Capacity: how it is counted

Why it matters

"How many pallets does it hold?" is the first question every client asks. It is also the easiest number to get wrong: count positions no forklift can reach, forget the columns, mix pallets with shelves. Warehouse Studio counts capacity with its losses attached, so the number survives an engineer's scrutiny.

In plain words

Start with the most the floor could hold, then subtract every reason it cannot:

  Nominal         what the zone would hold with nothing in the way
− columns         bays clipped or suppressed by columns
− clearance       space kept clear around obstacles
= Usable          what the drawing actually holds

Then one more question: of those usable positions, can a forklift reach them all? A position with no aisle in front of it is dead. It is shown, and never quietly counted.

In Warehouse Studio

Floor area

With nothing selected, the inspector's Properties tab shows the warehouse's floor:

Figure	Means
Gross	The building's floor area.
Usable	Gross minus the columns and every non-storage zone (staging, marshalling, exclusion, paths…). It is the floor left for storage.
Occupied	Floor the racking stands on, once racking exists.
Remaining	Usable minus occupied: storage floor not yet racked, including the aisles.

A bar shows the occupied share of the usable floor, and a list gives the area of every zone type.

Positions

Select a zone, or a storage system, and the inspector shows its positions. The Objects list shows the count beside each storage system, for example 4 712 PLT. The plan's zone caption carries it too: RESERVE (4712) PLT.

The capacity figures, also on the Reports page, are:

Figure	Means
Pallet locations	Positions for pallets. Shelving reports shelf locations separately.
Density	Positions per square metre of floor.
Rack rows, Bays	Counts.
Cubic capacity	The volume of the storage.
Occupied	Floor the racking stands on.

Capacity loss

The Capacity loss ladder shows the subtraction above, rung by rung, in positions, bays and square metres, with the percentage lost. A rung that cost nothing is hidden.

What is counted, and what is not

• Positions in future zones are not counted. Demolish counts only "today". See Phases.
• Floor positions in staging and marshalling are reported on their storage system but are never part of storage capacity. They are throughput space.
• Pallets, shelves and floor positions are never added together.
• With load types assigned, capacity counts by load type and lists unassigned positions.

Try it

In the demo, compare the Reserve zone's area (7 800 m²) with its positions (4 712). That is about 0.6 positions per square metre for a 4-high selective rack. Then check the Capacity loss ladder: what did the columns cost?

Words you just learned

Nominal · usable · dead position · density · cubic capacity · capacity loss.