Warehouse Strategy · Layout & Design
Warehouse Slotting, Layout & DC Design
Recover space, cut travel, and plan capacity before you commit to a new building. SIS designs layouts and slotting strategies around your real order profile and the WMS that will run them.
- Data-driven slotting
- Capacity and growth modeling
- Designed with the WMS in mind
Feeling out of space is often a slotting and flow problem first.
Congested aisles, overflow locations, and long pick paths make a building feel full. Before signing a lease or breaking ground, it is worth knowing how much capacity is hiding in the current footprint. Velocity-based slotting, better storage media, and smarter flow between receiving, storage, and shipping routinely recover space and reduce travel without new square footage.
When a new facility is the right answer, the same discipline applies. We size the building from projected order profiles, inventory, and labor; design material flow and storage; and plan how the warehouse management system will direct work so the layout and the software reinforce each other from day one.
Layout decisions also shape what is possible later. We design with future automation, task interleaving, and channel growth in mind, so you are not redesigning the building two years after opening it.
When layout and slotting deserve a hard look.
Pickers walk too much
Fast movers are scattered, pick paths backtrack, and travel dominates labor time.
Replenishment cannot keep up
Forward pick locations run empty during waves and stall order flow.
Overflow is everywhere
Inventory lives in aisles and staging lanes because storage does not match the SKU mix.
A new building is on the table
Leadership is weighing expansion, a new DC, or a network change and needs a defensible capacity plan.
Channels have changed
E-commerce, wholesale, and store replenishment now share a building designed for one of them.
Automation is coming
The layout needs to accommodate robots, conveyor, or goods-to-person systems without starting over.
Layout and design work grounded in your data.
Slotting optimization
Velocity and cube-based slotting rules, golden-zone placement, and a re-slot plan that can be executed without stopping the operation.
Layout and material flow design
Receiving, storage, forward pick, packing, and shipping arranged to minimize touches, travel, and congestion.
Storage media recommendations
Pallet rack, carton flow, shelving, and mezzanine options matched to SKU profile and growth.
Capacity and growth modeling
How much volume the building can absorb, when it runs out, and what each expansion option buys you.
New DC design support
Facility sizing, dock and yard planning, and labor modeling for new or relocated distribution centers.
WMS configuration alignment
Location setup, putaway and replenishment logic, and pick paths configured to match the new design.
How a layout and slotting project runs.
- 01
Profile
Analyze SKU velocity, cube, order lines, and seasonality alongside the current layout.
- 02
Design
Develop layout and slotting scenarios and quantify travel, capacity, and labor impact.
- 03
Plan
Sequence the re-slot or build-out to protect shipping, including WMS configuration changes.
- 04
Execute and sustain
Support the move, then set slotting rules and reviews so the building stays optimized.
Locus AMR rollout, 120+ robots live for peak e-commerce fulfillment
$6B fashion retail · Ascena / Knitwell Group. Partnering across vendor selection, design, and deployment so a multi-brand fulfillment center was ready for 2024 holiday peak.
Designing a multi-brand fulfillment center around AMR picking required layout, replenishment, and WMS workflow decisions to be made together, on a fixed peak-season deadline.
Read the case study- Locus AMRs deployed
- 120+Locus AMRs deployed
- Replenishment bots
- 10+Replenishment bots
- Holiday peak ready
- 2024Holiday peak ready
Design that accounts for how the building really runs.
Operator perspective
Our consultants have managed warehouse floors. Designs account for shifts, peak, safety, and replenishment, not just square footage.
Software and layout together
We configure the WMS to match the design, so slotting rules and pick paths work as intended on go-live.
Built for what comes next
Layouts that leave room for automation, interleaving, and new channels without another redesign.
Headquartered in the Columbus, Ohio metro and working on-site with clients across the United States. Where we work
Layout and slotting questions
What is warehouse slotting optimization?
Slotting optimization assigns each SKU to the storage location that best fits its velocity, size, and weight. Fast movers go in the most accessible locations, related items are grouped, and storage media match the product, which reduces travel and replenishment effort.
How often should a warehouse be re-slotted?
Velocity changes with seasons, assortments, and channels. Most operations benefit from continuous slotting rules in the WMS plus a periodic review, often quarterly or before peak, rather than a one-time project.
Do we need a bigger warehouse?
Sometimes. But many buildings that feel full have significant capacity hidden in slotting, storage media, and flow. A capacity analysis tells you how much room you really have and when an expansion becomes necessary.
Can you help design a new distribution center?
Yes. We support facility sizing, material flow, storage design, dock planning, labor modeling, and the WMS configuration that will run the new building.
Will a re-slot disrupt operations?
It does not have to. We sequence moves in waves around your shipping schedule and update WMS locations in step, so the operation keeps running while the layout improves.
Find the capacity hiding in your building.
Tell us about your facility, SKU mix, and growth plans. A senior SIS consultant will follow up within one business day.