What Principles do Architects Follow While Designing Distribution Centers?
There lies a lot of fascination in the field of architecture. Designing warehouses and distribution centers are one of such. Only a handful of very skilled architects knows what it takes to have a successful design and this is what can improve thousands of facilities that are underperforming today. Let us take a look through the principles that are the building blocks of distribution center designs:
The objective of the facility
Before building a warehouse effectively, the goal it will serve needs to be understood the best. This understanding is going to be critical while designing it. The objectives of the facility might be as follows:
- Why is it getting built?
- What industry is it a part of?
- Is it having a large network?
- What goods will the space store?
- Will it be eco-friendly?
The expected outcome will be clear through these answers. This will also help to ascertain the timing, budget and resource allocation and not compromise on the output.
Defining the requirements
Without understanding the requirements of the distribution center, an ideal plan cannot be built. This involves asking the following questions:
- What is the quantity of the goods that will be stored?
- What is going to be the goods cycle within the facility?
- What is going to be the nature of the orders and the picking requirements?
- What allied functions does the facility need?
Understanding these will prevent wastage of capital investment and design a center that can cater to any volumetric requirements. This will also help keep a provision for future growth in case the business expands and proliferates.
Matching attributes with volumes
The data has been gathered and analysed till now. It is now time for executing the floor plan. The facility might be storing large goods that will not move very often and hence they need open floor space. There will also be a requirement for automated machinery and such provisions are important to be considered. A good design will also think about waste management, automated storage, and retrieval system as well as conventional racking system. If the facility is a high-velocity distribution center, advanced technology requirements need to get worked upon minutely.
The Stendel Reich architecte centre de distribution thinks about all of these aspects and more when they design a distribution center. As a result of this, the facility is not devoid of any minor or major benefit that should be present. The effectiveness also ramps up.
