How to Label a Warehouse Rack

Posted by Chris Scullin

Warehouse Market Leader

in Warehouse

Updated January 13th, 2025

Table of Contents

• Why Warehouse Rack Labels Matter
• Boost Efficiency With Better Warehouse Rack Labeling
• Label Your Way to a More Efficient Warehouse
• Frequently Asked Questions

You can invest a lot of money in the design of your warehouse, but if you skip the fundamentals of organization, you risk delays and higher costs. Labeling is one prime example.

When you install warehouse rack labels strategically, you experience a host of benefits, such as improved supply chain efficiency, product visibility in the warehouse, increased productivity, and perhaps most importantly, fewer errors.

However, it’s difficult to reap the rewards of organization if you don’t understand labeling best practices, and while warehouse rack labeling is a relatively straightforward process, it’s crucial to your long-term success.

Consult this guide to learn how strategic labeling can improve warehouse efficiency, and the best practices to follow when overhauling your labeling processes.

Why Warehouse Rack Labels Matter

It’s predicted there will be 180,000 warehouses worldwide by 2025, thanks largely to the eCommerce boom. Regardless of your target customer, it’s crucial for warehouses of all sizes and in all industries to maximize their real estate.

In fact, specialty warehouse space fetches the highest average rent, and making the most of existing space is a crucial resource-saving measure.

Warehouse rack labels may seem like a small detail, but they’re crucial to efficient warehouse management.

The benefits of proper labeling include:

• Inventory accuracy: Accurate labeling ensures every item of stock is in its proper place. Clear rack labels prevent mix-ups, reduce mispicks, and help staff locate products quickly, which is crucial for inventory accuracy. When employees know where everything is, they can confidently pick, pack, and ship orders.
• Fewer errors: Warehouse errors are costly. Misplaced items, incorrect shipments, and delayed orders are just a few examples of how small mistakes can lead to big problems. Rack labels offer clear identification, reducing errors and costs.
• Faster workflows: Rack labels help maintain order, keeping the warehouse clean and well-structured. They guide employees on where items should go, ensuring systematic arrangement and an organized workflow.
• Scalability: Implementing proper rack labeling procedures allows you to embrace warehouse automation and other advanced technologies.

As your business grows and your inventory changes, having a flexible labeling system makes adjustments simple. You can update or replace labels as needed to accommodate new inventory, restructure aisles, and more.

Every warehouse benefits from better rack labeling procedures, regardless of size. Organizations that invest in — and maintain — proper labeling practices have a sizeable advantage over the competition in terms of efficiency, costs, and productivity.

Boost Efficiency With Better Warehouse Rack Labeling

Every warehouse is different. Regardless of the racking solution you use, your team must agree on a rack labeling strategy and apply it to the entire warehouse.

Follow these steps to improve warehouse efficiency with strategic labeling.

Identify Your Racks

No matter what your organizational scheme, the first step in proper labeling is a simple one: identifying your racks. It may seem like common sense, but it’s possible to overlook crucial areas, especially in large or multi-facility setups.

Racks, also known as units or sections, are the shelving units that store inventory or equipment. Depending on the nature of the warehouse, a rack might be composed of one very lengthy unit that stretches from one side of the aisle.

With that said, some warehouse operations organize their shelving units into smaller sections. This practice is more common for organizations with many SKUs, or if there are significant product size and quality variations.

If the latter sounds like your operation’s model, assign unique identification attributes to each section of each rack, not the entire racking unit itself.

Decide on a Standard or Serpentine Method

Assess your current picking techniques to determine whether a standard or serpentine labeling model will best fit your operation:

• Standard: The standard labeling model doesn’t necessarily consider picking techniques, which means pickers must go from location to location, often doubling back to previous locations to pick the correct product orders. In this case, you label aisles alphabetically and numerically, beginning from the first racking system.
• Serpentine: Under the serpentine model, pickers move from location to location, weaving up and down the aisles. This setup benefits warehouses with high volumes of SKUs or fast-moving inventory. With this labeling model, pickers can swiftly travel across the warehouse floor without doubling back to previous locations. Aisles are normally labeled alphabetically in this case – Units AA, AB for Aisle 1 and Units, BA, BB for Aisle 2.

It’s best to choose the method before numbering racks. This allows you to lay out all the racks intuitively based on how employees move through the facility.

Smaller, less complex warehouses can often use a standard method without any issues. However, serpentine is likely the best choice if you plan to scale up your business or products within the next five years.

Digitize Your Warehouse

Digital solutions like warehouse management systems (WMS) are crucial to warehouse organization and efficiency. Following a set organizational system for rack labeling matters, but even then, your WMS needs to work well with your organizational system.

If you don’t already have a WMS, now is the time to integrate one into your warehouse. Not only will a WMS automate workflows, pick the best picking routes, and pinpoint errors early on, but it will also allow you to add advanced technologies to your warehouse.

Embrace QR codes and RFID or NFC tags to remove manual effort, improve accuracy, and free your employees to focus on more value-added tasks. It’s no wonder that 83% of warehouses already have a WMS in place.

Choose the Best Warehouse Labels

After you decide on a labeling and organizational strategy, it’s time to select the best warehouse rack labels for your business.

When selecting labels for your warehouse, consider the environment of your operation. What’s the facility’s temperature? Are your racks ever exposed to chemical products or moisture? Does your racking system move in such a way that its labels might experience added force or pressure?

