How should I number warehouse locations?

Use a fixed order of parts, such as zone, aisle, bay, level and position, and pad every number with zeros so that 02 comes before 10. Number bays along the walking direction, and number levels the same way everywhere, usually from the floor up. Then sorting locations by name gives you the route a picker walks.

What goes on a warehouse location label?

The location name in large text that can be read from the aisle, and the same name as a barcode for the scanner. Some warehouses add an arrow when a label serves the location above or below it. The label should be fixed where the picker naturally points the scanner.

How deep should my location structure be?

As deep as the building needs, and no deeper. A small stockroom with shelving may need only zone, shelf and position. A pallet warehouse needs aisle, bay, level and position. In BizBloqs the tree has no fixed depth, so each part of the building can go as deep as it needs.

Do I have to follow a naming scheme in BizBloqs?

No. BizBloqs has no fixed naming scheme. The only rule is that every location name is unique.

Warehouse location system

In brief

A warehouse location system gives every place where stock can sit a unique name, so the system and the picker always mean the same spot.
Build it as a tree: warehouse, zones by purpose, then aisles, bays, levels and positions, as deep as your building needs.
Name locations so that sorting them by name gives the walking route: pad numbers with zeros and avoid letters that read like digits.
A location label carries the name in text and as a barcode. GS1 even defines a field, AI (414), for carrying a location number in a GS1-128 barcode.
In BizBloqs the tree has no fixed depth and no fixed naming scheme; the only rule is that every name is unique. You fill in a location sheet and BizBloqs loads it.

Who it is for

Warehouse managers and owners of small and mid-sized warehouses who are setting up locations for the first time, moving from paper or memory to scanning, or preparing for a new warehouse system. Not for you if your locations already work and nobody searches for stock.

Ask two people in a small warehouse where a product is, and you often get two answers: "back left, second shelf" and "next to the blue boxes". Both are right until somebody moves the blue boxes.

A warehouse location system replaces those answers with a name. Every place where stock can sit gets one, the name is on a label, and the system and the picker always mean the same spot. This page explains how to build one, and then how BizBloqs sets it up for you.

Start with the building, not the racking

A location system describes your building as a tree. At the top is the warehouse. Below it are zones, and each zone has a purpose: goods in, storage, quality checks, bonded goods, goods out. Below the storage zones come the aisles, then the bays along each aisle, the levels in each bay and the positions on each level.

You do not need every level of that tree everywhere. A quality zone with two tables needs two locations, not aisles and bays. A pallet zone needs all of them. Let each part of the building go as deep as it needs, and stop there.

Before you name anything, decide where your fast movers belong. Products picked every day should sit close to the packing area and at a height between knee and shoulder. That is a layout question more than a naming question. The series on laying out a warehouse covers it, and the racking layout calculator helps you size the racks.

Names a picker can walk

A good location name tells the picker where to go without a map. Most warehouses build it from the tree: aisle, bay, level, position. A-03-02-B means aisle A, bay 3, level 2, position B. This kind of agreement is called a naming convention.

A few rules save a lot of trouble later:

Pad the numbers. Write 02 and 10, not 2 and 10. Otherwise a computer sorts bay 10 before bay 2, and the pick list sends the picker back and forth.
Number in the walking direction. Bays should count up the way pickers walk the aisle, so sorting by name gives the route.
Keep levels the same everywhere. Count levels from the floor up in every aisle. A picker who learns it once never has to think about it again.
Avoid letters that look like digits. O and 0, I and 1, S and 5 get misread on a dusty label at the top of a rack. Leave those letters out.
Never reuse a name. A location that is removed keeps its name retired. If two places share a name, the stock record is wrong from that moment.

FIGURE 1The location tree

Scroll sideways to see the whole figure.

Labels: one name, two readers

Every location label has two readers: a person and a scanner. The person needs the name in large type that can be read from the aisle. The scanner needs the same name as a barcode.

Put the label where the picker naturally points the scanner. On high racks, many warehouses label the upper levels at a reachable height with an arrow pointing up. Use a barcode type your scanners read reliably. BizBloqs reads 1D barcodes, QR codes, GS1-128, GS1 DataMatrix and other complex 2D codes. You can test label designs with the free barcode generator.

If your trading partners work with GS1 standards, there is a standard way to put a location in a barcode too. GS1 defines a field, application identifier (414), that carries a location number inside a GS1-128 barcode. Most warehouses do not need it for shelf labels, but it is useful when locations have to be recognised outside your own building.

FIGURE 2Anatomy of a location label

Scroll sideways to see the whole figure.

The pick sequence

A location system also decides the order in which a picker visits the shelves. The simplest sequence follows the names, which is why the naming rules above matter.

A better sequence also looks at the products. Heavy goods should go on the trolley first and fragile goods last. Stackable cartons belong at the bottom of the pallet. The order of the pick list can follow those properties as well as the walking route. More on picking methods is on the warehouse picking page.

How BizBloqs sets it up

Everything above is method. This is how it works in BizBloqs.

A tree without a fixed depth. Your warehouse is built as a tree of zones, aisles and locations. Each branch goes as deep as that part of the building needs. A quality zone can stop at two locations while the pallet zone goes down to positions.

Zones with a type. Every zone has a type, such as inbound, outbound, quality or bonded. The type tells the system what the zone is for.

No fixed naming scheme. BizBloqs does not force a format on you. The only rule is that every location name is unique. You can keep the names your team already knows.

As many properties as you need. A location can carry any number of properties: maximum weight, temperature, height, hazard class or anything else your operation needs.

Items and orders on locations. Stock is held per location, for picking and for receiving, so the system always knows what sits where.

A pick sequence that follows your products. The location sequence for picking can follow item properties such as weight, breakable or stackable, so a pick list does not put the glass on the trolley before the paint tins.

You fill in a sheet; BizBloqs loads it. You do not build the tree screen by screen. You describe your locations in a location sheet, and BizBloqs loads it into the system. The location sheet will be available on this page.

Location sheet Coming soon

The location structure is part of every warehouse management system implementation, and usually one of the first things to settle. The WMS implementation page shows where it fits in the project.

Want to see your own building as a location tree? Book a BizBloqs demo and bring a floor plan.

How should I number warehouse locations?: Use a fixed order of parts, such as zone, aisle, bay, level and position, and pad every number with zeros so that 02 comes before 10. Number bays along the walking direction, and number levels the same way everywhere, usually from the floor up. Then sorting locations by name gives you the route a picker walks.
What goes on a warehouse location label?: The location name in large text that can be read from the aisle, and the same name as a barcode for the scanner. Some warehouses add an arrow when a label serves the location above or below it. The label should be fixed where the picker naturally points the scanner.
How deep should my location structure be?: As deep as the building needs, and no deeper. A small stockroom with shelving may need only zone, shelf and position. A pallet warehouse needs aisle, bay, level and position. In BizBloqs the tree has no fixed depth, so each part of the building can go as deep as it needs.
Do I have to follow a naming scheme in BizBloqs?: No. BizBloqs has no fixed naming scheme. The only rule is that every location name is unique.
Can the pick route follow my products rather than just the aisles?: Yes. In BizBloqs the location sequence for picking can follow item properties, such as weight, breakable or stackable, so heavy goods go on the trolley first and fragile goods last.