How We’re Different

A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, towns, or villages. Warehouses usually have loading docks to load and unload goods from trucks. Sometimes warehouses are designed for the loading and unloading of goods directly from railways, airports, or seaports. They often have cranes and forklifts for moving goods, which are usually placed on ISO standard pallets and then loaded into pallet racks. Stored goods can include any raw materials, packing materials, spare parts, components, or finished goods associated with agriculture, manufacturing, and production. In India and Hong Kong, a warehouse may be referred to as a “godown”. There are also godowns in the Shanghai Bund

Warehouse layout 

• Loading and unloading area – This is the area where goods are unloaded and loaded into the truck. It could be part of the building or separated from the building.
• Reception area – Also known as staging area, this a place where the incoming goods are processed and reviewed, and sorted before proceeding to storage.
• Storage area – This is the area of the warehouse where goods sit as it awaits dispatch. This area can be further subdivided into static storage for goods that will take longer before being dispatched and dynamic storage for goods that sell faster.^[11]
• Picking area – This is the area where goods being dispatched are prepared or modified before being shipped.

Shipping area – Once goods have been prepared, they proceed to the packing or shipping area where they await the actual shipping.

Typology

Warehouses are generally considered industrial buildings and are usually located in industrial districts or zones (such as the outskirts of a city). LoopNet categorizes warehouses using the “industrial” property type. Craftsman Book Company’s 2018 National Building Cost Manual lists “Warehouses” under the “Industrial Structures Section.” In the UK, warehouses are classified under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as the industrial category B8 Storage and distribution.

Types of warehouses include storage warehouses, distribution centers (including fulfillment centers and truck terminals), retail warehouses, cold storage warehouses, and flex space.

1. Retail warehouses
   

   These displayed goods for the home trade. This would be finished goods- such as the latest cotton blouses or fashion items. Their street frontage was impressive, so they took the styles of Italianate Palazzi.Warehouses are now more technologically oriented and help in linking stocks with the retail store in an accurate way.

   Richard Cobden’s construction in Manchester’s Mosley Street was the first palazzo warehouse. There were already seven warehouses on Portland Street when S. & J. Watts & Co. commenced building the elaborate Watts Warehouse of 1855, but four more were opened before it was finished.

2. Cool warehouses and cold storage
   

   Cold storage preserves agricultural products. Refrigerated storage helps in eliminating sprouting, rotting and insect damage. Edible products are generally not stored for more than one year. Several perishable products require a storage temperature as low as −25 °C.

   Cold storage helps stabilize market prices and evenly distribute goods both on demand and timely basis. The farmers get the opportunity of producing cash crops to get remunerative prices. The consumers get the supply of perishable commodities with lower fluctuation of prices.

   Ammonia and Freon compressors are commonly used in cold storage warehouses to maintain the temperature. Ammonia refrigerant is cheaper, easily available, and has a high latent heat of evaporation, but it is also highly toxic and can form an explosive mixture when mixed with fuel oil. Insulation is also important, to reduce the loss of cold and to keep different sections of the warehouse at different temperatures.

   There are two main types of refrigeration system used in cold storage warehouses: vapor absorption systems (VAS) and vapor-compression systems (VCS). VAS, although comparatively costlier to install, is more economical in operation.[citation needed]

   The temperature necessary for preservation depends on the storage time required and the type of product. In general, there are three groups of products, foods that are alive (e.g. fruits and vegetables), foods that are no longer alive and have been processed in some form (e.g. meat and fish products), and commodities that benefit from storage at controlled temperature (e.g. beer, tobacco).

   Location is important for the success of a cold storage facility. It should be in close proximity to a growing area as well as a market,[citation needed] be easily accessible for heavy vehicles, and have an uninterrupted power supply.

   Plant attached cold storage is the preferred option for some manufacturers who want to keep their cold storage in house. Products can be transported via conveyor straight from manufacturing to a dedicated cold storage facility on-site.

3. Packing warehouses
   

   The main purpose of packing warehouses was the picking, checking, labelling and packing of goods for export. The packing warehouses: Asia House, India House and Velvet House along Whitworth Street in Manchester were some of the tallest buildings of their time. See List of packing houses. The more efficient the pick and pack process is, the faster items can be shipped to customers. Pick and pack warehousing is the process in which fulfillment centers choose products from shipments and re-package them for distribution. When shipments are received by the warehouse, items are stored and entered into an inventory management system for tracking and accountability. Picking refers to selecting the right quantities of products from warehouse storage. Packing, on the other hand, happens when those products are placed in shipping boxes with appropriate packaging materials, labeled, documented and shipped.