Here, we will see the functions of industrial storage that should be known. Industrial storage systems have a series of original features, which should be clear to understand the storage processes in our warehouses and storage units.

We can say that industrial storage systems have two essential functions:

• Inventory maintenance (storage).
• Stock management (goods).

On the one hand, storage is nothing more than the accumulation of items over some time. On the other hand, the handling of the merchandise includes all the loading and unloading activities, the transfer of the products to the different areas of the stores, and the preparation of the orders. Check out the site for more information.

The marked objectives will depend to a great extent on the choice of the location of the storage units and the storage time. Within the warehouse, the transfer and storage activities are repetitive and similar to those carried out between the different levels of the distribution channel. To have a global understanding, we must identify the main aspects of the storage systems.

Main Functions Of Industrial Storage

The main functions of industrial storage are the 4 that we detail below:

• Storage
• Consolidation
• Shipping Division
• Merchandise combination

Storage

The primary use of a store is not other than the maintenance of products and goods in a controlled and systematic way. The location and configuration are given by the storage time of the products and the requirement imposed by said storage.

Said storage unit can be long-term, general purpose (seasonal products) or temporary. We can store final products ready to be introduced in the market to raw materials or semi-manufactured products.

Consolidation

Transportation rates and special rates have a significant influence on the use of storage units and warehouses since if the products originate at several points, it can be economical to establish a collection center for the consolidation of small shipments into larger ones, reducing thus the transport costs.

The costs incurred by the use of the warehouse can be compensated by reducing transportation costs. When we refer to the term distribution stores, most of the space is destined for short-term storage, giving priority to the speed of product flow within it. On the contrary, we speak of maintenance stores when space is dedicated to semi-permanent or long-term storage; many stores combine both functions.

Shipping Division

We refer to the division of shipments as an everyday activity in distribution warehouses, especially when the transport rates of arrival per unit exceed the departure rates, when the orders of the customers are of small volume and when the distance between manufacturer and customers is significant.

Merchandise Combination

Transport may be more economical when it is established as a merchandise point of meeting for companies that buy from several manufacturers and develop their products in different centers.

A combination center allows us to gather in a single point all the supplies of the different merchandise, and combine them in separate shipments of higher volume. Without it, orders can be sent from manufacturing points to the customer, paying higher fees due to the small amount of each shipment.