ABSTRACT
In the 20th century, the normal strategy for solving productivity issues in the warehouse or distribution center was to throw bodies at it. However, with an economy spanning from lethargic to moribund along with skyrocketing costs for labor, fuel, materials, and more, a company ends looking to automate. Designing a true 21st-century warehouse requires a lot of thinking, pre-planning, and testing. This chapter focuses on five critical dynamics to consider ensuring the new warehouse design delivers the results people want. They are: business needs, building blocks, simulation, integration, and implementation and training. One of the big reasons running simulations is critical is that the technology used today requires more initial capital outlay than simply hiring humans to do the work. A good simulation lets people plug the data they have into the design they have created to see how well the system achieves the stated goals.
