Types and importance of warehouses

by Ankita Sehgal Freelance Blogger, Lives in New Delhi

The place where goods and products are kept before their final sale is called a warehouse. Companies, businesses, importers, exporters, and wholesalers use warehouses for the storage and accumulation of goods. Warehouses protect these goods from several uncertainties. Warehouses are of several types, let’s discuss some of these types -

1. Public Warehouses - in these types of warehouses anybody can place their goods for storage by paying a monetary fee. As these warehouses are established by the government bodies they are called government warehouses. These warehouses are maintained and managed by the social service team of the government. To provide the facility of transportation, these warehouses are located near railway lines and main roads.

2. Private warehouses - these types of warehouses are constructed by wholesalers and business houses. They use these private warehouses for their business purpose exclusively. The companies or businesses store their goods and products in these warehouses and rent the space to other companies and businesses in exchange for monetary fees. Since the construction and maintenance of these warehouses cost quite a fortune, these warehouses are only afforded by big business houses.

3. Cold storage warehouses - this type of warehouses store perishable products like fruits, meat, vegetables, milk, and butter. The storage of these products requires low temperatures and better facilities which is why these products could not be stored in ordinary warehouses.

Functions of the warehouse -

Some of the basic functions of warehouses are -

-Storage - the first and foremost function of warehouses is to store goods and products and to keep them safe and secure. Warehouses protect these goods from uncertainties like damage, pests, perishing, etc.

-Risk Minimization - goods stored in warehouses are exposed to several types of risks like theft, deterioration, fire, etc. Warehouses take the responsibility of ensuring these risks are prevented in every possible manner. The keeper of the warehouse had to take good care of the products stored in his warehouse and safeguard them against all kinds of risks. For every damage or loss caused to the product stored, the warehouse keeper is held answerable to the owner of the goods.

-Financing - the warehouse keeper can provide the loan to the owner of goods against the security of goods stored in the warehouse. Several banks and financial institutions accept warehouse receipts to advance loans. In this way, warehouses help businessmen in fulfilling their business operations by serving as a source of finance.

-Grading and packaging - these days warehouses also provide grading, processing, and packaging services. Goods are packed in convenient sizes as is ordered by the owner of goods. Warehousing companies in India are coming up with these services to make warehousing more efficient.