Why Is Traffic Flow So Important in Warehouses?

One of the most important things to think about when running a warehouse, is how will traffic flow around the warehouse?

These days, many warehouses operate around the clock which means that having a traffic management plan is crucial to ensuring the smooth and uninterrupted operation of a warehouse, and the role of plastic door curtains is an essential part of this. A failure in your warehouse traffic management plan could result in a loss of efficiency, which could cause deadlines to be missed and may result in a loss of revenue. It could also result in equipment, facility or product damage and in the worse cases, injury to people or loss of life.

When you are in the process of creating a traffic management plan, you need to consider much more than just how your forklifts will move around the warehouse. You need to include everything from a blueprint of the warehouse itself, to what kind of PVC Door Curtains you might use, to how your drivers will communicate with each other at intersections. To help you with your plan, here are three of the most common features all well thought out traffic management plans have:

Vehicle Routes

Many people make the mistake of thinking that a vehicle route just involves planning for lanes for moving vehicles. This is not the case; vehicle routes also cover plans for vehicles stopping suddenly, vehicles passing each other, vehicles reversing and vehicles at rest. You also need to consider route surface to ensure that it has easy draining to prevent slippage. You need to use PVC Strip Rolls here too, as you will need to think about routes which pass through doors.

To help to facilitate the flow of vehicles in a warehouse, Strip Curtains Direct is proud to announce another product addition to our range - the Sliding Rail. Sliding rails are now available for light, medium and heavy-duty applications and are ideal if a vehicle needs to pass through a doorway, but you do not want it to be damaged by the strip curtains. Another key benefit is that if vehicles do pass through frequently, the ability to move the curtains out of the way will prolong their lifespan.

You can also prolong the life of the curtains by keeping the doorway open during the summer and just using the PVC strips in the winter. This can increase Plastic Door Curtain lifespan by up to 50%! The sliding rail is so versatile that the PVC Door Curtains can be fitted so that the entire curtain slides as one, as two separate curtains that part in the middle, or with just one section of the curtain that slides enough to let traffic pass through.

Signage

Use signage as a way of reminding your vehicle operators and drivers of how to do things within the warehouse, such as 'no parking zones', 'speed limits', 'pedestrian crossings' and 'blind corners.' This will help to guide them on the correct path, and highlight things that are important for them to remember.

Protection

Just as you provide your employees with protective garments for their daily job, you should also provide your warehouse with protection as well. Using items such as guardrails, bumpers and bollards can help to protect your building and prevent accidents, while the use of PVC Rolls can also protect your employees and your building from any outside pollutants.

To find out more about our new sliding rail offerings, replacement PVC strip curtain strips, or any of our plastic door curtains, please give us a call on 0333 999 7171 or drop us an email at sales@stripcurtainsdirect.co.uk