Build a warehouse system around your racks, your bins and your gate.
A warehouse is only as good as its locations. Stock that exists in the system and cannot be found on the floor is not stock, it is an argument.
Most godowns start with a stock register and a man who knows where everything is. That works until he takes leave, the racks go up to four levels, and a customer wants a batch that expires last.
Two decisions carry this page: a code on every location, and a scan on every movement. Everything else follows from those two.
Storage operations we can build for.
Some of these godowns hold the owner’s own stock. Others hold goods for six clients and bill for the privilege. The scope follows who owns what is sitting on your floor.
- Distribution warehouses
- Third party logistics warehouses
- Manufacturer finished goods stores
- Raw material and spares stores
- Wholesale and trading godowns
- Fulfilment centres picking and packing for online sellers
- Cold storage facilities
- Agricultural produce warehouses
- Pharmaceutical distribution warehouses
- Automotive spare parts warehouses
- Building material yards
- Textile and garment warehouses
- Distribution centres holding stock for an FMCG brand
- Bonded and customs warehouses
- Chemical and industrial storage
- Multi-warehouse networks
The modules, and what each one covers.
Nothing here is a fixed package. Each module is built, left out or changed to match how your organisation already works.
The item master
- Item code and description
- Client or brand it belongs to
- Category and group
- Unit of measure and pack size
- Case and pallet quantity
- Weight and volume
- Batch controlled or not
- Serial controlled or not
- Shelf life
- Storage conditions
- Barcode and alternate codes
- Handling instructions
The item master is where most warehouse projects quietly fail. Two codes for one item, or a case quantity nobody updated, will break every count that follows.
Locations
Aisle, rack, level and bin, each with a code painted where a man can read it from a stacker.
- Zones and areas
- Aisle, rack, level and bin codes
- Bulk and pallet locations
- Pick face locations
- Floor and block stacking areas
- Quarantine and hold area
- Damage area
- Returns area
- Staging and dock areas
- Location capacity
- Locations reserved for a client
At the gate
- Vehicle gate entry
- Transporter and LR number
- Driver details
- Invoice and e-way bill reference
- Weighbridge reading
- Dock allotted
- Waiting time
- Unloading started and finished
- Gate out time
- Vehicles waiting right now
Inward
- Intimation
- Gate entry
- Unloading
- Counting
- Quality check
- Goods receipt
- Put-away
- Stock updated
Receiving
- Receipt against a purchase order or client advice
- Quantity received against expected
- Short and excess
- Damaged on arrival
- Batch and manufacturing date
- Expiry date
- Serial numbers where applicable
- Pallet or case labels printed
- Photographs of damaged goods
- Receipt note to the client or supplier
Goods received without a batch or an expiry cannot be picked by expiry later. The discipline at the inward dock decides what the system can do for the next nine months.
Put-away
- Suggested location by item and pack
- Nearest empty location
- Client-specific zones
- Temperature-controlled areas
- Heavy items at floor level
- Fast movers near the pick face
- Scan the pallet, scan the location
- Put-away confirmation
- Pending put-away list
- Stock lying in staging
Where the stock actually is
- Stock by item
- Stock by location
- Stock by batch
- Stock by client
- Available against reserved
- Stock on hold
- Damaged stock
- Stock in quarantine
- Ageing of stock
- Non-moving items
- Stock value
Batch, expiry and serial
- Batch-wise stock
- Manufacturing and expiry date
- Picking oldest first
- Picking nearest expiry first
- Expiry alerts by month
- Near-expiry stock list
- Expired stock segregation
- Serial number against each unit
- Serial history from receipt to dispatch
- Recall of a batch
Whether you pick oldest first or nearest expiry first is a rule your business sets, and it often differs by client. The system applies the rule and shows when somebody overrode it.
Counting stock
- Daily cycle count by zone
- Count by item category
- Blind counts
- Count sheets on a handheld
- System quantity against counted quantity
- Variance list
- Recount
- Approval of adjustments
- Reason for each adjustment
- Full physical stock take
Orders to be sent out
- Order from the client or the sales system
- Delivery date and priority
- Stock availability check
- Allocation against batches
- Part allocation where stock is short
- Orders on hold
- Order status
- Wave or batch release
- Route or transporter mapped
- Cut-off times
Picking
The list is built in the order a man walks the aisles, not in the order the customer typed his items.
