We live in a world full of classifications, groupings, product specifications, assigning grades and points. Everything must be defined, known, counted. We assign a certain number of stars to hotels and restaurants, grades and points to students at school, degrees to adults, quality certificates to products and services… and one could go on for so long.
Classification of warehouses
Classification also applies to storage facilities – their standard is determined by individual classes. At the same time, it should be noted that there is no single, universally accepted typology at this point, so a given warehouse can be assigned to different classes depending on the classification by which it is defined. For the purposes of this article, we will use the most widely accepted classification.
Warehouses are nothing more than building facilities that have been adapted for the storage of various types of products and materials, and may have the infrastructure to provide additional logistics services.
There are four main classes of warehouses: A, B, C and D, and two subclasses to emphasize the individual characteristics of a warehouse: A+ and B+. The classification takes into account qualitative and technical features such as the height of ceilings, ventilation, lighting, alarm systems, type of flooring, access to parking lots and main roads. Also of significance is the degree of mechanization of logistics operations, available storage options, space functionality, number of gates, as well as the size and design of the building.
Class D warehouse
Class D warehouses can only be used for the storage of industrial production raw materials, metals, rubber, plastic products, fuels, lubricants, etc. Their reconstruction and attempts to adapt them to serve other functions are unlikely to be possible, and certainly not cost-effective. Demolishing such a building and constructing a new one is often more profitable. Class D warehouses are usually agricultural buildings, barns, sheds, basements and garages – which have no heating and can store low-rotation materials.
Class C warehouse
ClassC warehouses are facilities that were not built for warehouse service and require the application of technical and structural changes, such as the dismantling of installed equipment, installation of gates, construction of driveways and ramps, reconstruction of floors and walls, investment in security and ventilation systems. At the same time, these buildings meet requirements such as the usable height of the internal parts above 4 meters, a basic fire protection system, having a maneuvering area for trucks, concrete or asphalt floors. A Class C warehouse is usually an old, large-scale industrial facility like a car depot, for example.
Class B and B+ warehouse
On the other hand, warehouse premises built during the communist period, at that time meeting all the requirements, but not modernized over the years, requiring adjustments to increase the functionality of the facility and improve the quality of the security system, are Class B warehouses. These premises have a hardened floor, a heating system (although often outdated and uneconomical) and basic, often archaic warehouse handling equipment. The B+ warehouse subclass indicates that a facility does not meet just 2-3 key parameters to become a Class A warehouse, requiring modernization and sometimes minor remodeling.
Class A warehouse
To become a top-class A warehouse, the facility must meet a number of standards in terms of safety and adaptation both in terms of storage and the issue of social facilities for employees. The height of the walls of such a warehouse is a minimum of 10 meters and its structure is either reinforced concrete or prefabricated metal. The internal floor in the warehouse must be dust-proof, with a bearing capacity of at least 5 tons per square meter. The age of such a facility must not exceed 20-30 years. Class A warehouses meet the standards of higher fire resistance, have modern fire protection systems, smoke ventilation, daylighting, monitoring, fiber-optic communication system. In a word: this is a facility of the highest standard, both in terms of the solutions used inside and the construction itself. Subclass A+ differs from Class A only in location: while Class A facilities are most often located in the industrial zones of cities, those with the A+ designation have been built far from residential buildings, but with direct access to major highways or freeways.
Class A warehouse at LCL Logistic
Warehouses LCL Logistic are state-of-the-art spaces, with an obviously high A-class quality and offering full logistics services to its customers. The company’s goal is to be able to comprehensively implement the most demanding projects at the highest level, and in order to be able to do so, it needs a modern warehouse with a number of innovative solutions and a properly trained workforce. In addition, in the same location as LCL Logistic, is located its sister company LCL Spedition, which deals with transportation and forwarding, which is an additional advantage for both companies and a benefit for customers using the companies’ services.
