Is your warehouse space quickly filling up? Are you struggling to find places to put the extra items arriving in your receiving department?

Before you go looking for more warehouse space, why not look for more space in your current warehouse? Look up at the top of your current warehouse shelving. How much space is available between your ceiling and the top of the shelves? If you have open air up there, you have additional warehouse space available in your current location.

Utilizing Floor to Ceiling

When planning warehouse spaces, many designers only go so far when it comes to maximizing vertical space. They generally simply strive to keep shelves easily accessible with standard equipment to maximize warehouse efficiency. This often leaves a lot of space open at the top, which can be used to:

• Maximize the amount of space you actually have in the warehouse
• Bring in additional product lines or move overstock items without worrying about space
• Free up tight floor space to add additional employee workstations
• Utilize the space you have for what you need instead of only what you can fit

If you are fortunate, you might find that your existing racks have the capacity for additional vertical expansion. However, maximizing the use of vertical space often requires replacing your current pallet racks with those built to go all the way to the ceiling.

In addition to adding additional vertical racks, you will need to plan how to use and access this newly available top space. You might need to upgrade your lift equipment, add stairway access, or use automation instead. Vertical lift modules and carousels are just two pieces of automated equipment you should consider.

What Else Do You Need?

By utilizing the airspace above your current top shelves, you will be adding a large amount of storage space to your warehouse. You are going to need a way to get all the product organized for more efficient tracking, picking, and put away. A warehouse management system lets you organize what you have and assists with vertical expansion by automating processes and seamlessly integrating with already existing software.

If your warehouse needs are expanding, make sure you are maximizing the space you already have. Look up and see if you can go higher with your pallet racks. Add automation to maximize the use of that space. Then, upgrade your warehouse management system to optimize your warehouse efficiency.