A guide to inventory

Storage is an important function of physical distribution, especially when a manufacturer manufactures consumer goods. A commercial building for storing goods is known as a warehouse.

Some fixtures are stored at or near the facility and the rest are in stock elsewhere. A company can own private warehouses and also rent space in public warehouses. Strong stocks store items for moderate to longer periods of time. Distribution warehouse near me receive goods from various corporate plants and suppliers and move them out as quickly as possible. Some warehouses have facilities such as cold storage. There are specialized stocks for agricultural products.

The older, multi-historic warehouses have slow lifts and inefficient material handling procedures. These older systems are receiving competition from newer, single-storey automated warehouses with advanced materials management and inventory management systems under the control of a central computer. The computer reads store orders and instructs lift trucks and electric hoists to collect items according to barcodes, move them to loading docks and issue invoices. These warehouses have reduced labor damage, labor costs, pilferage and breakage and improved inventory control.

The optimal location of a warehouse or warehouse is decided considering minimal transport costs. Customer service, inventory levels and company space versus public storage are some of the issues that need to be decided by logistics management. In some large companies, warehouses are run by the sales department or agreements with public warehouses are arranged.

Suitable locations and a sufficient number of warehouses maintained by an organization can provide better service to the customer and can also result in a reduction in transport costs if the goods are moved with cargo loads, trucks or barges into the warehouses.