For many business owners, there comes a time when deciding on how and where to store materials for your company becomes an important decision. Space to operate your company is a crucial part of continued growth, and warehousing materials is a great option to create needed room for your machinery, staff, and day-to-day operations.
If you’re trying to decide if warehousing your products and materials is right for you, you might be feeling overwhelmed by the warehousing process. We pride ourselves in creating a system that addresses all our customers’ needs for storing the materials they need for their business, but the terminology and structure of our process may seem overwhelming for those looking into warehousing for the first time.
Warehouse Terminology
To help you feel a little less overwhelmed, here’s a list of some of the most important terms in warehousing. This will hopefully give you a clearer understanding of our process at Rowe Transfer and why we’re the industry leader in East Tennessee.
Inventory
This term gets used a lot in a wide range of contexts, but for warehousing purposes, it typically refers to the stock of products, goods, and raw materials that a warehousing and logistics provider stores on behalf of their client. At Rowe Transfer, we provide clear information and updates on inventory held.
Inventory Management
Inventory management is simply the system used to track the materials a client stores at a particular facility. This management is usually included in the overall management system for the warehouse.
Storage
This term also gets used in a variety of ways, but for businesses, it primarily refers to having space and facilities to safely receive and hold inventory items. Rowe Transfer offers short- and long-term storage to provide for these needs.
Bar Coding
We’re all familiar with bar codes with everything from the grocery store to car rentals. In terms of warehousing, it involves scanning, labeling, and tracking products, packages, and other inventory throughout its life in the warehouse, and it is an essential part of a strong warehouse management system.
Case Pick
This refers to when cartons, boxes, and other containers of products are gathered together for delivery.
Cycle Count
To promote and maintain orderliness and organization, cycle counts take place when certain parts of the warehouse and client inventory are counted and checked at certain times.
Inventory Handling
Handling is a term used by logistics professionals to refer to the process of receiving, processing, and storing products,
Palletizing
Need to store a lot of materials at one time? Palletizing allows loads to be handled in a standardized way with common warehouse equipment on pallets.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
These terms embody what we do here at Rowe Transfer. In warehousing, they refer to measuring, analyzing, and improving logistics processes and inventory items to ensure quality for customers throughout their experience with us.
Specialist Materials Handling
Materials that require specialist materials handling require specialist equipment, techniques, and training to handle safely. Specialist materials could include liquids, loose materials, pipes, rods, and cables.
Stock-Keeping Unit (SKU)
Pronounced “skew,” a SKU is a number or code that identifies a specific product or inventory item in the warehouse. SKUs are recorded and tracked using warehouse management software.
Bulk Storage
Bulk storage is designed for large amounts of products or raw materials. The goods stored in this type of storage are often kept in their original containers.
Climate / Temperature Controlled Storage
Climate controlled storage means controlling potentially harmful factors like temperature, humidity, and other areas to preserve and protect stored products and materials. Climate control is essential for any warehouse to protect their clients’ stored goods.
Contract Warehousing
Contract warehousing is a warehousing structure where a client has a space within the facility that is preassigned to them for a defined length of time. The details of this arrangement are stated clearly in a contract.
QR Code
A Quick Response (QR) code is a scannable code made up of black and white squares that allows a smartphone or other device to read it and provide information. These are used in warehousing as another tracking device within the management system.
Receiving
When materials are brought to our facility, they go through the receiving process where we inspect for accuracy, identify any damage, and determine where the stock will be stored.
Putaway
This term refers to moving incoming orders from where they were received to their established storage area and recording the movement and the storage location where they will be housed.
Industry-Leading Warehousing Service in East Tennessee
The number one priority for storing items for your business is protecting the goods and materials you’ve invested in. By explaining some of the terms we use when we talk about warehousing, we want to walk you through our process and help you understand all the ways we track and protect your storage.
At Rowe Transfer, we’ve been covering the warehousing needs of some of the largest companies and organizations in the area for decades. With a state-of-the-art 50,000 square foot facility in Knoxville, TN, we can handle all of your storage needs for your business. Whether you need to store a product until it’s ready to ship, or you’re looking for temporary storage space for your growing business, our team of transportation logistics professionals will utilize the latest in warehousing technology to ensure your materials are safely stored and ready for you whenever you need them next.
From warehousing to crating, rigging, or any other logistics need for your business, look no further than Rowe Transfer. To get started, reach out to us today at 865-523-0421 or online at www.rowetransfer.com.