long distance viewing
 Labels should be firmly mounted to prevent damage or obstruction
 Each label should have part number and barcode, along with description.
 Shelving should have bin-location identifiers that follow the bin-location layout
 For bulk areas or locations with no shelving, labels should be hung from the ceiling or on the
floor for easy scanning
Material Storage

 All parts, materials and components to be delivered to and stored in single centralized warehouse
locations
 All parts, materials and components to be grouped together with other like materials
 Either by commodity code, frequency of use, customer only, etc.
 All material must have the proper material label and bin location identifier assigned
 All containers/bins used line side for material storage to accommodate same quantities shipped
from suppliers and be line ready
 Properly labeled
 100% Quality acceptable
 Any re-packing, to make boxes line ready must be done in a centralized Location outside the production
area
  Extrusions
 Cantilever racking
 Away from production traffic
Bulk Material /  Stored horizontally

Main Storage 
 Easy access with forklift
Bugstrip/Spline/Wool pile
Location  Large pallet racking for overflow
 Designated floor space for daily use
 Bulk Hardware receiving
 Large Pallet racking
 High use palleted items
 Stored vertical, bottom pallet individual boxes to
be pulled from
 Small pallet racking for individual boxes received
 Mesh

Consignment


Bulk Material / Separate from non-consigned inventory


Follow best practice for consignment storage


Main Storage Non-Consignment


Slow moving inventory


Location Small pallet racking for smaller rolls


A-Frame racks for larger rolls


Coil

Consignment

Separate from non-consigned inventory

Follow best practice for consignment storage


Non-Consignment
Slow moving inventory

Dedicated floor space for pallets

  Rollform
Bulk Material /  RiteScreen production use

Main Storage 


Designated Carts
Away from production traffic
Location  Stored horizontally
 Easy access with forklift
 RiteScreen Sales and plant transfers
 Boxed up in designated box quantities
 Boxes properly labeled
 Stored on Cantilever racking or designated carts
 Stored separate from production use material
  Hardware
 Point of use Two-bin system
 Replenishment hardware cart with

Line Side Extrusion


 Small cantilever racks
 Slow moving dies and colors

 Small bundle quantities

 Extrusion Carts
 High moving dies and colors

 Large bundle quantities

 Bugstrip/Spline/Woolpile
 Single box consumption, pulled as needed
 Mesh
 High moving sizes stored on Mesh rack
 Slow moving sizes stored back in main location after use
  Finished goods
 Located near shipping
 Individual screens properly labeled with series
Finished Goods 
numbers
Boxes properly labeled with packing lists of finished
& Consignment screen series included inside
 Consignment area
 Located near receiving
 Away from production flow
 Easy access with forklift
 Location properly labeled with signage and any other
visuals to indicate the area is for consigned material
only
 Authorized personnel only to pull, receive, and record
from area
  Obsolete Material & Quarantined Material
Obsolete / 


Away from all production and material flow
Location properly labeled with signage and any other

Quarantined / visuals to indicate the area is for

Obsolete/Quarantined material only

Damaged
 Authorized personnel only to manage any material
going in and out of the area

Goods  Damaged goods

 Located near production
 Location properly labeled with signage and any other
visuals to indicate the area is for damaged goods for
credit only
 Authorized personnel only to manage any material
going in and out of the area
Supplier Labeled Inventory

 Labeling inventory items themselves is where cooperation between

Supply Chain and Suppliers comes into play as most inventory items
can come to us pre-labeled.
 Clearly communicating our needs, not only for barcode scheme and
material, but for placement and data requirements as well. Identify
and share our needs for top considerations including:
 What UOM should be labelled? (pallet, case, each)
 What should be included on the label? (barcode/part number, description,
purchase order etc.)
 What should be included in the barcode scheme? (purchase order, part
number, UOM, etc.)
 Where should the label be placed? Standardization helps to simplify picking,
put away and cycle counting activities.
  Labeling and setting locations in our warehouse and
inventory is a critical stage in the setup of our
warehousing facility. Although it is often overlooked or
treated as an afterthought, this will have significant
impact on the effectiveness of our operation.
 Identify and implement the best practices shown in this
Conclusion presentation as early as possible, will save our production
and procurement teams time and labor.
 Any questions on these best practices and help with
implementing them, please reach out to Nathan Weiser,
Supply Chain Manager, at nathan.weiser@ritescreen.com