The capability of the warehouse labeling service is now comprehensively demonstrated in a new facility – the latest distribution centre for one of the best-established High Street furniture and home product retailers.  The 607,000 sq. ft. premises, which also benefits from an additional 120,000 sq. ft. mezzanine, makes comprehensive use of a range of products from ASG Services as a key part in the product and pallet location and tracking procedure.

A total of 51 back-to-back racking aisles provide up to nine beam levels for the storage of palletised products, with the floor itself used as an additional level.  Every position thus created is identified by its own alpha-numeric and bar-code location which is shown on a series of individual, polyester laminated labels supplied and installed by ASG Services.  Throughout, high visibility, black on white images are used although additional labels on the bottom beam level have been specified in yellow and black to visually separate the pallets stored on the floor below.

The principal objectives of the labelling project –
The organisation uses 18 man up forklift trucks throughout so scanning can take place at the appropriate beam height.  This means that each beam level has its own individual label but duplicates of these are also positioned on the uprights at ground level.  This gives the driver a choice of scanning positions, allowing the customer to maximise the efficient use of forklift truck and man power.

Eachracking aisle features pick and drop stations at every level which play a connecting role between the storage and despatch areas.  Here too, we have identified the different levels with specific alpha-numeric and bar-codes details.  Further bar-code identification is assigned to individual wooden pallets which stay ‘captive’ within the warehouse area, never leaving the premises.  These are an integral element in the movement of products around the site so the organisation needs to know their location at any given time – hence the importance of using scannable labels.

The ASG Services’ installation also includes end-of-aisle markers and is completed by a further set of bar-code labels that have been attached to locations in a dedicated caged area.  Used for the storage of aerosol products, the caging creates a safe zone separate from the rest of the warehouse facility.

The polyester-based design of the labels ensures hardwearing, long-life performance which, because they are scratch-resistant and applied with permanent adhesive, remain effective in the long term.  This durability is important if the bar-code interface with the computerised stock management system is to be most effective.  Significantly, this is a principal that is also seen with the pallet labels although here ASG Services has specified material that will accommodate staple fixing without tearing.

The customer in question delivers products not only to its High Street outlets but also to its home shopping customers.  The need therefore to operate a highly effective and reliable stock management system is crucial and we are delighted that our labeling system is playing a central role in the efficiency of this very successful operation.