Warehouse Construction: 8 Factors to Consider

We’re all aware of the stereotypical warehouse look: a massive grey box on the side of a highway with a variety of mysterious garage doors leading in—to where, the passerby cannot fathom. While this look and the internal structure that comes with it are useful to a variety of businesses, each company is an individual, and at KBS Companies, we believe they deserve commercial construction services and results that cater to that.

We challenge the idea that all warehouses are the same behemoth spaces to unceremoniously stash stock. Below, you’ll discover all the facets of consideration that come with constructing a personalized, workflow-promoting warehouse.

Your Products’ Specific Needs

Ideally, of course, you should be able to store a given product in a variety of environments—but this isn’t always the case. Electronics, for example, might require strong preventative measures be taken against moisture damage and condensation; food products require protection against rodents. Cotton clothing must be safeguarded against bugs.

When working with a commercial construction company to make your dream warehouse, facets of its design should actively work to keep your inventory safe. For example, a top-notch HVAC system will help to keep electronic merchandise safe from water damage, while sturdy siding such as steel will act as a built-in rodent deterrent.

Don’t Forget Handling!

Warehouses aren’t stagnant storage spaces; they’re bustling hubs of activity. Staff constantly must move stacks of inventory, and do so quickly and efficiently be it by hand or machine. What your products are—fragile, perishable, etcetera—will in turn affect how they must be handled—via forklift or cart—which will in turn affect the type and amount of space your warehouse needs to provide. More of the smart use of a warehouse’s customizability comes down to product requirements than you might think!

Employee Welfare

Whether you store kitchen cabinets, composite decking, or anything in between, one thing is for certain: in order to be able to do their jobs well, your employees deserve a space in which doing so is easy. That space, of course, must meet all OSHA requirements in order to be considered workable, but going above and beyond the basics can lead to a happier and more productive team—and more fulfilled customers, too.

Evaluate the Interior’s Mood

Warehouses are primarily utilitarian spaces—there’s no doubt about that. However, there’s no reason you and your local construction company cannot pay attention to how they feel on the inside too, as the ambiance of a space greatly affects how its workers perform.

Computer-Aided Design programs (CAD for short) can help both parties visualize how your future warehouse will look and feel when completed. Look for worker-pleasing aspects: good ventilation, well-lit workspaces, and, of course, adequately spacious break rooms.

Safety First!

Again, meeting OSHA requirements is a prerequisite for your workspace—but going above and beyond shows your workers you care and prevents potential future safety incidents. Visualize the workflow when you’re presented with plans for your warehouse. Do paths of workers or machines intersect with one another in dangerous fashions? Are there potential visibility concerns?

It’s a bit like planning roads for a hypothetical neighborhood. You have to predict traffic flow and adjust the infrastructure to fit it—or in this case, adjust your warehouse design.

Easy Access Is a Must

As we said, warehouses are busy places, but we don’t just mean on the inside. Nearer to the outside, too, there’s plenty going on, from trucks loading and unloading to getting pallets where they need to go. It’s critical that “getting at things,” to put it simply, is as easy as possible, lest you sacrifice valuable time and irritate your workers.

Bring your concerns to your MN construction company and describe to them what a typical day looks like for receiving and dispatching products. Let them know about any policies your team follows—like FIFO—and any extra industry-specific steps that your team deals with. They’ll help you create a design that makes all of it as easy as possible, from unloading to storage.

On a broader note, your warehouse will also need to be positioned so that it’s easy for larger vehicles to access nearby roads and easy for trucks to back themselves where they need to be. Logistics don’t begin and end with your warehouse workers; they include those who haul and deliver. The broader an idea of who uses your facilities you have, the more successful your final warehouse design will be.

KBS Companies: Local Construction Company. World-Class Results.

We’re more than just a construction company. Our strong focus on customer satisfaction and delivering on our promises, both of which have been in practice since our beginning, has made us the perfect, result-focused construction team for you. Give our Plainview location a call today at 507-534-3855 to get started on your next build, or reach us in Rochester at 507-287-0792.