Warehouse relocation is an unconventional activity that may only occur every few years, but it is a very systematic and complex project. Due to changes in business scale, warehouses become congested or idle, and what follows is the relocation of warehouses or the opening of branch warehouses. Similar to the “dual-machine hot standby” mechanism in IT systems, migration should be smooth and reduce shipping stagnation, rather than stopping and then relocating. The payback period of overseas warehouses is long. Usually, the contract period for renting a warehouse is 3 to 5 years. If the contract period is longer, the price may be cheaper, but you must be cautious about the term. Because if the contract has not expired, the warehouse is not enough, and you consider relocation or termination, and the landlord requires that the lease must be fulfilled in accordance with the contract, the loss of breach of contract in the middle will be relatively large. If you rent a large warehouse from the beginning, you must be able to withstand the problem of excessive cost expenditures in the early stage due to insufficient cargo volume and orders. Therefore, the location planning of overseas warehouses is even more important. A basic judgment should be made on the development strategy. If you rent a warehouse of several thousand square meters at the beginning, the warehouse may be full after one year if the development is fast. If there is abundant storage near the warehouse, you can directly open a branch warehouse to reduce the cost of relocation. After all, the cost of frequent warehouse changes is high.
During the large-scale warehouse relocation process, the layout, process and equipment may change. The naming of warehouse locations and system settings are implemented according to the new warehouse. Then a complete set of meticulous warehouse relocation plans are issued so that front-end customers can switch without perception during the conversion process to reduce disputes. During the relocation period, the outbound/inbound storage should be maintained without interruption. The old warehouse continues to ship products, and the products are quickly shipped to the new warehouse, and the newly arrived goods are shipped to the new warehouse. According to the transportation distance from the old warehouse to the new warehouse, the transportation model and number of vehicles are arranged, and a list of goods to be removed from the shelves in batches is formulated. The inventory is removed from the shelves, the goods are packaged, the loading containers are loaded, and the cargo spaces are disassembled and assembled. The personnel are divided into groups to perform their respective tasks. After the first batch of inventory is moved, the warehouse is sorted and the order processing is tested. A small number of orders are transferred to the new warehouse. After a few days of testing without any problems, the new warehouse starts to ship all orders, the old warehouse stops accepting orders, and the remaining picked goods in the old warehouse are moved to the new warehouse. In this way, both shipping and warehouse transfer are not affected. However, if the distance between the new and old warehouses is too far and the inventory is scattered, it is inevitable to interrupt the order operation for three or two days. Pay attention to personal injury, cargo loss, transportation failure, etc. during the relocation, take safety precautions, and make plans for abnormal relocation interruptions.