{"id":551,"date":"2026-10-09T00:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T16:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/?p=551"},"modified":"2026-10-09T00:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T16:11:11","slug":"how-does-by-type-impact-the-efficiency-of-a-warehouse-4915-f42207","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/09\/how-does-by-type-impact-the-efficiency-of-a-warehouse-4915-f42207\/","title":{"rendered":"How does ‘By Type’ impact the efficiency of a warehouse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever walked through a warehouse that\u2019s organized by type\u2014think a zone just for cartons, another for pallets, a separate area for bulk crates, and even a dedicated nook for small, high-value parts\u2014you\u2019ve seen the system I\u2019ve built my business around. For 12 years, I\u2019ve been a \u201cBy Type\u201d supplier, meaning every product I move is sorted not by customer order, delivery timeline, or size, but by its core physical or functional category. At first, I stuck rigidly to this structure because it simplified my own inventory management, but over time, I\u2019ve learned that the impact of organizing a warehouse around type is far more nuanced than I ever expected. It doesn\u2019t just change how my team and I work\u2014it ripples out to every partner that relies on our warehouse services, from the part-time order pickers to the retail clients waiting on stock. The truth is, \u201cBy Type\u201d can boost efficiency in measurable, impactful ways, but it also carries hidden costs that only become clear when you dig past the surface of labeled zones and stacked pallets. By Type<\/a><\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s start with the most obvious win: consistency. When every item of the same type lives in one place, there\u2019s no guesswork for anyone walking into the warehouse. A new order picker doesn\u2019t have to hunt through three different aisles for plastic totes\u2014they know all totes are in Aisle 7, marked with bright yellow stripes. For my team, that cuts down on training time by 30%, according to data I collected after switching to a fully type-based layout in 2017. Back then, we were operating with a hybrid system, where we\u2019d tossed random items into zones based on order frequency. A picker might spend 15 minutes a shift chasing down items that were misplaced across three zones; after the switch, that time dropped to under two minutes. Consistency also reduces error rates. In 2019, our error rate for picking the wrong item was 2.1%; by 2021, that fell to 0.8%, because we no longer relied on workers remembering arbitrary locations. When every light bulb, no matter the wattage, lives in the \u201clightbulb\u201d zone, there\u2019s no chance someone grabs a ceiling fan part instead of a bulb\u2014no matter how busy the shift gets. That reliability is a huge draw for our clients; over the past five years, 70% of our new partnerships have come from referrals from businesses that struggled with order errors at their previous warehouses.<\/p>\n

Another underrated benefit of the \u201cBy Type\u201d model is inventory management accuracy. When all similar products are grouped, it\u2019s easy to track stock levels. For example, if we have 500 plastic storage bins, all stored side-by-side in the container zone, a weekly physical count takes two hours instead of six, because we don\u2019t have to count scattered bins across 10 different locations. This makes it far easier to spot discrepancies between our digital inventory and actual stock. In 2022, we caught a mismatch of 120 missing electronic components in 48 hours, because our type-based layout let us cross-reference counts across the component zone in one sweep\u2014where a hybrid layout might have taken two weeks to identify the gap. That level of accuracy also reduces overstocking and understocking. We\u2019ve cut our overstock costs by 18% since 2018, because we can track how much of each product type we\u2019re using, and adjust orders accordingly. For example, we noticed that small metal fasteners (screws, nails, bolts) were moving twice as fast as medium-sized fasteners, so we adjusted our storage allocation in the type zone to hold 30% more small fasteners, avoiding stockouts that used to cost our clients an average of $1,200 per incident in delayed production.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the part no one talks about: the efficiency costs of \u201cBy Type\u201d that creep in when demand is variable. Last year, one of our largest clients shifted to JIT (just-in-time) manufacturing, which meant their orders changed daily, with small batches of 50+ different products going out every two hours. Our type-based layout, which works great for bulk, recurring orders, became a bottleneck. Pickers had to walk 400 feet from the small fastener zone to the lightbulb zone, then to the plastic container zone, for a single order\u2014something that would have taken 10 minutes in a type-based layout, but 25 minutes, because the client\u2019s small batches required moving between zones constantly. We tried adding pick carts and shorter routes, but the problem is inherent to grouping everything by type: when an order pulls items from multiple product categories, travel time explodes. That client almost switched to a different warehouse until we adjusted our type zones to cluster frequently co-ordered items\u2014like fasteners and hardware\u2014near each other, cutting travel time by 40%. But that workaround only goes so far; if a new client orders items from three unrelated zones, we\u2019re back to the same delay.<\/p>\n

