Hammer Made is a Minneapolis-based menswear brand specializing in limited-edition, premium dress and casual woven shirts crafted from European fabrics. Their distribution center in Eden Prairie handles storage and fulfillment for a high-SKU product mix with frequent inventory turnover tied to seasonal collections.

By late 2024, a significant surge in inventory had pushed the operation beyond its existing storage setup. The team faced a clear decision: lease additional warehouse space, or find a smarter way to use what they already had. They chose the latter, partnering with AK Material Handling Systems to redesign their storage layout and modernize their warehouse operations without expanding their footprint.

Alongside the physical racking redesign, Hammer Made adopted Finale Inventory as their warehouse management system, transitioning from a loosely structured alphabetical storage process to a fully barcode-driven bin-location model. Every product and storage location was assigned a scannable location, giving the team complete inventory visibility and the flexibility to store items anywhere in the warehouse and locate them instantly through the WMS.

This facility presented a unique design challenge: at just 2,800 square feet, the building features irregular angles and tight spatial constraints that ruled out a conventional rectangular layout. 

Maximizing every usable square foot required a strategic approach to rack placement, aisle sizing, and system selection. The SpeedCell and bin-storage systems were selected in part because they optimized the vertical space and non-standard wall angles more effectively than traditional selective pallet rack alone. 

Our team conducted a full warehouse survey before designing the new layout. We worked closely with Hammer Made’s operations team to understand their product flow, SKU volume, and picking patterns. The final design prioritized storage density and pick-path efficiency equally—both essential given the WMS integration Hammer Made was simultaneously rolling out.

Combining Ridg-U-Rak selective racking, UNEX SpeedCell lanes, and Quantum plastic bins was a strategic decision that maximized the number of SKU locations within the irregular footprint while keeping all positions hand-accessible. This eliminated the need for any lift equipment and reduced aisle width, freeing up additional floor space for the client.

The final layout was coordinated with Finale to align bin locations and make sure that the physical and digital systems worked together from day one.