Introduction – the essence and role of modern warehouse systems in supply chains
A warehouse can also be defined in a narrower sense as a planned space for the effective storage and movement of loads understood as:
• production loads (manufacturing materials),
• transport loads (goods being moved),
• storage loads (inventory),
• sales loads (merchandise).
In the PN-84/N-01800 standard, a warehouse is defined as a functional-organizational unit intended for storing material goods (inventory) in a designated space of a warehouse structure according to an established technology, equipped with appropriate devices and technical means, and managed and operated by a team of people.
A warehouse as an organizational-functional unit is an inherent attribute of logistics processes. Warehouses and the associated transport and information infrastructure in the supply chain generate specific costs.
A modern warehouse system is a collection of operational resources (fixed and mobile), appropriately distributed within the area of the warehouse structure and its immediate surroundings, through which the process of material and information flow is realized, taking into account specific time-cost and management conditions of the supply chain in which this system operates.
Modern transport and warehouse systems differ from each other primarily in:
• the scope of their subject activity,
• the tactical-operational functions they fulfill,
• their organizational-functional affiliation,
• the type of stored and moved loads.
Their spatial-functional solutions should meet specific flexibility conditions in order to consequently ensure:
• the possibility of storing materials even in the event of changes in the dimensions of packaging or entire load units, assuming the highest possible degree of warehouse capacity utilization;
• the possibility of storing and transshipping inventory in the event of changes in the weight of materials or entire load units while maintaining the utilization of warehouse capacity and the lifting capacity of the transport means used;
• the possibility of storing loads in the event of changes in their assortment while ensuring good conditions for inventory storage;
• the possibility of increasing storage capacity through warehouse expansion while maintaining good connectivity between the storage and picking zone with production and dispatch;
• the possibility of increasing warehouse turnover through the intensification of the work process of transport means and the activation of the personnel operating this process;
• the possibility of applying mechanization and automation (including elements of partial or total robotization);
• the possibility of using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and automatic load identification (Auto-ID);
• the possibility of computer integration of the management sphere with the elements building the sphere of technical and installation infrastructure of the warehouse structure and its immediate surroundings.
In transport and warehouse systems, there are processes understood as events or sequences of elementary state changes (transformations) occurring over time. Warehouse processes carried out in supply chains include a set of activities performed by personnel employed in the system and specialized technical equipment. These activities are configured into certain sequences of organized physical actions, starting from warehouse inputs (IN) and ending at their outputs (OUT).