In warehouse automation design, capacity can often be the primary focus when it comes to decision-making. How many pallets can we fit into the warehouse? Are we using every cubic millimetre of space?
But there’s a point where maximising capacity alone starts to work against you and cause major problems.
Designing a superstructure that’s a hundred pallets deep and as high as the warehouse allows might seem like the best way to maximise storage space. With one lift and a single runway, every inch is put to use.
But if you’re managing many SKUs and a busy despatch area, focusing on capacity alone can quickly become a throughput bottleneck. What looks efficient on paper can slow things down when it matters most.
The real goal is to balance capacity with efficiency. A smart warehouse design doesn’t just store more—it keeps operations fast, flexible, and ready to meet customer demand.
Every warehouse has a tipping point when it comes to capacity in an automated warehouse.
And when you go beyond that tipping point, capacity is no longer the constraint. Throughput is.
The Risks of Over-optimising for Capacity
Over-optimising for capacity can have serious consequences if throughput can’t keep pace with demand, resulting in:
- Orders miss cut-off times
- Trucks queue at the loading bays
- Labour costs spiral as teams rush to catch up
- Customer service levels and SLAs begin to slip
When throughput stalls, the result can feel like automation has failed. In reality, it’s the imbalance between capacity and flow that creates the problem.
Warehouse Throughput as a Driver of ROI
Understanding the balance of capacity and throughput can mean subtle changes to the warehouse design that can deliver enormous operational benefits, including:
- More orders fulfilled with the same or even fewer team members
- Faster, more reliable customer service
- A supply chain ready to scale as demand grows
The return on investment from a balanced automated warehouse solution, where throughput and capacity are optimised together, is far greater than from storage density alone.
At Thistle Systems, we design warehouse automation solutions with flow, speed, and scalability at their core. If your operation is reaching its tipping point, let’s talk about how to unlock the flow and build a system that delivers long-term ROI.
To discuss your warehouse challenges, contact us now or give us a call on 01236 453888.
Looking to Automate your Picking Operations?
If Automation is right for you, however your requirements differ from AutoCube’s offerings, explore our options: Brightpick – A Robotic Order Picking System. From in-aisle robotic picking solutions to fully automated goods-to-person systems, we have a solution that can be tailored to suit your requirements.
Warehouse Capacity Problems | Warehouse Throughput Problems
