Warehouses don’t run out of space all at once. Instead, capacity usually disappears gradually as new SKUs are added, product assortments change, pick locations become poorly sized, and inventory fills areas that weren’t designed for active order fulfillment.
Eventually, the operation reaches a point where aisles feel crowded, products become harder to locate, and employees spend more time walking, searching, bending, or climbing to complete each order. At that stage, expanding the building or moving to a larger facility may seem like the only option. But square footage isn’t the same as usable capacity.
Many warehouses can create significantly more SKU capacity inside their existing footprint by improving slotting, increasing pick-face density, using pallet rack space more effectively, and placing inventory closer to the people handling it. These changes can also reduce travel, improve ergonomics, and increase the number of orders each employee can complete.
Goodwill, Overton’s, and Capital Candy each faced growing SKU assortments, inefficient storage, and increasing pressure on available pick space. Their experiences show how operations can support growth by making the space they already have work harder.
A warehouse can appear full while still containing substantial unused capacity. The problem is often how space has been assigned rather than how much space is available.
Basic static shelving may leave unused room above, behind, or beside products. Inventory is also commonly stored on pallets or directly on the floor, consuming valuable floor space and creating cluttered pick areas. Slow-moving inventory can occupy the same amount of shelf frontage as frequently picked items, while pick locations may be too large for the quantity stored. Products placed deep inside shelves can also force employees to reach, kneel, or remove other items. These conditions don’t just waste space; they create longer pick paths, slower workflows, and potential safety hazards.
Operations leaders evaluating capacity should look beyond the number of SKU positions. The more important questions are how many accessible SKU locations the facility can support, how quickly employees can reach those locations, and whether the storage system can adapt as the assortment changes. Improving those factors can delay or eliminate the need for expensive construction, leasing, or relocation.
One of the most effective ways to increase capacity is to stop treating every SKU the same.
Inventory velocity should guide the storage method. Extremely fast-moving products, and many fast movers, are often best suited to pallet flow, which supports rapid inventory movement and replenishment. Carton flow can also work for some fast movers, but its sweet spot is typically medium-moving case or each-pick inventory that needs an accessible, organized pick face. Slow-moving SKUs are generally the best candidates for high-density storage. They still need dedicated locations, but the operation doesn’t need to reserve several feet of conventional shelving for each product. When hundreds or thousands of lower-volume items are stored in oversized locations, they can consume a disproportionate amount of the pick area.
High-density storage allows operations to consolidate these SKUs into a smaller footprint while keeping each item organized, labeled, and accessible. The result is more pick faces per rack bay without forcing employees to search through mixed inventory or retrieve items from deep, inconvenient locations.
The strongest warehouse designs often combine storage methods. High-volume products remain in fast-access flow lanes, while slower moving, each pick inventory is placed in compact, high-density storage locations.
The following operations faced different growth and storage challenges, but they reached a similar conclusion: creating more SKU capacity starts with using the existing footprint more intelligently. By improving slotting, increasing accessible pick faces, and reducing wasted movement, each operation turned storage density into measurable business results.
Goodwill Industries of Central and Southern Indiana needed to accommodate continued growth at its Indianapolis eCommerce facility. The operation handles an unpredictable assortment of products, from clothing and collectibles to golf shoes and guitars, with new items continually entering the building.
The facility needed a better flow and more SKU capacity, but expanding the building wasn’t an option. Employees were walking 10 to 15 feet to store products after inspection, and pickers and material handlers were also accumulating unnecessary steps throughout the day.
Goodwill worked with process and material handling specialists to redesign the workflow and identify a storage system that would make better use of the available footprint. The redesigned facility incorporated 1,806 SpeedCell locations arranged in 252 columns across 13 bays. The project didn’t simply add more storage, it placed inventory closer to the work and eliminated movement that wasn’t contributing value.
The new workflow and storage layout reduced travel for shelving associates by 1.6 miles per day, pickers by one mile, and material handlers by half a mile. Altogether, Goodwill eliminated more than 3.1 miles of non-value-added movement each day. The operation increased production from 800 to 1,000 items per day and created capacity for 30% more products.
Goodwill’s experience demonstrates why storage and workflow should be evaluated together. Adding pick locations without considering where employees inspect, store, retrieve, and move products can preserve inefficiencies. When storage is positioned around the actual work, greater density can translate directly into higher throughput.
Learn how Goodwill leveraged SpeedCell to create a flexible, agile eCommerce facility that supports their mission while meeting customer demands.
DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDYOverton’s faced a similar capacity challenge as its apparel category grew. The company’s existing bin system wasn’t using cube space effectively, and many pick locations were poorly sized for the products they held. Wear and tear on the bins created additional concerns, while employees sometimes had to climb ladders or kneel to reach inventory stored in difficult locations.
Overton’s needed thousands of additional pick slots to expand its assortment, but it wanted to create that capacity inside its existing 267,000-square-foot facility. The retailer installed 112 SpeedCell bays, adding approximately 17,000 SKU locations. By increasing the number of organized pick faces inside the existing rack footprint, Overton’s raised its pick-location capacity by 150%.
