What are the major functions of warehouse?

The major functions are as follows.

• Receiving the Shipments
• Storage the products as FIFO method
• Inventory Management
• Processing Orders and Distributions to the customers
• Fleet Management
• Space Management
• Stores Safety and Security

Agreed with experts replies .................................

Basic Functions of a Warehouse

Basic function of a warehouse are movement of goods storage of goods, and information management.

1.  Storage of Goods: One of the traditional requirements of a warehouse has been for storing goods. The warehouse provides the space required for  such storage and it is one of the important functions of a warehouse.

Warehouse performs two types of storage: planned and extended.

Planned Storage:

Storage required as planned to meet the regular customer demand is called panned storage, Every inventory in received in the warehouse requires storage for a certain period of time. The duration of storage many vary.

Extended Storage:

            Extended storage is an inventory in excess of normal warehouse operation. Some of the reasons for extended storage requirements are seasonality in demand, erratic demand, product conditioning, speculative purchases, discounts, etc.

• To meet the erratic or seasonality in demand an additional storage of goods in terms of safety stocks could be required.
• Some products such as food items may be stored for conditioning purposes. E.g. ripening of fruits.
• Sometimes a firm may buy bulk quantities to avail of the discounts that are available or to purchase when the price is low. This is speculative purchases as the goods are bought at a higher quantity due to lower price or due to expectation of higher price in the future.
• Sometimes due to promotional campaigns such as sales promotion, additional stock may be required to be kept to meet the expected higher demand for the product.

2.  Movement of Goods: Movement of goods consist of inbound activity (unloading of goods brought to warehouse), transfer to storage (transferring the goods from the inbound area to the storage area), order selecting (selecting the good in the storage as per order to be shipped and transferring it to shipment area) and outbound activity (checking and loading the gods for shipment).

3. Information Management: Keeping a track of information regarding goods that have come into the warehouse, stored and that are shipped out of the warehouse. Also any other information pertaining to the warehouse is stored. The data captured by the information system in the warehouse is then passed on to the higher management in order to take better decisions.

Secondary Functions of a Warehouse

4. Protection of goods- A warehouse provides protection to goods from loss or damage due to heat, dust, wind and moisture, etc. It makes special arrangements for different products according to their nature. It cuts down losses due to spoilage and wastage during storage.

5. Risk bearing – Warehouses take over the risks incidental to storage of goods. Once goods are handed over to the warehouse-keeper for storage, the responsibility of, these goods passes on to the warehouse-keeper. Thus, the risk of loss or damage to goods in storage is borne by the warehouse keeper. Since it is bound to return the goods in good condition, the warehouse becomes responsible for any loss, theft or damage etc., thus, it takes all precautions to prevent  any mishap.

6. Financing- When goods are deposited in any Warehouse, the depositor gets a receipt, which acts as a proof about the deposit of goods. The Warehouses can also issue a document in favour of the owner of the goods, which is called warehouse-keeper’s warrant. This warrant is a document of title and can be transferred by simple endorsement and delivery. So while the goods are in custody of the warehouse-keeper, the businessmen can obtain loans from banks and other financial institutions keeping this warrant as security. In some cases, warehouses also give advances of money to the depositors for a short period keeping their goods as security.

7. Processing – Certain Commodities are not consumed in the form they are produced. Processing is required to make them consumable. For example, paddy is polished, timber is seasoned, and fruits are ripened, etc. Sometimes warehouses also undertake these activities on behalf of the owners.

8. Grading and branding- On request warehouses also perform the functions of grading and branding of goods on behalf of the manufacturer, wholesaler or the importer of goods. It also provides facilities for mixing, blending and packaging of goods for the convenience of handling and sale

Provide space and time and manage Inventory receiving from external and internal supplier and issue to external and internal user.

Store necessary spare parts for efficient plant operation and maintenance.

Managing the inventory, Stock replenishment , Binning and Picking. Also maintaining FIFO are major functions  

The major function for the warehouse to manage and store inventory.