In all aspects of industrial design, form follows function, and the most effective stockroom shelving system available will depend a great deal on how it is used.
This concept is far from new and is fairly universal, but when it comes to pieces of furniture, fixtures and fittings that are essentially required for any storage space to function, it is very easy to forget that not every shelving system is the same.
There are many different types, from pallet racks to shelves designed around picking and packing with bins and containers to match, but generally, they are built around how items are stocked and moved in the particular warehouse or stockroom.
Whilst not always universal, there are generally two main approaches to inventory management, both on the financial side and on the storage side; these are first in, first out (FIFO) and last in, first out (LIFO).
Both systems have their own variations and neither will restrict the ability of a warehouse operative to access whatever inventory they need to at any given time, but they do have efficiency implications and generally, one type of warehouse will inherently gravitate towards one or the other.
Why Choose FIFO?
Besides making the most sense in a lot of different circumstances, a FIFO system is essential for certain industries which have time-critical products, as the designs of these systems make it so that the oldest products going in are the first products to be accessible on the picking side.
There are several rack filing systems that use FIFO, but typically, most conveyor or push-roller systems will incorporate a FIFO system on the other side of the fulfilment centre.
There are various ways of achieving this, and the ultimate goal is to keep stock moving through the supply chain roughly ordered by when it was received.
There is a very obvious use case for FIFO, which is in the world of perishable goods. With meat, produce and other goods that have a very short shelf life, FIFO means that the oldest products (and therefore the ones with the nearest use-by dates) will be picked, packed and shipped first, reducing spoilage as much as possible.
Even outside of food management, where FIFO is essentially mandatory, seasonal businesses that rely on time-sensitive stock will rely heavily on a FIFO system in order to ensure that seasonal items are stocked in a timely and ordered fashion.
Why Choose LIFO?
There are a lot of benefits to a FIFO system, but the price to pay for an ordered system is relative inefficiency; it is far easier to create a shelf storage system where the last items placed are the first to be taken out.
Most drive-in pallet racking systems work this way, allowing forklifts to simply place inventory into a warehouse in a way where it will rather quickly end up used.
There is less movement, which by design means less travel distance, more efficiency in space and allows for far easier long-term storage.
Typically it is used for stock that either moves on extremely quickly, such as top sellers, or stock that is relatively fungible in the sense that any one product is largely identical to any other irrespective of time on the shelf.
