Supply chain executives in the food and beverage industry are faced with considerable challenges when balancing production runs, inventory volumes and delivery schedules. Warehouse managers are increasingly required to store more products in existing warehouses, to retrieve them faster for growing volumes of just-in-time orders to retail stores, make more efficient productive use of labor, reduce energy consumption and improve cost efficiencies.
Space utilization within production warehouses is at a premium, and these facilities are consistently running out of space. Finished products are frequently stacked on floors and aisles, which contributes to increased fork truck accidents and equipment damage, spillage and damaged products, and lost and expired inventory. The continuous increase in the cost of land, construction, labor and facilities has put a heightened demand on space utilization within these production warehouses.