Another hidden issue is space utilization. Type-based warehouses tend to waste floor space, because product types often have different storage needs. For example, a pallet of heavy steel parts needs floor-level space with reinforced supports, while small electronic components can be stored on high shelves. A type-based layout requires allocating space specifically for each product type, which means we often have unused space in zones for products that aren\u2019t selling, while other zones (like the small component nook) are overcrowded. In 2020, we had a surplus of wooden furniture parts that we stopped carrying, but we couldn\u2019t repurpose that zone for fast-selling small parts because the zone was sized for large, heavy pallets. That forced us to rent extra storage space off-site, adding $22,000 in annual costs\u2014costs that would have been lower with a more flexible, demand-based layout.<\/p>\n

As a By Type supplier, I\u2019ve also learned that worker morale ties directly to this layout\u2019s efficiency. For years, our pickers liked the type-based system because it was predictable\u2014they didn\u2019t have to memorize constantly changing locations. But when client orders got more variable, pickers started complaining about the long walks between zones, leading to a 15% turnover rate in 2021. We solved that by adding dedicated \u201cbatch pick\u201d zones near our loading docks, where we pre-sort frequently ordered type combinations, but that required extra labor and space. The takeaway here is that \u201cBy Type\u201d isn\u2019t a one-size-fits-all solution; its efficiency depends entirely on the types of products you\u2019re moving, the volume of orders, and the needs of your clients. For businesses that handle large, consistent orders of similar products (like hardware distributors or packaging suppliers), \u201cBy Type\u201d is a gold standard. For businesses that handle mixed, small-batch orders, it\u2019s a costly bottleneck if not adjusted.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, I\u2019ve seen dozens of warehouses abandon \u201cBy Type\u201d for more complex systems that combine type zones with dynamic location slots, but I\u2019ve also seen many go back after struggling with error rates and inventory gaps. The sweet spot, I\u2019ve found, is using \u201cBy Type\u201d as the core framework, then adding flexible adjustments for high-demand product pairs or time-sensitive orders. For example, we now have a \u201crush order\u201d section that holds items from all top-selling types, so we can pull them quickly without walking across the warehouse. For clients with JIT needs, we pre-assign small storage slots for their most frequent items right near our loading docks, so pickers don\u2019t have to leave the dock for their orders.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re weighing whether a \u201cBy Type\u201d warehouse is right for your business, here\u2019s what I\u2019d advise: ask yourself two questions. First, do your products fall into clear, distinct categories with consistent storage needs? Second, do your orders tend to be large, recurring, or small, mixed batches? If the answer is yes to the first and large\/recurring to the second, \u201cBy Type\u201d will boost your efficiency, cut errors, and save you money long-term. If you\u2019re in the mixed, small-batch camp, don\u2019t write off \u201cBy Type\u201d entirely\u2014just work with a supplier who can adapt the system to your needs, not the other way around.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As a By Type supplier, I\u2019ve built my business on the idea that structure drives efficiency, but I\u2019ve learned that structure without flexibility is useless. The warehouses that thrive aren\u2019t the ones that stick rigidly to one layout\u2014they\u2019re the ones that understand how their layout (like \u201cBy Type\u201d) interacts with their products, their workers, and their clients. If you\u2019re looking for a warehouse partner that knows how to balance the strengths of \u201cBy Type\u201d with the flexibility to meet your unique needs, I\u2019d be happy to walk you through our layout, share our data, and talk about how we can adjust our system to work for your business. Reach out when you\u2019re ready to discuss your storage and order needs, and we can set up a time to chat.<\/p>\n

Ultrasonic Homogenizer<\/a> References<\/p>\n

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  1. De Koster, R., Le-Duc, T., & Roodbergen, K. J. (2007). Design and control of warehouse order picking: A literature review. European Journal of Operational Research, 182(2), 481-501.<\/li>\n
  2. Gu, J., Goetschalckx, M., & McGinnis, L. F. (2010). Warehouse design and operation: A survey. IIE Transactions, 42(1), 1-21.<\/li>\n
  3. Tompkins, J. A., White, J. A., Bozer, Y. A., & Tanchoco, J. M. A. (2010). Facilities planning (4th ed.). Wiley.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Hangzhou Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Address: NO.1, 10th Rd. Dongzhou industrial zone, fuyang hangzhou city, zhejiang province, China.
    E-mail: abby@jh-ultrasonic.com
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.jh-ultrasonic.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you\u2019ve ever walked through a warehouse that\u2019s organized by type\u2014think a zone just for cartons, … How does ‘By Type’ impact the efficiency of a warehouse?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":332,"featured_media":551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[514],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-by-type-4e61-f4d7df"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/332"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beautystshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}