There are many considerations that need to be taken into account when buying or building a warehousing facility for cold storage. To protect consumers and employees, health and safety requirements should be at the top of your list while also considering other legal and environmental requirements.
Important Considerations for Cold Storage Warehousing
Type of Products
The way you build and prepare a warehouse environment will depend on the type of goods that will be stored and whether the products will arrive at the warehouse frozen or in need of further processing when delivered. First off, you will need to know what the freezing requirements will be and will, therefore, have to consider the quantity of products to be frozen, how the products are packaged and how they will be handled for delivery.
Energy Efficiency
In today’s environment, energy consumption is a crucial factor to ensuring success. As energy, especially in South Africa, is becoming more expensive, energy efficient methods of operation need to be implemented during the early stages of warehouse environment development. Many factors can determine the amount of energy usage in a warehouse, such as freezing methods (contact freezers usually require lower operating costs), IT usage and the availability of environment-friendly alternatives for certain technologies, such as lighting devices.
Health and Safety
A warehouse facility needs to adhere to the stringent health and safety regulations laid down by government to ensure that employees operate in safe environments and will not suffer damage owing to the environment they work in.
Cold storage warehouse environments hold many occupational hazards for employees. It is important to ensure the right layout, and building structure during the early stages of warehousing development. Traffic should also be maintained and employees need adequate training and induction to ensure they are aware of potential safety hazards and equipped to avoid injury.
Strict access control should also be implemented in warehousing facilities. An adequate warehouse software solution can assist companies in ensuring that only authorised personnel enter the environment and that they are equipped with safety gear when doing so.
Warehouse Software
Implementing a suitable warehouse software solution in a cold storage environment will ensure that warehouse operations are more efficient and affordable. Warehouse software can assist with:
- Reducing operating costs
- Increasing energy efficiency
- Automation
- Monitoring Employees for Safety Hazards
- Integrating processes