Explanation

A 'U' flow occurs when the goods receipt and dispatch functions are located at the same end of a warehouse building.

Products flow in at receiving, move in to storage in the back of the warehouse, and then to shipping, which is located at the adjacent to receiving on the same side of the building.

Items with higher throughput level are located closer to the loading bays. An example of a 'U' flow design can be seen in the diagram below.

Advantages of 'U' Flow

- Excellent utilization of dock resources because the receiving and shipping processes can share dock doors

- Facilitating cross-docking because the receiving and shipping docks are adjacent to one another and may be co-mingled

- Excellent lift truck utilization because put away and retrieval trips are easily combined and be-cause the storage locations closest to the receiving and shipping docks are natural locations to house fast moving items

- Yields excellent security because there is a single side of the building used for entry and exit