How Warehouse Location Systems Are Changing The Game

Learn how to increase your usable warehouse space and get the most from your warehouse storage footprint. Level up your warehouse operations to save time, optimize space and implement smarter pricing, with a cloud-based Warehouse management system. 

One of the key ways to grow your warehouse business is to increase your storage footprint — but what if you can't access more space?

Learn how to increase your usable space by optimizing warehouse locations, storage, and picking workflows — using your WMS for warehouse location system management. 

What is a Warehouse Location System?

Put simply, warehouse location systems help assign storage locations, locate stock, and keep track of inventory levels.

You can use your cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS) like CartonCloud to optimize warehouse storage, streamline inventory putaway and order picking, and ensure you get the most from your available warehouse space. 

Your WMS warehouse locations provide a digital map of your warehouse, showing where stock is located, available space, and storage rates.

Before digital solutions, warehouse mapping was done manually, requiring personnel to conduct manual stock take counts, record these into inventory storage locations in paper data sets, and manually enter the data into your warehouse management system. It's no surprise that this manual process was slow, time-consuming, and often inaccurate. 

Boost operations with a Warehouse Inventory Location System 

Warehouse location features in WMS systems like CartonCloud are changing the game, not only allowing you to allocate a location for incoming stock to be found for picking and packing, but it also means you can manage stock locations for smarter storage and pricing. 

Your WMS — your digital Warehouse Location System— provides a map of the warehouse and where inventory is located, which is useful in directing pickers to accurately locate inventory, and in mapping inventory movement throughout the day (visible in stock movement reports). 

It also provides a valuable tool for an instantaneous inventory count and stock take, based on inventory location within the warehouse which can be used for customer reports and for optimising the management of your warehouse space. 

How to optimize your warehouse storage locations

A warehouse location system like CartonCloud provides real-time warehouse inventory mapping and tracking, allowing you to assign warehouse locations for incoming stock, locate inventory for picking orders and manage storage capacity for incoming orders — which means you can get more from your warehouse space!

There are a few ways to optimize your warehouse locations, depending on your size, inventory type, and customer needs. 

Using your WMS for accurate data analysis and automation, you can optimize warehouse locations to;

• Track inventory locations and levels,
• Manage and record stock movement,
• Plan for incoming stock putaway,
• Plan replenishment and locate fast-moving inventory close for easy order picking,
• Record storage rates and automate invoicing,
• Manage Inventory locations based on needs like temperature zones, storage length, etc
• and much more.

Review warehouse stock levels 

Using your WMS data you can also review stock levels to help guide other areas for optimization. This might be consolidating pallet storage as inventory levels fluctuate, anticipating movement and free space and plan room for new stock intake, and ensure all inventory is located in the correct conditions or temperature zone throughout their storage.   

Manage warehouse storage conditions 

Certain inventory requires specific storage conditions such as dry storage, temperature zones (cool storage), or outdoors, while other inventory can be easily stored in a range of different warehouse locations. 

Ensure you have real-time warehouse data 

As orders come through and stock is dispatched and delivered throughout the day, warehouse stock levels will fluctuate and change — it's important to know your team, partners, and customers have access to real-time data accessible to them at all times.

Empower your staff to locate and access stock with ease — and automate data management through your WMS to ensure records remain up to date. 

Having your WMS Warehouse Management System inventory location data accessible at your fingertips is a game changer for those who want to plan ahead, anticipate storage movement, and make room for new intake and new business. 

What makes a good inventory tracking system? 

Your WMS warehouse inventory tracking should give you the ability to:

• Assign locations based on warehouse space and storage conditions 
• Easily locate inventory with maximum efficiency 
• Update inventory data on the go
• View current stocktake and inventory levels 
• Use data oversight to plan for future intake.  

See how our WMS Warehouse Management Software helps to simplify warehouse location planning and other workflows, using powerful automation and features that are built by logistics people, for logistics people!  

Setting up your warehouse locations — an essential step 

Your warehouse inventory system can completely change the way you do business. Identifying locations within your warehouse, assigning a location numbering system and location zones, allows you to create a map of your warehouse location options and assign inventory data to the area it is currently stored. 

With Carton Cloud, you can set up your warehouse locations in 3 ways: 

• bulk location (a single warehouse location if you have multiple warehouses)
• racking locations
• an entire warehouse set of locations (for multi-warehouse management).

Depending on your business and stock intake needs, your warehouse locations may be a pallet storage, floor space, cold room or rack. With the ability to set up and manage your own locations, you can provide additional information on each, stored on the location system and accessible through scanning the location label barcode (see steps below). 

Your setup will depend on your operations and business needs. If you’re unsure, contact the CartonCloud team to discuss your warehouse operations and business needs, and sign up for a free demo to see how your warehouse location system can be implemented to suit your needs. 

Using WMS Warehouse location numbering systems

Warehouse location numbering systems are simply a way of numbering warehouse rack and storage locations, to identify exact pallet locations, rows, levels, or boxes, to assist in assigning locations for incoming inventory and locating current stock for picking and packing. 

With some warehouse management location systems like CartonCloud, these location numbers will have unique barcodes that can be scanned with a mobile barcode scanner, to confirm the location and the current inventory located at this particular location.

This feature makes locating warehouse storage and inventory faster and easier, and provides greater accuracy in picking and packing. 

Creating Warehouse Location Labels 

To create a scannable barcode label for your warehouse numbering system, CartonCloud includes an easy-to-use feature to print warehouse location labels from your own office A4 printer. 

Your warehouse location label acts as the physical touchpoint at each location. With a scannable barcode to access the warehouse location system inventory database, you can not only confirm warehouse locations, but also update the inventory stock there as you store or pick for orders. Simply scan the label and input the stock movement, addition or removal as you go. 

This ensures your stock inventory data is up to date, allowing you to manage space and incoming/ outgoing stock, as well as view inventory levels and provide stocktake reports to clients on demand. 

WMS Location Management Systems are changing the game

Adopting cloud-based warehouse location and inventory management systems is changing the way we work, and manage warehousing operations — allowing greater oversight and planning potential, increasing efficiency in picking and locating inventory and providing greater customer service to clients and customers. 

• Make the most of your warehouse space.
• Know where your inventory is located. 
• Provide real-time stock take to clients with no hassle. 
• Identify storage consolidation opportunities, to free space for new orders. 

Want to know more?

Contact the CartonCloud team today to arrange a free demo, and discuss how their Warehouse Location Management System solutions can be implemented to enhance your warehouse flow and activity. 

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