The denser layout also reduced footsteps and eliminated much of the crawling and climbing associated with the previous storage method. Overall efficiency improved by 20% to 30%, and employees could pull more orders per day. That additional productivity allowed Overton’s to delay hiring more staff as well as significant alterations to the facility.
For Overton’s, greater storage density became a growth strategy. The company could offer more SKU selection and variety without allowing its physical footprint to restrict the assortment available to customers.
Learn how Overton's avoided a costly expansion thanks to SpeedCell's ability to condense static shelving into space-efficient dynamic high-density storage.
DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDYCapital Candy shows why SKU capacity isn’t always solved with a single storage method.
After years of sales growth and a sharp increase in demand from convenience stores, some areas of the grocery wholesaler’s warehouse had reached more than 140% of their intended capacity. Capital Candy ultimately added to its facility, but the company still needed to make sure the new space wouldn’t reproduce the same inefficient storage patterns.
The operation divided inventory according to its movement and picking requirements. SpanTrack Wheel Bed provided carton flow for higher-volume products, while SpeedCell consolidated slower-moving each-pick items. Meanwhile, gravity conveyor helped move loads through the area.
Capital Candy placed 196 slow-moving SKUs into two eight-foot SpeedCell bays, saving approximately 72 feet of conventional shelf space. The broader carton flow installation created capacity for 3,600 additional cases and 900 new items, while the denser pick area reduced the labor required to complete the same work.
The lesson applies whether an operation is avoiding an expansion or optimizing new space: adding square footage doesn’t automatically solve poor slotting. Without a storage strategy based on SKU velocity, new areas can fill just as quickly as the old ones.
Learn how UNEX dynamic storage and handling solutions help Capital Candy store more SKUs in less space and keep pace with growth.
DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDYGoodwill, Overton’s, and Capital Candy serve different customers and handle very different products, but their approaches share several characteristics.
First, they viewed capacity as an operational issue rather than only a real estate issue. They examined how products were stored, how employees moved through the facility, and how much space each SKU truly required.
They also focused on accessible density. Packing more inventory into a warehouse has little value if products become harder to identify, replenish, or retrieve. Each project increased the number of organized pick faces while improving access for employees.
Finally, they recognized that travel is part of the capacity equation. When associates spend less time walking and searching, a smaller, denser pick area can process more orders. That can help an operation increase output without adding an equivalent amount of labor or space.
Before pursuing an expansion, warehouse leaders should evaluate where capacity is being lost:
The objective isn’t maximum density at any cost, but to create more usable, efficient, and flexible capacity.
Increasing storage density doesn’t mean placing every product into the same type of system. Inventory velocity, order quantity, product dimensions, and picking method should determine how each SKU is stored.
In many operations, the best approach combines several solutions. Fast-moving palletized inventory may require pallet flow, medium and select fast movers may be better suited to carton flow, and slower-moving SKUs can be consolidated in high-density storage. Matching each inventory profile to the right system helps the operation increase capacity without making products harder to access.
This approach is well suited to extremely fast and fast-moving palletized products that require frequent replenishment. By keeping inventory moving through dedicated lanes, Pallet Track can increase storage density while reducing the forklift travel and handling associated with static pallet positions.
Key features and benefits include:
Because replenishment can occur from the rear, SpanTrack also helps separate stocking from picking and supports FIFO inventory rotation. SpanTrack Lane configurations provide defined locations for predictable carton sizes, while SpanTrack Wheel Bed offers greater flexibility when case dimensions or SKU assignments change frequently.
Key features and benefits include:
SpeedCell uses columns of individual cells suspended within pallet rack to create more organized pick locations inside a smaller footprint. The columns slide from side to side, giving employees access to additional rows while keeping individual SKUs separated, labeled, and easy to find.
Key features and benefits include:
Matching storage to inventory velocity allows each solution to do what it does best. Fast-moving palletized products can flow through Pallet Track, medium and select fast movers can remain accessible in SpanTrack, and slow-moving SKUs can be consolidated in SpeedCell. Together, these systems can create more usable capacity while maintaining the visibility, accessibility, and product flow employees need to pick efficiently.
More SKUs don’t always require more square footage. Goodwill increased daily production and stored 30% more products without expanding its building. Overton’s added 17,000 locations and increased pick capacity by 150% inside the same facility. And Capital Candy consolidated slow movers into a fraction of the shelf space they previously would’ve required.
Each operation achieved different results, but the underlying strategy was the same: improve how space is used before adding more of it. By matching storage to SKU velocity, increasing accessible pick-face density, and reducing employee travel, operations can create capacity that supports growth while improving efficiency, accuracy, and the employee experience.
Contact UNEX today to discuss how the right mix of pallet flow, carton flow, and high-density storage can help your operation increase capacity and improve picking efficiency within its existing footprint.