Warehousing Material Handling and Packaging

Warehouse

A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns and villages. They usually have loading docks to load and unload goods from trucks. Sometimes warehouses are designed for the loading and unloading of goods directly from railways, airports, or seaports.

TYPES OF WAREHOUSES

Bonded Warehouses: Private and public warehouses can be “bonded under the customs and excise act and municipal corporation regulations, facilitating deferred payment of customs, excise or octroi duty. The warehouseman releases only those goods on which the duty is paid on production of roof of such payment and release order issued by the appropriate authority.

Field Warehouse: Field warehouses are those which are managed by a public warehousing agency in the premises of a factory or company which needs the facility for borrowing from a bank against the certification of goods in storage or in process by an independent professional warehouseman.

Cold Storages: Cold storage facilities are provided for perishables against payment of a storage charge for the space utilized by different parties. In a cold storage, it is essential that the temperature is regulated and temperature variation is controlled to the degree particularly for certain sensitive items.

Agricultural Warehouses: These warehouses are meant storing agricultural produce grown in a certain area and are located in assembling or regulated markets. These warehouses receive agricultural commodities either directly from the farmers or through their commodities agents, or from wholesalers.

Distribution Warehouses: These warehouses are located close to the manufacturing concerns or consuming areas. Their location depends on the nature of the product, the time taken for transit, operating coast and the need to make the product available in the market in obedience to the demand for it.

Buffer Storage Warehouses: These warehouses are built at strategic locations with adequate transport and communication facilities. They store food grains or fertilizers, etc.

Export and Import Warehousing: These warehouses are located near the ports from where international trade is undertaken. They provide transit storage facilities for goods awaiting onward movement. Facilities for break-bulk, packaging, inspection, marketing, etc., are available at these warehouses.

MATERIAL HANDLING

The handling of material is a human activity which has been performed since time immemorial. The construction of the great pyramids and other historical monuments all over the world called for the handling of various types of materials in various form methods. Material handling has now become an important and specialised function of all industrial activity. It is as important as, costs and the production process.

A modern manufacturing plant works on assembly line principles. In an automobile plant, the chassis moves along the assembly line where different workers attach different parts in turn tighten a bolt or make certain adjustments. Finally, the finished car emerges at the end of the process. A similar procedure is followed for other assembly line production processes. Before it reaches the ultimate customer, the product has to pass through a series of handling processes – from the procurement of raw materials to the sale of the final article.

The manufacturing establishment first receives the raw material or spare parts which go into the making of the product. They are conveyed to the place where they are stored. Then they are taken to the preliminary fabrication or manufacture or the first production process. Thereafter, they are again sent to the storage before they are moved into the various stages of manufacturing operations.

PACKAGING

Introduction to Packaging

The term packaging may be defined as the use of containers and parts, together with the decoration and labeling of the product in order to contain, protect and identify the merchandise and facilitate the use of the product. Sales promotion is an important consideration in the selection of packaging aids in motivating a customer to buy the product. The degree of motivation depends on the type of product, the type of customer and the demand and supply situation. The printing matter and the company emblem or trade mark project the manufacturer’s image to the customer.

All kinds of products, namely, solids, liquids, gases suspensions and colloids, have usually to be packed before distribution. Depending on the market area, packaging may be classified as for domestic sale or for export sale.

The various goods may be classified into the following broad categories:

• Engineering goods
• Consumer goods

1. Engineering goods

These may be divided further into the following:

Heavy engineering goods, such as pumps, compressors, engines, machinery, spares, etc.

Light engineering goods such as instruments, small electronic motors, etc.

Domestic appliances, such as sewing machines, fans, mixers, radios, Tvs, etc.

2. Consumer goods

These may be classified as under:

a) Food products: Canned products like vegetables and fruits. Bakery products like biscuits, bread, cakes, etc. beverages, alcoholic, soft drinks, juices, tea, coffee, cocoa, etc.

b) Cosmetics: Such as toothpaste, hair cream, shampoo, faces powder, nail polish, etc.

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