May 30, 2026

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How to Know When Your Warehouse Needs a Facility Walkthrough | Adams

How to Recognize When It's Time for a Facility Walkthrough

Facility walkthroughs help warehouses identify layout, storage, and workflow issues before they impact productivity and operational efficiency.

Most facilities do not suddenly become inefficient overnight. More often, the changes happen slowly.

A few pallets are placed in the aisle temporarily.

Inventory starts shifting into open corners.

Teams take extra steps around congested areas.

Workstations get rearranged to solve short-term problems.

Over time, those small adjustments become part of the daily operation.

That is usually the point where a facility walkthrough becomes valuable.

A walkthrough is not always about major redesign or expansion. In many cases, it is about stepping back, evaluating how the space is functioning today, and identifying opportunities to improve flow, storage, access, and overall efficiency.

The operation often tells you when it is time.

Inventory Starts Showing Up Where It Shouldn't

One of the first signs is inventory ending up outside designated storage areas.

Materials begin collecting:

  • In aisles
  • Near workstations
  • Along walls
  • In temporary overflow locations

This usually means one of two things:

  1. Storage capacity no longer matches inventory needs
  2. The current layout no longer supports the way materials move through the facility

In either case, the issue is rarely solved by simply adding more storage. The bigger question is whether the existing system still aligns with the operation.

The Team Is Walking More Than the Product Should

Movement matters.

When employees spend unnecessary time walking between storage, picking, production, or shipping areas, efficiency drops quickly.

This often develops gradually as inventory locations shift or workflows evolve over time.

Signs include:

  • Repeated backtracking
  • Congested travel paths
  • Excessive movement between frequently used materials
  • Forklift traffic interfering with pedestrian movement

A facility walkthrough helps identify where flow has become inefficient and where adjustments can improve movement throughout the operation.

The Space Feels Tight Even When It Is Not Full

This is one of the most common indicators.

A building can still have open square footage while feeling difficult to operate in.

Why? Because usable space and available space are not the same thing.

Poor layout decisions, underutilized vertical space, mismatched storage systems, or inefficient access points can create congestion long before a facility reaches actual capacity.

A walkthrough often uncovers opportunities to:

  • Improve cubic space utilization
  • Reconfigure storage layouts
  • Introduce different shelving or rack systems
  • Improve aisle spacing and traffic flow

In many cases, facilities gain significant capacity without expanding the building.

Temporary Fixes Start Becoming Permanent

Every facility has temporary adjustments.

The problem starts when temporary solutions become standard operating procedure.

Examples include:

  • Overflow inventory stored in active work areas
  • Added shelving that disrupts flow
  • Materials staged in non-designated areas
  • Constant rearranging to “make things fit”

These are usually signs that the operation has evolved beyond the original layout.

A facility walkthrough helps determine whether the current system still supports the work being done today.

Flow Feels Harder Than It Should

Operations should not feel forced.

When layouts are working properly, movement feels natural. Materials move efficiently. Teams know where things belong. Access is consistent.

When flow starts feeling difficult, the cause is often layout-related.

This can include:

  • Storage positioned too far from point of use
  • Poorly aligned pick paths
  • Inconsistent organization
  • Traffic bottlenecks
  • Workstations placed without considering movement patterns

Even small changes to layout and storage strategy can improve operational flow significantly.

Learn more about Adams’ facility safety improvements

What a Facility Walkthrough Actually Evaluates

A good walkthrough looks beyond products and equipment.

It evaluates how the facility functions as a whole.

At Adams, walkthroughs typically focus on:

  • Inventory movement
  • Storage utilization
  • Workflow efficiency
  • Travel paths and congestion points
  • Access to frequently used materials
  • Opportunities for vertical storage
  • Future growth and flexibility

The goal is not simply to add more equipment. It is to improve how the operation works.

Explore Adams’ material handling solutions.

