Considerations for warehousing different products

All You Need to Know for Warehousing Different Products

 Warehousing. If you store and sell products, be it pharma, agri, dry food, dangerous goods or other, you understand the need for a safe and secure environment ahead of distribution. Partnering with a reputable and professional business is paramount to reducing your risk and ensuring your stock is safe and cared for.

As a business that has been in warehousing and distribution for 36+ years, we are well aware of all that goes into warehousing a variety of different products. Our years of experience in the industry have provided us with the knowledge and insight needed to warehouse a multitude of products. In this article, we’ll review all you need to know about finding a safe and secure warehouse for the following products:

• Agri/veterinary goods
• Dry Food
• Dangerous goods
• Telecom infrastructure
• General cargo

Warehousing for Pharma Products

Pharmaceutical products have very specific warehouse environments in which they need to be kept. Failing to maintain the correct environment will reduce their shelf-life. Over and above this there are many regulations surrounding the warehousing and distribution of pharmaceutical products. Here are a few:

• Maintaining Temperature Control: Warehouses for pharmaceutical products have to comply with strict temperature controls, ensuring the products remain viable for consumption. These days, warehouses make use of climate-controlled environments, making it easy to maintain the right temperatures. Implementing real-time monitoring systems keeps track of any change in temperatures.
• Regulatory Compliance: Good Distribution Practice (GDP) guidelines and regulations are set out by various authorities (such as the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority). This helps ensure that products are stored as they should be.
• Security Measures: Pharmaceutical products are valued highly. They run the risk of both being tampered with or being stolen, and as such, warehouses require comprehensive security measures that restrict access, provide camera monitoring, locked shelves and more.
• Cleanliness: To maintain the reputability of the product, high standards of cleanliness must be maintained to avoid contamination of sensitive products.

Warehousing for Veterinary Goods

Similarly to pharmaceutical products, veterinary goods also have strict conditions in which they should be stored.

• Specific Storage Environment: Products such as vaccines may require temperature-controlled environments similar to human pharma products. The warehouse should be temperature controlled as needed, and monitored for any change in temperature.
• Management Inventory: Pharma products have shelf lives, and this requires inventory management to ascertain how long they can be stored before they have to be used. Expiry dates should be monitored and the warehouse stock should be moved before expiry to avoid waste.
• Designated Storage Areas: Veterinary goods vary in what they are and what storage conditions they require. Creating designated areas for different types of products will avoid contamination between them.
• Documentation and Tracking: Record-keeping is vital in large warehouse environments. This quality assurance process and tracking process can be largely automated, streamlining all and improving efficiencies.

Warehousing for Dangerous Goods

The warehousing of dangerous goods comes with a very strict set of rules and regulations. These can be summarised as:

• Compliance with Safety Regulations: Local and international bodies exist to regulate the storage of hazardous goods. These include bodies such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code. Compliance is vital.
• Segregating and Providing Specialised Storage: When warehousing hazardous goods, you cannot store them next to each other. There must be specially designated areas, away from other goods and, using specific containment methods. For example: spill containment pallets, and flame-proof cabinets.
• Safety Protocols and Training: Hazardous goods pose a risk to those handling them. Employees need to be trained on how to manage these products, how to read safety data sheets (SDS), and what the emergency response protocols are.
• Ventilation and Fire Protocols: Dangerous goods in warehouses bring with them potential toxic fumes. Added to this there is always the risk of fire or explosions where various products are stored – such as chemicals. Proper ventilation systems are necessary to prevent fires and ensure safe air.

Warehousing for Dry Food Products

The storage of dry food goods can be said to be a lot simpler than the warehousing of your pharmaceutical products and dangerous goods. Requiring less temperature control. However there are other possibly issues that may occur, and the warehousing still has clear standards to adhere to:

• Controlling Pests: Dry food attracts rodents and other insects that can spoil dry foods. Once a warehouse is infested, it is both difficult to get rid of the infestation and a costly exercise. Therefore implementing firm pest control measures to avoid contamination of food products is key.
• Humidity Control: As mentioned many dry foods don’t require cold temperatures, however maintaining ambient temperatures and low humidity is crucial to prevent spoiling and extend shelf life.
• First-In, First-Out (FIFO) Management: Utilise FIFO inventory systems to manage shelf-stable food products effectively, minimising the risk of expired stock.
• Cleanliness: Regular cleaning and sanitising of the warehouse is vital to maintain food safety standards and prevent contamination.

Warehousing for Telecom Infrastructure

Warehousing of telecoms infrastructure has its own rules to be adhered to. This is largely due to the fact that they are high value, and can be damaged easily. Some notes to keep in mind:

• Safe Storage: Equipment and components come with a high price, and require secure storage to avoid either theft or damage to the product.
• Inventory and Parts Management: As with any product that is stored in a warehouse, implementing a detailed inventory management system means you will have quick access to the necessary product for various projects or distribution.
• Storage: Telecom equipment can be large and take up a lot of space. Implementing shelves or racks to store bulky equipment and strange shaped items such as antennas, cables, and servers, will optimise your use of space.
• Handling and Packing: With its sensitive nature, the handling of these items in the warehouse should be carefully monitored in order to protect small and delicate pieces – this applies both in storage at the warehouse, and in distribution.

Warehousing for General Cargo

Lastly, we take a look at general cargo or product that needs storage space within a warehouse, and what the typical requirements are:

• Be Flexible: In our experience, you never know what product you will be required to store in your warehouse. For this reason it is important to always allow for the flexibility of storing both small and large objects, light or heavy.
• Efficiency in Design: The layout of your warehouse is vital to ensure the efficient packing and unpacking of items, as well as use of space.
• High-Tech Inventory Solutions: We have at our fingertips the option to use advanced inventory management systems. These include solutions such as barcode scanning and RFID. These can help to improve both the accuracy and speed of your stock control.
• Allow for scale: In the warehousing industry, you never know what you will be required to store. The ability to scale up or down, depending on the demand you have will make you both cost-efficient and able to adapt to market changes.

At Inter-Sped our warehousing solutions are thoroughly thought out to provide you with the best possible space for your product between distribution time frames. Added to this our cold chain storage solutions, mean that any temperature controlled items find their way to their destination efficiently and without spoiling.

We have warehouses in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town and provide distribution solutions for long haul, final destination or last mile delivery, tracking and courier – chat to us to see how the Inter-Sped team can assist you with quality warehouse solutions for your precious cargo.