- Pick list by location sequence
- Single order picking
- Batch picking across orders
- Zone picking
- Case and loose picking
- Scan at the location
- Short pick with a reason
- Substitution rules
- Picker and time taken
- Replenishment to the pick face
Packing and staging
- Packing against the order
- Box and pallet contents
- Weight and dimensions
- Packing material used
- Shipping labels
- Box numbering
- Staging location by vehicle
- Checking before loading
- Packing photographs where asked for
Dispatch
- Order
- Allocation
- Pick
- Pack
- Stage
- Loading
- Documents
- Gate out
Dispatch documents
- Delivery challan
- Invoice reference
- E-way bill details
- Packing list
- Gate pass
- Transporter and vehicle number
- LR number
- Loading photographs
- Proof of delivery
- Documents against each dispatch
What the e-way bill portal accepts, and how long it stays valid, is not ours to decide. Your data goes up and the portal answers.
Returns
Returns arrive without warning. Somebody has to decide what is still saleable.
- Sales return from a customer
- Return from a route or delivery run
- Reason for return
- Condition on receipt
- Saleable, damaged or expired
- Put back to stock
- Return to the client or supplier
- Credit note reference
- Returns pending inspection
- Returns by reason and by customer
Damage and shortage
- Damage found at receipt
- Damage inside the warehouse
- Handling damage by area
- Pilferage
- Write-off approval
- Insurance claim reference
- Photographs
- Responsibility recorded
- Damage by client and by item
- Monthly shrinkage report
Barcodes and scanning
A scan takes a second and a written entry takes a minute, and only one of them is right most of the time.
- Item barcodes
- Location labels
- Pallet and case labels
- Batch and expiry on the label
- Handheld scanning at every movement
- Label printing at receipt
- Reprinting a damaged label
- Scanning from a phone camera
- Barcode formats you already use
Handhelds, label printers and any RFID hardware are bought separately, and not every device will work with every setup. We check the models with you before the software assumes them.
The handheld screens
- Receive
- Put away
- Pick
- Count
- Move stock
- Check a location
- Check an item
- Report damage
- Works on the warehouse network
- Queues when the network drops
Coverage inside a racked warehouse is rarely as good as the office thinks. The screens are built to hold entries and send them when the signal returns.
Moving stock inside
- Location to location transfer
- Bulk to pick face replenishment
- Consolidation of part pallets
- Movement to quarantine
- Release from hold
- Transfer between warehouses
- Movement history of an item
- Who moved it and when
Cross-docking
Some loads should never touch a rack.
- Inbound intimation
- Allocation against pending orders
- Unload to the staging area
- Sort
- Load outbound
- Dispatch
Work done on the stock
- Labelling and relabelling
- Kitting and bundling
- Repacking
- Assembly of combo packs
- Price sticker application
- Quality sorting
- Sampling for the client
- Material consumed
- Labour used
- Charges to the client
Cold storage
- Chamber and temperature zone
- Temperature log by chamber
- Excursion alerts
- Time outside the chamber
- Chamber-wise stock
- Pallet positions occupied
- Cleaning and defrost records
- Power failure log
Temperature readings can be typed by the operator, or read from a data logger where the device allows it. Which one you get depends on the hardware already installed.
When the stock belongs to somebody else
A third-party warehouse holds other people’s goods, and every movement is a billable event.
- Client record and agreement
- Space allotted
- Stock held by client
- Inward and outward by client
- Storage charges by pallet, square foot or weight
- Handling in and handling out charges
- Value added service charges
- Minimum guaranteed space
- Monthly invoice working
- Client-wise profitability
Storage billing formulas differ in every contract, and they are the reason a ready package usually does not fit. Yours has to be written the way your agreement words it.
The client portal
- Stock on hand by item and batch
- Inward and outward history
- Place a dispatch order
- Order status
- Near-expiry stock
- Damage and shortage reports
- Storage bills
- Documents
- Download reports
Labour and shifts
- Own staff and contract labour
- Shift roster
- Attendance
- Gang assigned to a dock
- Work done by person
- Contractor bill against work recorded
- Overtime
- Productivity by shift
- Manpower against volume handled
Equipment
- Forklifts, stackers and pallet trucks
- Operator assigned
- Battery charging record
- Running hours
- Service schedule
- Breakdown log
- Hired equipment
- Cost per machine
- Racking inspection records
Safety and housekeeping
- Daily housekeeping checklist
- Fire equipment checks
- Aisle obstruction
- Pest control visits
- Incident and near-miss log
- Visitor entries
- Training records
- Audit findings and closure
More than one warehouse
- Stock across locations
- Transfers between warehouses
- Goods in transit
- Warehouse-wise throughput
- Space utilisation
- Cost per warehouse
- Client stock split across sites
- Consolidated stock view
What the manager opens
- Vehicles at the gate
- Receipts pending put-away
- Orders pending picking
- Orders dispatched today
- Lines picked per hour
- Order accuracy
- Stock value held
- Space utilisation
- Near-expiry stock
- Adjustments made this month
- Damage and shrinkage
- Client-wise volumes
Who sees what
- Warehouse manager
- Shift supervisor
- Inward team
- Picker
- Packer
- Quality check
- Dispatch
- Security at the gate
- Accounts
- Client
- Auditor
What it connects to
- Your ERP or accounting system
- Client order systems
- E-commerce marketplaces
- Transporter and courier systems
- E-way bill data
- Weighbridge
- Barcode and label printers
- Temperature data loggers
Each connection depends on what the other side opens up, and marketplace terms change often. We check the route in before it becomes part of a plan.
