Zones are a further extension of the warehouse management process that enhance the usability of warehousing.
Whereas row, bay and level ultimately define the specific location in a warehouse of an individual bin, zones describe the area of a group of bins.
Zones could be used to highlight unique storage areas such as refrigerated, dangerous goods, bonded store, secure storage, etc.
Another use of zones is to describe the geography of the warehouse, eg. storage areas for pallets, coils, drums, cylinders. Yet another use could be product segregation, eg. clothing, footwear, safety, specials, etc.
The application and use of zones is very flexible, because they are a flag on a range of bins, not a process. On a macro level, zones identify particular areas of the warehouse, whereas on a micro level, they identify particular groups of bins within a gondola.
The use of zones is optional.
Macro Level
In this example, zones have been used to identify major areas of the warehouse including every (or part thereof) row, bay, level and bin in that area.
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Zones do not have to be extended to the entire warehouse. |
Micro Level
In this example, zones have been applied to vertical shelving and have grouped together a series of bins.
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