Tshirt inventory storage for picking

[Wildcard]

Does anyone here hold inventory of their own printed range of shirts, that are picked individually according to customer orders then shipped out?

I would love to revamp my storage shelving system and I'm sure the good folks at TSB could suggest a system that is space efficient, fast to pick, and protected from general dust etc.

Cheers
James

[jvieira]

Please allow me to tag along on this. We're making a deal with a customer that would make us need to hold a large inventory and i'm not sure on how to do it. Excited to read what you all have to say.

[3Deep]

We stock a few and we keep then in totes which I know your not looking for, but one of our friends shop store there shirts in cases of 72 and size.  They can go to there computer and see what is in stock and go into there warehouse and pull a box, it's almost like getting a shipment from the there supplier, I know they don't stock everything but the most popular stuff they print on for there customers.  Somehow I think I might be missing your point

[Frog]

We stock a few and we keep then in totes which I know your not looking for, but one of our friends shop store there shirts in cases of 72 and size.  They can go to there computer and see what is in stock and go into there warehouse and pull a box, it's almost like getting a shipment from the there supplier, I know they don't stock everything but the most popular stuff they print on for there customers.  Somehow I think I might be missing your point

Unless it's me who is missing the point, I believe our friends are talking about stock of their pre-printed line.
At Andy's, we printed and stocked dozens of designs on pretty standard industrial shelving.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I picture boxes with holes cut in the side to pull from, with a sku and descriptions on the outside. You are going to need to bag them all though for protection.

[Prince Art]

The shop where I trained carried their own line of designs, which was then personalized for various customers. These were multi-color spot, or 4c process designs, and we always kept enough stock to accommodate smaller orders. They'd be pulled from the shelves as needed, we'd drop the name in with a black spot print, and it would be out the door. (For larger orders, we'd print the usually designs from scratch & wouldn't dip into stock.)

In addition, stock was kept of white shirts (we did a lot of 4c process), as well as a couple of key colors.

All was stored on industrial shelving, separated per design (or color, in case of blanks) and by size. To protect the shirts, the shelves were covered in clear plastic sheeting, overlapping in the middle. You just opened the curtains & pulled out exactly what you needed. (Boxes were not kept.)

Stock was replenished during slower times, or when a design was already setup for another customer.

Keep in mind that the stock room was the size of small warehouse, with rows & rows of shelves. By the end of the recession, I believe they had downsized. (I was gone by then.)

[3Deep]

We stock a few and we keep then in totes which I know your not looking for, but one of our friends shop store there shirts in cases of 72 and size.  They can go to there computer and see what is in stock and go into there warehouse and pull a box, it's almost like getting a shipment from the there supplier, I know they don't stock everything but the most popular stuff they print on for there customers.  Somehow I think I might be missing your point

Unless it's me who is missing the point, I believe our friends are talking about stock of their pre-printed line.
At Andy's, we printed and stocked dozens of designs on pretty standard industrial shelving.

Believe you are right Frog, I miss the point...

[Wildcard]

We stock a few and we keep then in totes which I know your not looking for, but one of our friends shop store there shirts in cases of 72 and size.  They can go to there computer and see what is in stock and go into there warehouse and pull a box, it's almost like getting a shipment from the there supplier, I know they don't stock everything but the most popular stuff they print on for there customers.  Somehow I think I might be missing your point

Unless it's me who is missing the point, I believe our friends are talking about stock of their pre-printed line.
At Andy's, we printed and stocked dozens of designs on pretty standard industrial shelving.

Believe you are right Frog, I miss the point...

Appreciate the response regardless.

Sounds like I'm not far off the norm with my shirts in plastic boxes on industrial shelves. While the boxes are good for dust (the shirts are white), they are slow to pick with lids coming off and on, and not space efficient.
I did think of the curtain of plastic but wasn't convinced it was ideal.

Any other suggested systems / methods?

[jsheridan]

Any other suggested systems / methods?

I picture boxes with holes cut in the side to pull from, with a sku and descriptions on the outside. You are going to need to bag them all though for protection.

there you go.. seen many fullfilment and stock warehouse and that's about the norm.

Barcodes are your friend and don't forget to tell the system where in the racks they are so when you pull an order, it tells you how much and where the current stock on hand is located.

[Wildcard]

Any other suggested systems / methods?

I picture boxes with holes cut in the side to pull from, with a sku and descriptions on the outside. You are going to need to bag them all though for protection.

there you go.. seen many fullfilment and stock warehouse and that's about the norm.

Barcodes are your friend and don't forget to tell the system where in the racks they are so when you pull an order, it tells you how much and where the current stock on hand is located.

I can certainly see this box / pigeon hole approach working to save space (stackable and more square than plastic tubs), and being faster to pick with no lids. I'd have the items folded and stacked loose in each box and potential dust issues would only show with time.

Barcoding and sku system would be amazing but it's a big step up from the level I am at right now. I should look into entry level pricing though, just for kicks.

[Prince Art]

jsheridan's input here is good food for thought - try to find out what other people who have to pull stock all the time do, not just what other printers do. So many other industries/business types of every size do this all day, every day - I'm sure there are some good ideas out there, not commonly used by printers.

And the plastic curtains at my old shop worked pretty well. The only issue I can recall was where a few rarely requested designs or sizes sat for long time (years?), and got dust/discoloration lines, especially at the front fold. But for stock that moved regularly, it worked well. It was quick, easy in, easy out. Inventory was handled by another department, so I can't tell you exactly how they tracked it. (But no bar codes. I think it was mainly data entry, with occasional visual checks/counts.)