One connected workflow, end to end.
Every stage below can sit in one system, so nobody re-enters what the last stage already captured.
- Intimation
- Gate entry
- Unloading
- Receipt
- Quality check
- Put-away
- Stock
- Order
- Picking
- Packing
- Dispatch
- Gate out
- Proof of delivery
You do not have to replace everything at once.
Each phase is usable on its own, so the system earns its place before the next part is built.
- 1
Items and locations
The item master, location codes, labels and the opening stock loaded against real bins. Unglamorous, and everything depends on it.
- 2
Inward
Gate entry, receiving with batch and expiry, quality check and put-away with a scan at the location.
- 3
Outward
Order allocation, pick lists in walking order, packing, staging, loading and the documents that leave with the vehicle.
- 4
Counting, billing and portals
Cycle counts, damage and shrinkage, client billing, the client portal and the numbers the manager reads each morning.
How a build actually runs.
- 01
Walk the floor
We walk the aisles with your supervisor and see how stock is found today, including the parts he does from memory.
- 02
Map
Items, packs, locations, docks, clients, movements, documents and the rules that decide what gets picked first.
- 03
Design
Handheld screens first. A picker holding a scanner in one hand has no use for a page built for a desk.
- 04
Label the warehouse
Location codes are fixed and labels go up before any software matters. This step is usually longer than anyone expects.
- 05
Load and count
Opening stock is loaded bin by bin, and a full count reconciles the floor with the system before go-live.
- 06
Deploy
One zone or one client first, with the old register running beside it for a few weeks.
- 07
Extend
Client billing, the portal, cross-docking and the connections to other systems, once the floor data is trusted.
Systems we can put together for you.
- Warehouse management systems
- Inward and outward gate systems
- Location and bin management
- Barcode and scanning systems
- Handheld and mobile picking applications
- Batch and expiry tracking software
- Cycle count and stock audit tools
- Third party logistics billing systems
- Client stock portals
- Cold storage management software
- Cross-docking systems
- Multi-warehouse platforms
- Warehouse dashboards
- Integration with ERP and marketplace systems
Questions owners ask before starting.
What is a warehouse management system?
It is the software that knows what is in your warehouse and exactly where. Receipts, locations, batches, picking, dispatch and counts all hang off that one answer.
Do we need barcodes for this to work?
Not on day one, but the gains are much smaller without them. Location labels usually come first, and item scanning follows once the floor is comfortable.
Our godown has no racks. Is this still useful?
Yes. Floor and block stacking areas can be coded as locations too, and batch, expiry and dispatch tracking work the same way.
Can it pick stock by expiry date?
Yes, if the expiry was captured at receipt. The picking rule can be oldest first or nearest expiry first, and it can differ by client.
We hold stock for other companies. Can it bill them?
Yes. Storage by pallet, area or weight, handling in and out, and value added work can each be charged the way your agreement words it.
Can our clients see their own stock?
Yes, through a portal showing stock by item and batch, movement history, near-expiry items and their bills. They see only their own goods.
Will it work on handheld scanners?
Yes, and that is where most of the work happens. Which devices to buy is worth deciding early, because not every model suits every setup.
What about network coverage inside the warehouse?
Coverage between racks is usually worse than the office believes. The screens hold entries and send them when the signal returns, and dead spots are worth fixing anyway.
Can it connect to our ERP or a marketplace?
Sometimes. It depends on what the other system opens up, and marketplace terms change. Each route is checked before it becomes part of a plan.
How long does the location labelling take?
Longer than people expect, and it is the step that decides whether the project works. Coding and labelling every bin is physical work, done before go-live.
Can we start with only inward and stock?
Yes, and many do. Receiving, locations and counts alone remove most of the arguments, and picking and dispatch follow once the stock figures are believed.
Build a warehouse system that can find the stock.
Stock the system shows and the floor cannot produce is worse than no system at all. The fix is a code on every location and a scan on every movement.
Send us a stock report, then let somebody walk the racks against it. If you hold stock for other people, the storage and handling bill is usually the next thing to get right.
Tell us how your warehouses runs today.
We will tell you what can be digitised, what can be connected, what is worth automating, and what you should leave alone.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private