5 main areas of warehouse operation

There are 5 main areas of warehouse operation. They are consisted of the following:

1. Goods in
2. Main store – reserve stock
3. Order picking – forward stock
4. Marshalling
5. Goods out

Each area is briefly categorized as below:

Goods In (Incoming of goods)

• Receipt – unload, temporary hold
• Check – correct goods received, grade, package, quantity, damage or shortages
• Record receipts & discrepancies
• Unpack, repack if necessary
• Decide goods location

Main Store – reserve store

• Locate goods in reserve storage area
• Confirm goods location to control function
• Issue goods to replenish order picking stock


Order Picking – forward store

• Select goods for customer orders
• Pack & check
• Packaging material store

A video of the order picking function is shown below:



Marshalling

• Assemble goods by customer, or by vehicle load


Goods Out – outgoing goods

• Loading facilities for vehicles
• Vehicle despatch schedules

These areas can be illustrated in the image below:

Taken from:

• Johnny Tan, Oh Hui Ling, Cheryl Wee-Teo, Distribution Centre Management, Fourth Edition (2007)