Why an Outside Perspective Matters

Facilities evolve gradually. Because of that, inefficiencies often become normalized.

Teams work around them every day until the workaround simply becomes “how things are done.” An outside perspective helps identify issues that are difficult to see from inside the daily operation.

Sometimes the solution is significant. Often, it is not.

  • A revised layout
  • A different storage approach
  • Better use of vertical space
  • Improved flow between work areas

Small changes can create meaningful operational improvements.

Final Takeaway

Most facilities do not need to start over.

But many benefit from reevaluating how the space is being used.

The signs are usually there:

  • Congestion
  • Overflow storage
  • Extra movement
  • Reduced efficiency
  • Layouts struggling to support the operation

The earlier those issues are addressed, the easier they are to correct.

Key Takeaways

  • Facility walkthroughs help identify workflow and layout inefficiencies
  • Congestion and overflow storage are often early warning signs
  • Better flow improves operational efficiency and usability
  • Small layout changes can create major improvements
  • Experienced outside perspectives help uncover hidden opportunities

If your facility feels harder to operate than it should, it may be time for a walkthrough.

See how Adams helps facilities improve flow, storage, and operational efficiency through real-world warehouse storage projects

Schedule Facility Walkthrough
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By Kelly Kamlager, ago
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Workstations That Work as Hard as Your Team | Warehouse Workstations & Storage Solutions

Workstations That Work as Hard as Your Team

Most people don’t think much about a workstation until it becomes a problem.

Maybe tools are scattered across the shop. Materials are piled wherever there’s room. Employees spend more time looking for what they need than actually doing the work.

We see it all the time.

The reality is that productivity isn’t just about people. It’s about giving people the right environment to do their job.

That’s where the right workstation can make a big difference.

Small Frustrations Add Up

A tool that’s never where it belongs.

A work surface that’s become a storage area.

Supplies stored across the room because there’s nowhere else to put them.

None of these things seem like a major issue on their own. But over the course of a day, week, or year, those extra steps and small frustrations add up.

We’ve walked through enough facilities to know that improving productivity often starts with fixing the basics.

Better Organization. Better Flow

A good workstation does more than hold tools.

It helps create consistency.

When employees know where things belong and can quickly access the tools and materials they need, work gets done faster and with less frustration.

That’s why we help customers look beyond the product itself and focus on how the space is being used.

Sometimes the answer is a custom workstation.

Sometimes it’s storage cabinets.

Sometimes it’s shelving, lockers, or a completely different layout.

The goal is always the same: make the space work better for the people using it.

Experience Matters

Anyone can sell a workstation.

What makes the difference is understanding how that workstation fits into the operation.

For more than 100 years, Adams has helped customers improve facilities by looking at the bigger picture. We work with warehousing, distribution, manufacturing, maintenance, and service teams to identify opportunities that improve organization, workflow, safety, and productivity.

That’s why we partner with trusted manufacturers like Rousseau. Their products give us the flexibility to create solutions that fit the work being done, not force the work to fit the equipment.

A Workstation Is Part of a Bigger Solution

The best projects rarely start with a catalog.

They start with a conversation.

How does the team work?

Where are the bottlenecks?

What’s slowing people down?

What could be organized better?

Those answers help determine whether the solution is a workstation, storage cabinet, shelving system, mezzanine, locker system, or a combination of several improvements.

That’s where experience becomes valuable.

Let's Take a Look

If your team is spending too much time searching, walking, working around clutter, or making do with a setup that no longer fits the job, it may be time for a fresh perspective.

The Adams team has spent more than a century helping facilities solve problems, improve efficiency, and create spaces that support the way people work.

Whether it’s a workstation, storage cabinet, shelving system, mezzanine, or a larger facility improvement, we’ll help you find the right solution for the way your operation actually runs.

Let’s take a look at your space.

Because sometimes the biggest productivity gains come from fixing the things people work around every day.

Request a Facility Evaluation
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By Kelly Kamlager, ago