Solving Distribution Space Constraints and Preparing for Growth

Max Rekowski | 30 April 2025

Ever tried cramming one last outfit into an already overstuffed suitcase? You push, you fold, you sit on top of it—and still, the zipper won’t budge. That’s exactly how many distribution centers feel when they hit capacity. There’s always one more pallet, one more SKU, one more shipment to squeeze in, but eventually, you run out of room.

Unlike a suitcase, warehouses can’t just swap to a bigger model at the last minute. Space constraints in distribution centers lead to far more than just a tight fit—they create bottlenecks that slow operations, increase costs, and make it harder to meet customer expectations.

Running out of space isn’t just an inconvenience for companies looking to scale - it’s a roadblock to growth. The good news? With the right material handling automation strategy, you can optimize the space you already have.

The Hidden Costs of Warehouse Space Constraints

At first glance, running out of space might seem like a capacity issue—just a matter of needing more square footage. However, space constraints ripple throughout distribution operations, from labor efficiency to order fulfillment speed. Without a strategy to manage growth, these challenges quickly add up.

Slower Retrieval & Order Fulfillment

When storage space is maxed out, efficiency suffers. Workers must navigate a maze of pallets and shelving, increasing pick times and delaying shipments. Even minor slowdowns can mean missed SLAs and unhappy customers.

Rising Storage & Shipping Challenges

When in-house storage reaches its limit, companies face a tough choice: cut inventory or pay for additional space. Off-site warehousing adds logistics complexity while reducing inventory can lead to stockouts. Meanwhile, tight spaces inside the facility can lead to inefficient packing and palletizing, driving up shipping costs.

When products aren’t stored at the primary distribution center, fulfilling orders from alternate locations adds unnecessary shipping costs and complexity. Keeping the right inventory closer to customers helps minimize expenses and avoid fulfillment delays.

Labor Inefficiencies

A disorganized warehouse isn’t just frustrating—it’s expensive. Workers spend more time searching for inventory and maneuvering around cluttered aisles, leading to lost productivity. Over time, these inefficiencies force businesses to increase labor hours or add more staff, further inflating costs.

Increased Safety Risks

When space is tight, safety often takes a backseat. Narrow aisles, stacked pallets, and crowded work areas increase the likelihood of accidents—whether a worker tripping over misplaced inventory or a forklift navigating dangerously close quarters. Beyond the immediate risks, workplace injuries can lead to costly downtime, insurance claims, and compliance issues.

The bottom line? Space constraints impact everything – from costs to customer experience – and their impact can compound over time.

The (Less-Than-Ideal) Common Space Constraint Solutions

Recognizing these challenges, companies often seek ways to free up space and improve efficiency. However, many of the most common solutions only provide temporary relief—and in some cases, they introduce new inefficiencies or involve more costs without solving the problem in the long term. Let’s take a look at why traditional fixes fall short.

Reducing Inventory: A Risky Gamble

One way to free up space is to carry less inventory. But trimming stock levels comes with a cost—literally. Running too lean can lead to stockouts, delayed orders, and frustrated customers. In industries with unpredictable demand, the risk of lost sales often outweighs the benefit of clearing a few extra square feet.

Redesigning Layouts: A Temporary Patch

Warehouse reconfigurations can help maximize existing space, but they aren’t a silver bullet. Adjusting shelving, rearranging workstations, or adding mezzanines might buy some time, but without a more strategic solution, these efforts often shift the problem rather than solve it.

Off-Site Storage: More Space, More Headaches

Leasing additional storage space might seem like a logical next step, but it introduces logistical complexity. Moving inventory back and forth between facilities increases handling costs and slows down fulfillment. What starts as a stopgap measure can quickly turn into a long-term inefficiency.

Relocation: The Costly Last Resort

When all else fails, some companies consider moving to a larger facility. However, relocation is expensive, disruptive, and rarely a practical short-term fix. The time and capital required to find, purchase, and transition to a new space can strain resources—especially when automation could offer a smarter way to scale.

Automation Solutions for Maximizing Warehouse Space and Efficiency

At some point, every growing business faces a crossroads: keep finding short-term workarounds for space constraints or invest in a solution that scales. A solution does not need to be a large, fully integrated system, it could be a small point-solution to start. The companies that succeed in the long run aren’t constantly shuffling inventory or expanding warehouses—they’re rethinking how they use the space they already have.

Rather than working harder to squeeze into an already full facility, material handling automation helps warehouses and distribution centers work smarter. By leveraging robotic systems, intelligent software, and optimized workflows, businesses can unlock space they didn’t even realize they had while improving efficiency, reducing costs, and setting themselves up for sustainable growth.

