Space follows flow
The usual first question about a warehouse is how many square meters are needed. It is a reasonable question and the wrong place to start. Two operations with identical floor area can need entirely different facilities: one receives a few full pallets a week and ships them whole, the other receives mixed cartons daily and ships hundreds of small orders. Space is the outcome of how goods move through the building.
A facility brief therefore starts with the flow and ends with the space.
The six things to describe
- The storage unit. Pallets, cartons, totes or loose items, and the size and weight of a typical unit.
- The SKU and lot profile. How many different items there are, how many units of each, and whether they are tracked by lot, batch or expiry date.
- Receiving. How many deliveries arrive per week, in what form (container, truck, parcel), and what must be checked on arrival.
- Putaway and storage. Whether the same SKU is stored in one place or several, stacking limits, and any condition such as temperature or segregation.
- Order picking and dispatch. Orders and order lines per day, whether picks are full pallets, cartons or pieces, and the carriers or vehicles that collect.
- Records. What stock records must be accurate, how often they are reconciled, and which system they need to connect to.
A hypothetical volume profile
The numbers below are invented to show what a usable description looks like. They do not describe a real customer.
| Item | Hypothetical value |
|---|---|
| Storage unit | Standard pallet, about 1 m × 1.2 m, up to 600 kg |
| Active SKUs | 120, of which 20 account for most of the movement |
| Tracking | Batch number and expiry date for 40 SKUs |
| Receipts | About 6 truck deliveries per week, some mixed pallets |
| Orders | About 80 order lines per day, mostly cartons |
| Dispatch | Two collections per day, with a fixed cut-off |
| Records | Stock balance reconciled weekly, reported monthly |
From this profile one can ask better questions: how many pallet positions at peak, whether carton picking needs a separate area, and how mixed pallets are broken down on receipt.
The flow, as an illustration
A simple way to test the profile is to follow one pallet through the building. It arrives at a dock, is checked against the delivery document, is put away in a location recorded in the stock system, is picked in part or whole when an order arrives, is packed and staged, and leaves on a vehicle with a dispatch record. Each step uses space, equipment and a person, and each step produces a record. Where the profile says the steps happen many times a day, congestion and accuracy become the main questions; where they happen few times, storage density dominates.
Why records belong in the brief
The warehouse’s physical work is visible, but its value to the owner is a correct stock position. The GS1 Traceability Standard frames traceability as recording the key events that happen to a traceable item, such as receiving, packing, shipping and transporting, together with the data that describes each event. You do not need to adopt a standard to take the point: decide which events you need recorded and with which details, such as lot, quantity, time and location, before the first pallet arrives.
Likewise, the GS1 logistic label gives a pallet or a carton an identifier that can be scanned at each event. If your suppliers or customers use one, say so.
A facility brief template
- Goods: description, storage unit, typical unit size and weight.
- Conditions: temperature, humidity, stacking, segregation, security.
- Inbound: deliveries per week, vehicle types, document types, checks on arrival.
- Storage: number of SKUs, lots, expiry control, expected peak positions.
- Outbound: orders per day, order lines, pick type, carriers, cut-off times.
- Records: stock accuracy target, reconciliation frequency, reports, system connections.
- Changes: seasonal peaks and the growth you can foresee.
Questions to put to a facility operator
Once the brief is written, turn it into questions. How many pallet positions are available, and how are they allocated to different customers? How are goods received, counted and recorded, and how soon does the stock record update? Which reports can be provided, and in what format? What happens on a peak day, and how is capacity shared? How are damaged or mismatched goods handled at receiving? Each answer should be written, and each one should refer to your profile and not to a general description.
A trial before a commitment
If the arrangement is significant, ask for a trial period or a small first volume. Measure the same things you described in the brief: the time to receive a delivery, the accuracy of the first stock count, the time from order to dispatch, and how exceptions were reported. A trial exposes differences between the plan and the practice at a cost you can afford, and it gives both sides real numbers to adjust the requirement.
Review the profile when volumes change
A profile is accurate on the day it is written. Seasonal peaks, a new product line or a change in order size alter the flow, and with it the space and the staffing it needs. Revisit the brief every quarter, compare it with the actual figures, and agree changes before the pressure arrives, not during it.
Limits of this guide
The article describes how to prepare a requirement. The figures are invented. Safety rules, permits and building constraints are specific to a facility and are not covered here. Treat every requirement as a question to the facility operator, and expect the answer to be confirmed in writing.