Choosing a Warehouse Location: 10 Critical Warehouse Selection Criteria to Consider
Selecting a suitable warehouse location for your company or organization's products must be carefully chosen by taking all the required warehouse selection criteria into context.
Warehouse selection criteria
It is a complex process and any mistake while choosing the location can lead to the failure of that company.
The right warehouse location can greatly improve an organization's ability to complete leasing or purchasing a warehouse is a major decision, and choosing the right location.
What are the Warehouse Selection Criteria?
When it comes to selecting a location, it’s important to take the time and consider all of the following warehouse selection criteria which will help you in selecting a suitable warehouse:
- Structure
- Security
- Site
- Services
- Size
- Selling/ Renting/ Buying
- Safety
- Seasons
- Staffing
- Storage
Structure:
- Fenced and secure compound with good lighting inside and outside.
- Dry, level floors, able to support heavyweights.
- Consider pallets/shelving/racks/bins, etc.
- The roof is in good condition, with good ventilation, and weatherproofing.
Security:
- Sole access with one main gate to the premises.
- Security guards may be needed.
- All visitors and staff accessing the warehouse should complete a visitor’s book
Site:
- All-season access for trucks
- Proximity to project site(s), distribution sites, or office
- Warehouse and access to and from supply hubs should not be close to high-security risk areas
- Not in the proximity of potential geographical hazards (e.g. floodplains, cyclone-prone coastline)
- Check the use of other warehouses nearby. (e.g. nearby food processing sites could increase the risk of vermin)
Services:
- Basic services such as electricity, water, and sanitation should be available.
- Absence of rodents and other pests.
- Communication facilities should be available.
Size:
- Storage planning should be accurate to ensure that floor space is adequate. Allow for extra capacity.
- Calculate the throughput (stock-flow) to ensure adequate floor space is available.
Selling/ Renting/ Buying:
- Alternative options may include temporary storage with other agencies, suppliers, or external companies
- Can we rent space at another agency?\
- Can we buy the warehouse and possibly sell it back?
Safety:
- What measures are put in place to ensure the safety of the staff working on site: Fire extinguishers, high visibility jackets, gloves, masks, sand, etc...
Seasons:
- Is the location affected by seasons: the rainy season, and high heat?
Staffing:
- Check local availability of skilled warehousing staff and casual labor.
- Ensure good health and safety practices can be provided
- Storage
- Are shelves being used?
- Pallets
Conclusion
To sum up, selecting the best warehouse location is one of the most important things to look into when deciding where and which warehouse to use.