Optimizing Vertical Storage

The only way to go is up when floor space is maxed out. Traditional shelving and racking systems often leave underutilized gaps, while manual picking requires wide aisles for workers and forklifts. Automated storage solutions, such as AutoStore, maximize cubic space by stacking bins vertically and using compact robots to retrieve items, eliminating wasted aisle space. This allows businesses to increase storage capacity within the same footprint, reducing the need for off-site storage or facility expansion.

Smarter Order Picking

Cluttered warehouses lead to inefficient order fulfillment, with workers spending valuable time searching for inventory. Goods-to-person automation systems bring items directly to pickers, eliminating unnecessary movement and speeding up retrieval times. Automated picking reduces travel time, minimizes errors, and ensures orders are fulfilled faster—all while requiring fewer labor hours.

Faster Throughput & Lower Labor Costs

Space constraints impact storage and create bottlenecks that slow down fulfillment. Automated solutions streamline product movement, ensuring a smoother, more predictable flow of goods. By integrating conveyors, robotic sortation, and intelligent software, businesses can reduce congestion, cut unnecessary steps, and keep orders moving efficiently without increasing labor costs.

Scalability for Growth

Perhaps automation's biggest advantage is its ability to scale with demand. Unlike static storage layouts or temporary fixes, automated systems can expand seamlessly by adding more robots, increasing storage bins, or integrating new technologies. This flexibility ensures businesses can solve today’s space constraints and prepare for future growth without fearing outgrowing their facilities.

Adore Me’s Success with AutoStore: A Warehouse Automation Case Study

Adore Me, a fast-growing ecommerce brand, was facing a rapid surge in demand, but its fulfillment setup wasn’t built for long-term growth. It needed a solution that would maximize its existing footprint, improve order accuracy, and accelerate fulfillment times—all without relocating or adding square footage. Implementing an AutoStore system powered by Bastian Solutions unlocked new levels of efficiency while preparing its operations for the future.

The Problem: Growth Outpacing Space

Adore Me had been experiencing 50% year-over-year growth, a great problem to have—until their third-party logistics (3PL) provider couldn’t keep up. Delays in shipping times and limited control over fulfillment operations prompted the company to bring order fulfillment in-house. The challenge? Their 130,000-square-foot distribution center in Secaucus, New Jersey, needed to handle a high volume of small-item SKUs, maximize storage capacity, and keep pace with increasing customer demand.

The Solution: Automation for Smarter Space Utilization

To make the most of their space while improving efficiency, Bastian Solutions designed an AutoStore-powered fulfillment system. AutoStore, a high-density goods-to-person solution, allowed Adore Me to store inventory in a 33,000-bin system with 73 robots and 11 ports, ensuring that storage and retrieval were compact and efficient. In addition to AutoStore, Bastian Solutions integrated the following technologies for a complete fulfillment solution.

• Exacta Warehouse Execution System for intelligent order batching
• Light-directed picking & putwall for high-speed, accurate order fulfillment
• Item sortation technology allowed Adore Me to handle high order volumes with minimal space requirements, eliminating the inefficiencies of a traditional fulfillment setup.

The Results: Efficiency, Speed and Scalability

With automation in place, Adore Me completely transformed its fulfillment operations:

• Order fulfillment capacity increased by 2-3x
• 10,000 orders processed per shift (20,000 at peak times)
• Optimized space utilization with high-density storage
• Faster shipping times, boosting customer satisfaction

But perhaps the most important outcome is scalability. Adore Me’s automated fulfillment system is designed to grow alongside its business, adapting as order volume increases.

Future-Proofing Your Warehouse: Scalable Automation Strategies for Growth

Adore Me’s story highlights a crucial truth: space constraints don’t have to limit business growth. By leveraging automation, companies can increase storage capacity, streamline fulfillment, and scale operations—without expanding their physical footprint. Whether facing space shortages today or planning for future growth, the right automation strategy ensures you’re always one step ahead. It’s natural to want to dive into automation to solve immediate challenges, but taking the time to think strategically ensures the right solutions are a true fit — saving time, resources, and frustration in the long run.

The key is to invest in solutions that don’t just solve today’s challenges but also set you up for long-term success. That means:

• Focusing on scalable automation - The best solutions grow with your business, whether by adding more robots, expanding system capacity, or integrating new technologies over time.
• Leveraging data and AI for smarter operations - Modern Warehouse Execution Systems (WES) optimize space, predict demand, and improve efficiency by continuously analyzing operational data.
• Customizing automation to fit your business - No two operations are identical. The right automation strategy is tailored to your facility, workflows, and future growth plans.

Take the Next Step in Your Automation Journey

Bastian Solutions is a material handling automation integrator that can help you plan the right solution for your space and operational needs. From high-density storage systems to goods-to-person picking solutions, we work with variety of businesses to design and implement the best automation strategies that tackle challenges of all sizes.

Connect with Bastian Solutions to explore how automation can unlock efficiency, improve fulfillment, and prepare your business for the future.

Author: Max Rekowski