JS Rack & Supply
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Year-End Wrap-Up:
What Your Warehouse Data Taught You in 2025

December 22, 2025
Before you shut down for the holidays, your warehouse has a story to tell about what worked, what didn’t, and what deserves your attention before 2026 rolls in. The end of the year is more than a moment to recover from peak season. It’s the ideal time to pause, look back, and use the lessons we’ve learned to build a stronger, safer, more efficient warehouse for the year ahead.

This wrap-up from JS Rack & Supply isn’t focused on dramatic overhauls. Instead, we wanted to highlight the subtle signals your space may have been giving you all year: the bottlenecks you worked around, the storage overflow you kept meaning to fix, and the recurring maintenance tasks that never became a priority during the rush. When you step back, those patterns tell you exactly where to focus next.

What This Year Revealed About Your Warehouse Operations

Warehouses usually tell you what they need through repeated disruptions, workarounds, equipment issues, or slow-moving processes. And 2025 came with plenty of opportunities to learn. Whether demand surged, labor fluctuated, or you expanded inventory ranges, your warehouse absorbed the impact.

Common themes that many facilities experienced this year included:

  • Increased need for space
     
  • Growing need for faster fulfillment
     
  • More attention to safety and compliance
     
  • The need for flexible storage options
     
  • The realization that layout design isn’t “set it and forget it”
     

If any of those hit close to home, your warehouse is already giving you a head start on next year’s planning.

Signs Your Warehouse Layout Needs an Update

Your layout forms the backbone of daily operations. When it’s working, everything flows. When it’s not, every task takes longer than it should. Here are the strongest clues your layout wants adjustments heading into 2026.


1. Bottlenecks You Can’t Ignore

Bottlenecks aren’t random; they often stem from a layout that no longer reflects your inventory volume or workflow.

Look for where delays showed up this year. Have your pick paths started to feel longer or less intuitive than they used to? Are you noticing recurring traffic jams in high-activity zones? These are all signs that your layout may be holding your team back.

These inefficiencies cost more than time. Taking a fresh look at aisle width, equipment turning radius, and product positioning can make a measurable difference in how smoothly your warehouse operates.


2. Storage Overflow That Points to Bigger Issues

Overflow isn’t just a storage problem; it’s usually a layout problem in disguise. If you’ve seen:
  • Pallets creeping off racks and into floor space,
     
  • Makeshift storage zones created “just for peak season”,
     
  • Frequent re-slotting to create temporary space,
     
…it’s a sign your system needs either reorganization or expanded capacity. Boltless shelving, modular units from JS Rack & Supply, or better use of vertical space might provide long-term relief.


3. Unused or Underutilized Space

Just as overflow is a red flag, empty or stagnant areas are missed opportunities. Underutilized vertical space, outdated zones, or outdated racking configurations can hide valuable square footage. Optimizing these areas can often delay or eliminate the need for costly expansions.
 

Must-Do Warehouse Maintenance Before Year-End

Maintenance is one of the easiest tasks to postpone during busy months, but one of the most impactful to tackle before the new year. A few proactive checks now will help prevent downtime when 2026 ramps up.


1. Racking & Shelving Safety Checks

Racking works hard all year, but it’s easy to overlook signs of fatigue. During your year-end inspection, look closely at:
  • Uprights and beams for dents, scrapes, or twisting.
     
  • Loose anchors or missing hardware.
     
  • Load capacity signage: is it clear and visible?
     
  • Any areas that saw forklift impacts during the year.
     
Early identification of these issues prevents structural problems and keeps your employees safer. Many facilities schedule an annual racking audit at year-end for this reason. JS Rack & Supply in Boise can do that for you!


2. Warehouse Safety Inspections

Safety has to remain non-negotiable. A quick walkthrough should include:
  • Clear, unobstructed aisles
     
  • Guardrails and safety barriers in proper condition
     
  • Adequate lighting across aisles and mezzanines
     
  • Emergency exits free from storage, equipment, or clutter
     
If certain hazards seem to reappear, that’s a sign your workflow or layout may need more permanent adjustments.


3. Preventive Warehouse Maintenance That’ll Pay Off

Small hardware issues compound over time, which is why year-end is the perfect moment to give your storage systems a thorough once-over. Start by examining your boltless shelving connections and clips to ensure they’re secure and functioning properly.

Check your mezzanine fasteners for any loosening or wear that may have developed during busy months. Take time to inspect stairs, ladders, and platforms, making sure each component is stable and safe for daily use.

A few hours of preventive maintenance now can save you full days of disruption later.

What Your Warehouse Data Says About 2025

Your data, or gaps in your data, can reveal where operations hit friction. Even basic reporting can uncover patterns that guide smarter planning.


1. Reviewing Inventory Accuracy

Inventory accuracy is the foundation of warehouse efficiency. Signs it needs attention include:
  • Frequent cycle count variances
     
  • Recurring shrinkage in specific zones or SKUs
     
  • Stockouts despite ordering on schedule
     
  • Overstocking caused by inaccurate on-hand counts
     
If the numbers didn’t feel trustworthy this year, investing in better processes or tools may pay off.


2. Order Fulfillment Metrics Worth Analyzing

A few numbers tell a powerful story about your operational health. Pick accuracy shows how often errors were caught before shipping. Another piece of data shows the order processing time: did speed improve, plateau, or decline? Lastly, labor efficiency. Did staffing efficiency rise faster than throughput?

Tracking these trends helps determine if workflow redesign, better slotting, or additional storage solutions might support smoother operations.


3. Using Your Data (or Lack of It) to Set Smarter 2026 Goals

If you discovered missing, incomplete, or inconsistent data in 2025, that’s also a lesson. Often, data gaps reveal processes that are too manual or systems that need updating. By identifying those now, you can set measurable and achievable goals for 2026, from reduced travel time to better cube utilization.

Your Warehouse Has Been Teaching You All Year!

Every rush, slowdown, overflow pile, or maintenance issue is a message. Your warehouse isn’t just a space: it’s an operational system that reflects your workflow, your growth, and your challenges. By listening to what it taught you in 2025, you can enter 2026 with clarity, efficiency, and a more proactive strategy.


If you want help planning layout updates or reviewing your storage systems while the year’s insights are still fresh, now is a smart time to start that conversation. Contact JS Rack & Supply online today for layout advice and for excellent storage solutions to make your warehouse the best it's been in time for the new year!
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