Location of MHE Storage and Refuelling/Charging Areas in Different Warehouse Layouts

As a general rule, MHE is stored and charged in areas of the warehouse near to the manager’s office, housekeeping stores, break rooms, and other less active areas. That is to say, MHEs are best and therefore usually stored away from areas where activity is brisk and primary operations are being performed. The following describes the likely locations of MHE storage in each of the three facility layouts described in the answer to Q. 16.

(i) In the “linear” or “through-flow” layout warehouse, MHE storage and refuelling/charging areas are typically located in the large middle zone between the receiving and despatch zones. The is the main storage/picking zone, but part of it will be reserved for administrative tasks, MHE maintenance and storage, staff rest rooms, and other operations-support activities. In this layout, operations-support areas must be located somewhere in the middle of the tube, to one or both sides of the main throughways so that through-flow is not impeded.

(ii) In the “inverted ‘T’” layout warehouse, MHE storage and refuelling/charging areas are typically located in the quieter areas of the facility. In this case, the best such area is likely to be the rear of the storage/picking area, since this is the area that will see least traffic due to its being furthest from the receipting and dispatch zones.

(iii) In the “U-flow” or “cross-flow” layout warehouse, MHE storage and refuelling/charging areas are typically located in the bend of the inverted U, since the arms of the U are the main paths of flow up from receipt then down to despatch through the storage/picking zones in the upper arms and bend area of the inverted U. Operations-support activities are best located where operational traffic is lightest and, in the case of this layout specifically, being located out-of-flow at the intersection of the U and the centre point of the main flow gives administration equidistant access to/visibility of both end points, the storage/picking zone, and traffic. For operatives, this is an advantage too – MHE storage/ recharging is roughly the same distance from both end points.

If the U is not inverted however, the bend of the U is the least likely location for MHE storage/recharging, offices, and other support functions. This is because the bend of the U will be the location of the adjacent receiving and despatch zones and the point where the main lines of flow converge. The storage zones occupy the upward areas of arms of the U, with slower moving goods usually stored in the tops of the arms, furthest away from the receiving and despatching zones. Therefore, in an inverted U layout, MHE storage and charging will occur in one of the arms of the U, away from the most operationally active zones and busiest flows.