Cold Chain Food: Setting Up a Temperature-Controlled Warehouse
Zone planning, temperature-controlled receiving, FEFO picking and expiry alerts — a practical walkthrough for cold storage go-live.
A cold storage warehouse has one non-negotiable rule: temperature. Product must enter, sit, and leave at the right temperature, and nothing expired may ever ship. This guide walks you through the standard go-live path — zone planning, temperature-controlled receiving, FEFO picking, and expiry management — so your first real order is already safe.
Plan your cold zones first#
Chilled and frozen product must never share the same locations. Use Location Groups together with Location Group Mapping: match locations by warehouse × owner × product attribute (chilled / frozen / fragile, etc.), so chilled goods are automatically directed to the chilled zone at putaway. A mis-slot here means a temperature excursion later, so get the mapping right before your first inbound.
Pick your putaway strategy at the same time — six are available, with a smart recommendation by default. Also set a minimum stock level on each pick face: when it drops below the threshold, replenishment is triggered automatically, so pickers never stand in front of an empty slot while a reefer truck waits.
Receiving with temperature handoff#
Receiving is where the cold chain either holds or breaks. Record the temperature handoff at the dock: verify the reefer unit’s reading before the trailer doors open, and log any excursion. Over- and under-receiving are allowed, but every quantity difference must be confirmed line by line — no silent adjustments, because in cold chain an unconfirmed shortage can mean a pallet that never made it out of the freezer.
Ship FEFO, every time#
- Set the allocation strategy to FEFO (first expired, first out) — picks pull the earliest-expiring batch first, automatically.
- Release in waves, then pick, pack, and ship — the full outbound flow keeps batches traceable from wave to truck.
- Watch the 90-day expiry window: lots expiring within 90 days are flagged, so you can prioritize them in waves or mark them down before they become waste.