-Aung Kyaw Moe / Task 4 – Warehouse and Inventory

Memo

To: Francois Damba

From: Aung Kyaw Moe
Date: 16 July 2021
RE: TASK 4 – WAREHOUSE AND INVENTORY

Selection of storage and handling equipment.

Warehouses are the places where supplies are systematically stored for a certain period and it
involved the process of (1) unloading cargo from the vehicle (2) putting in place of the cargo
and stacking (3) retrieving and picking the cargo at the time of dispatch and (4) loading cargo
onto the vehicle to ship. In this regard, based on the factors for instance size and layout of the
warehouse, we have to select the appropriate storage and handling equipment to use. The
major advantages of selecting storage and handling equipment are (1) reduction of unit
handling time and cost (2) improvement of efficiency in space usage and warehouse layout
and (3) ensuring workers’ safety and high productivity.

Since Betaland is one of the developing countries, there are high availability of labor and
highly sophisticated equipment for handling are usually expensive, therefore SCILaid should
think of whether to invest for equipment or use labour which is easily available. Labor-driven
approach to warehouse operation has many advantages as follows:
-Labour is easily available
-Easily managable
-Cost-effective
-Help to create employment opportunities for the local people
-Building good relations with community
-No maintenance cost (except some safety measures)
It is quite easy to find manual labour in Betaland who can be trained in warehouse operation
with little effort.

However, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment also has many good points to consider for long
term warehouses since there are wide ranges of equipment now easily available that can
increase efficiency of warehouse operations. These instruments can be listed as (1) equipment
for Horizontal Movement, Storage and retrieval and (2) Order Picking equipment.

Our new warehouse is only for the temporary use because of the impending cyclone Bharat,
therefore what need for equipment to be used in this new warehouse are Horizontal
movement equipment as well as storage and retrieval. Monthly flow of 1000 MT of food
rations may also need mechanization that will improve efficiency to some an extent. By
utilizing machine-operated equipment, we can reduce unit handling cost and other overhead
costs. We will surely need the following equipments for Horizontal movement:
Sack trucks
Sack trucks are the most fundamental type of equipment that is suitable and cost very low
price compared to other sophisticated ones that we can use in our new warehouse. Its payload
is generally about 100 Kg and even a new comer in the warehouse can know how to use it
very easily, without any further training. Within its limit and capacity, it can be used for
receiving, storing, picking and dispatching the cargo as we need.

Hand pallet trucks

When the cargo is palletized, we can use Hand pallet trucks to move the cargo. Most of our
stocks in the warehouse are coming in bags and not in the palletized form, so we may not
need to use it so frequently. But this equipment can carry 2000 Kg heavy cargo. In this case,
some non-food items which are bulky and heavy, we can have help from this equipment to
move the items on the smooth floor.

Equipments for Storage and Retrieval

Storage capacity may be increased by making better use of the floor space available; by reducing the
aisle widths. The normal width of a ‘Narrow Aisle’ is approximately 2 meters and adds approximately
33% to storage capacity. This may be achieved in two ways:

(1) Support Arm Stackers are the equipment can be ‘walk with’, where maneuverability is
necessary. In a situation that the operator needs to get on and off his machine frequently, the
‘stand on’ type of that machine is generally preferred. But we should choose the ‘sit-on’
version which is less tiring if the travel distances are lengthy and the work flow is steady.
 (2) Reach Trucks are the equipments that can lift heavier loads higher than support arm stackers
can, thereby providing extra flexibility in terms of the unit loads that may be handled. These
trucks have a smaller turning circle than those of Support Arm Stackers, so gain much more
maneuverability. This allows the use of narrower aisles and thus increases available storage
capacity.

The new warehouse in Betaland is a transit warehouse where supplies are temporarily stored,
categorized in kits and dispatched to the refugee camps for distribution. Selecting storage
equipment must be reflected on the frequent movement of supplies. The main objective of
storage equipment is to conserve space in the warehouse. It requires careful consideration of
balancing handling time and maximising storage space.

We must have a separate storage area for non food items of the contingency stock based on
the type of products stored.

Storage Types

Loose Storage in which Goods are stored in silos or in piles on a floor or yard.

Binned Storage in which we can assign a cell in a racking or shelving system is allocated to a
particular product. It is used for keeping a large variety of small components on a very compact face in
different containers vary in sizes, color and shape, and most have semi-open fronts

Shelved Storage, in which many different types of shelving, most of which is adjustable with different
spaces, sometimes is used with small tote pans for small manageable units.

Block Stacking is the style of storage in which the supplies are packed in unit loads, and stacked to
their maximum safe height, based on the weight and stability of the unit packages.
This is the most suitable form of storage for the food item we store at the warehouse including
flour bags, sugar and grains. Items are stacked in separate blocks for ease in retrieval. We
have a problem when the supplier does not deliver in standard packing and have to use other
storage methods.

Adjustable Pallet Racking has three main components, slotted uprights formed into frames, beams
with connectors which allows quick fitment to frames, and base plates for floor fixing and load
spreading. These can help us in storage of non food items. The adjustable pallet racking as the
name emphasis are flexible and can be tailored according to our needs.
Safety and Security
Other equipment and tools that will be necessary for our new warehouse is those of safety and
security equipment such as Fire Extinguishers, Smoke and Heat Detector, and First Aid Kits.

First Aid Kits

A warehouse is an area of work where accident and injury can likely happen. In this case we
have to be prepared for injury come out of work, especially loading heavy cargo. Any general
first aid kit can serve the purpose of dealing with minor injuries. The warehouse management
should arrange to have a first kit and the containing items are regularly checked for expiry
dates.

Fire Extinguishers
Warehouse is a place where there might be many highly inflammable goods were stored and
fire can be broken out especially in hot season. In this regards, we need to install at least two
fire extinguishers or each section and two near each entrance and exit doors. The
professionals must be assigned to check the readiness of these fire extinguishers and note the
date of checking and the due date for next check. The Refilling dates should be clearly
marked on the fire extinguishers. We can also use the traditional wisdom of fire extinguishing
by sand buckets and water hose available to extinguish fire.

Smoke and Heat Detector

Extinguishing fire is actually a late step. Before that we need to know ahead that a fire is
about to break out. In this regard, installing smoke and heat detectors in our warehouse is
necessary for early warning and prevention.

Equipment for a short temporary period of warehousing

Since our new warehouse is for temporary purpose, we should not invest much in buying and
install expensive and sophisticated equipment. Since manual labour is ample and cheap in
Betaland, we have to use man power as much as possible and that will give us much level of
flexibility and manageability. The basic equipment like sack truck should be widely used on
levelled surface of the warehouse that is highly recommended for temporary warehousing.

Best Regards,

Aung Kyaw Moe