Speed up and streamline warehouse processes
The labelling of warehouse positions is not just an administrative process, but significantly affects the overall efficiency and functionality of warehouse operations, which has a direct impact on the success and competitiveness of the business.
Overview in the inventory
One of the main advantages is the speeding up of processes. Clear and transparent position labelling allows warehouse staff to quickly find the items they need, reducing the time required to search and handle stock. Well labelled positions help to prevent errors in retrieving and handling goods, reducing the risk of errors in deliveries and claims.
Make the most of your warehouse
Efficient position marking enables better utilisation of warehouse space and facilitates easy reorganisation of the warehouse if its needs change. Clear aisle and zone markings contribute to safer employee movement and minimise the risk of accidents. Accurate signage facilitates the training of new employees and ensures smooth collaboration between different teams within the warehouse.
Reduce your costs
Among other things, position marking contributes to cost reduction. Efficient inventory management and minimization of errors lead to reduced storage and handling costs.
Fast order processing
All these factors improve customer satisfaction. Fast delivery of orders and accuracy in meeting customer requirements are directly influenced by the correct labelling of warehouse positions. In this way, position labelling contributes to the overall success and competitiveness of the business.
Position identification
It is important to consider the following key criteria when designing a warehouse label :
Visual overview
Warehouse labelling should give the warehouse keeper a quick and intuitive visual overview of the warehouse layout, regardless of the system solution.
Visibility of the marking
Position markings should be large enough and clearly visible to the naked eye. This applies to all levels of the layout, including sub-layouts, zones and aisles.
Logical arrangement
Positions should be arranged in a logical sequence, not randomly, to ensure order and quick identification of the correct location.
Quick orientation
The new storekeeper should be able to find their way around quickly, and the store signage should allow the location to be quickly and accurately identified by position number. The aim is to minimise the time taken to find the correct position.
System tracing
Warehouse labelling is the basis for system identification and tracing, which means that all positions should be easily identifiable in the information system, for example via barcodes.
Numeric vs alphanumeric designation
When deciding between numeric and alphanumeric labels, we lean towards a numeric system with labels for larger units than warehouse or zone letters. This system is simpler, easy easier to remember and less prone to errors. With a complicated alphanumeric system, confusion can arise when a warehouse clerk has to think within an aisle whether the letter L comes before or after the letter M. Conversely, with numbers, it is immediately obvious that the number 12 precedes the number 14.
Simplify it
When labelling the warehouse, the position system should be chosen as simply as possible. This means to have as few characters as possible.
At the same time, it is not appropriate for a part of the store to have a 5 character long position and another part of the store to have a 7 character long position. It is visually less clear, but at the same time, in case of uniform labelling, the system can validate the correctness of the entered position. If this situation occurs, it is better to relabel the warehouse.
Different marking variants
Here is an example of what categories a warehouse can be divided into and how to take them into account when labelling. Please note that this procedure is very individual, not only because the physical proportions of the warehouse may be different, but also because the nature of the goods may be different. For someone it is sufficient to have the lowest level of shelf tracking, for another customer there may be a more detailed breakdown of positions.
The warehouse can be divided into the following categories:
2A1 03 1 4
In this system, the label 2 represents a warehouse, A1 indicates an aisle, 03 is a rack, 1 indicates a floor of a rack, and 4 is a specific position within a row of racks. If a position within a shelf row is not tracked, it is denoted by 0. This method of marking is standard.
1A 03 1 4
In this variant, one character from a zone is discarded if the number of zones does not exceed the length of the alphabet.
11 03 1 4
As another option, it is possible omarking positions without alphanumeric characters. This approach has the advantage that the position can be easily entered on the keyboard. However, we consider this system to be less clear. In addition, the numbering of the aisles is limited to only 10 characters.
A 10
However, the position can also take the following shape in a small warehousewhere A is an aisle and 10 is a shelf or position.
Need help with warehouse labelling?
Warehouse position tagging is a complex process that has a major impact on the efficiency and safety of warehouse operations. An appropriate labelling system not only improves the working environment, but also contributes to higher efficiency, lower error rates, and is also a prerequisite for automating warehouse processes.
If you would like help with implementing warehouse positions or setting up a warehouse system, please contact us. We will be happy to help you.