Modern warehouse equipment is changing along with the growing expectations of customers. Tenants of warehouse space are increasingly paying attention not only to location and price, but also to innovative solutions that allow for the optimization of intralogistics costs. When choosing a warehouse, they are guided not only by modern IT systems supporting management processes, but also by auxiliary equipment. Logistics parks tailored to the year 2009 should meet a number of requirements conditioned by the needs shaped by the market.
A warehouse is currently a complex enterprise, operating not only in the field of storage and distribution of goods. In modern warehouses, finished goods are assembled from supplied components, and their quality is checked. Some of them can serve as wholesale warehouses or be adapted for light production.
The choice of a warehouse is dictated primarily by its purpose and the distribution system of the goods. A warehouse building, depending on whether it will be used for storage in refrigerated rooms, storing precision equipment or chemical products, or for general storage, must be properly adapted for storing specific products. The basis is various technical standards, as well as those related to environmental protection. In connection with Poland’s accession to the European Union, it is required, among other things, to limit production in the most burdensome plants and to equip existing plants with environmental protection devices. These conditions automatically translate into demand for properly prepared and secured warehouse facilities.
Companies are beginning to see benefits, such as increased flexibility in production and distribution planning, or the ability to adjust the size and location of the warehouse to the company’s real needs. – Growing market requirements, the consolidation of entities operating in it, and increasing competition are the market realities in which there is a need to search for new solutions. This also applies to the warehouse space market, which today should respond to the need for effective and inexpensive warehouse management. Optimization of the organization of a modern warehouse is guaranteed by the use of modern IT tools and technical improvements, such as cross-docking solutions – explains Krzysztof Jaśkiewicz, leasing manager at Pinnacle Poland, which leases modern warehouse space in logistics parks across Central and Eastern Europe.
One of the basic infrastructure solutions of logistics parks is high-bay storage. It is possible thanks to large, smooth surfaces that withstand very high unit pressures. In this type of warehouse, goods are stored at a height of up to 12 meters. Another feature characteristic of modern warehouse facilities is a large maneuvering area adjacent to the building. It is intended to create the possibility for large trucks or road tractors with multi-meter trailers to turn around and perform other maneuvers.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 1/2009.