Consider these factors to choose labels with maximum longevity rated to your environment.

Warehouse rack label manufacturers offer labels in a variety of materials, including:

• Paper: This material is only suitable for indoor or short-term use, where labels don’t experience heavy wear and tear. Paper is affordable and suited to office environments, but it’s prone to tearing and damage from moisture.
• Polyester (PET): PET stands up well to moisture, chemicals, and abrasions. Warehouses often use this material for everything from barcodes to equipment IDs. You can also laminate PET for additional protection. However, polyester costs more than paper, and extreme temperatures could affect PET adhesive.
• Vinyl: Vinyl materials are more common for floor markings and warning signs. This material is incredibly durable in outdoor environments but harder to remove than other options.
• Polypropylene: This material is economical and offers a good balance of durability and affordability. While it isn’t as durable as vinyl or polyester for outdoor applications, polypropylene is fine for moderate warehouse environments.
• Magnetic: Magnetic warehouse rack labels are ideal if you frequently reorganize your space. However, they aren’t as durable as fixed options.
• Polycarbonate: Polycarbonate is a heavy-duty material that withstands high-impact wear and tear. It can survive almost anything but is more expensive than other solutions.

It’s also important to consider how you will fasten these labels to your racks. In some warehouses, mechanical fasteners like screws are the best option. They’re sturdy and generally easy to remove.

However, if your racks don’t allow mechanical fasteners, you’ll need to use adhesive to bond the labels. Ensure you choose an adhesive rated to your warehouse’s temperature, moisture, and chemical exposure to prevent the labels from prematurely detaching.

At Camcode, we provide rack labels for all applications, environments, and price points. Polyester Warehouse Rack Labels are a great choice for a more durable alternative to paper-based labels. These specialized labels serve as highly durable, permanent labeling solutions that adhere to various surfaces, including uneven or bumpy surfaces.

If you need a labeling system that does many jobs at once, consider Multi-Level Warehouse Rack Labels, color-coded labels set at ideal scanning levels to minimize errors.

Of course, some warehouse applications aren’t well-suited for permanent labeling solutions. For example, reusable Magnetic Warehouse Rack Labels are a good choice if your warehouse uses temporary picking protocols with transitional racks.

No matter the size or scope of your operation, devising a warehouse rack labeling plan is a key warehousing best practice. Always take a holistic assessment of your warehouse’s infrastructure, organizational plan, and picking procedures before purchasing labels.

This strategic approach will not only save money in the long term, but also reduce miscommunications caused by illegible labels.

Label Your Racks from the Bottom Up

After selecting your materials, it’s time to apply the labels.

This practice is especially relevant to those working with a high-density racking solution that contains multiple levels. Label your racks from the ground up by giving the lowest row the name of ‘01’. The second row will be labeled ‘02,’ and so on.

Even if you don’t have enough levels at the moment, use a double-digit (or even triple-digit) model to give your system room to grow in the future. With this approach, you can name more levels without making numerical changes if you decide to scale up.

Prioritize Safety

Safety is always a priority, including during warehouse rack labeling. Beyond organizing inventory, labels are essential for marking hazard zones, providing handling instructions, and displaying load capacities on racks.

Ensure your warehouse follows these best practices to keep employees safe at all times:

• Mark hazard zones: Use additional labels to note spots with heavy machinery, high-traffic zones, or areas where chemicals are stored. Clear hazard markings reduce the risk of accidents by keeping employees aware of their surroundings.
• Display load capacities: Racks and shelving units have load limits. Overloading a rack can lead to collapses, risking injury and damaging inventory. Labels should clearly indicate load capacities to prevent overloading.
• Indicate handling procedures: Warehouse labels should include specific handling instructions, such as “Fragile,” “Do Not Stack,” or “Lift with Assistance.” These guidelines tell employees how to manage items safely, reducing the potential for injury.

Improve Warehouse Efficiency

While rack labels are crucial for organizing a warehouse, they work even better when combined with other labels. These additions transform your warehouse operations by improving workflow, boosting safety, and optimizing overall efficiency:

• Floor markings: These warehouse labels guide foot traffic, designate storage areas, and mark hazardous areas. Use bright, contrasting colors for critical areas and adhere to standardized markings (e.g., OSHA-compliant designs) to communicate safety information.
• Overhead signs: Overhead signs provide visibility from a distance, helping workers quickly identify specific zones, aisles, or sections in a warehouse in less time.
• Digital displays: These displays can show real-time inventory data, announce safety alerts, display instructions, and update stock levels or order statuses.
• Color-coding: Color-coding simplifies the visual experience and directs employees with minimal clutter. Different colors can represent specific categories, zones, or priority levels. However, you should avoid using too many colors, as that can overwhelm and confuse employees.
• Custom labels: You can use variable data printing to create unique information on every label. Create custom barcodes, serial numbers, expiration dates, and other essential data to boost warehouse efficiency.

Label Your Way to a More Efficient Warehouse

Investing in an organized warehouse layout is essential, but even the best warehouse designs can fall short without proper labeling. Implementing effective warehouse rack labels brings numerous benefits, such as improved supply chain efficiency, enhanced product visibility, increased productivity, and minimized errors.

When you follow best practices for labeling, your warehouse becomes a model of efficiency, safety, and scalability.

Camcode’s wide range of durable, high-quality warehouse rack labels puts your optimized warehouse strategy into practice. Whether you need permanent polyester labels, multi-level scanning labels, or flexible magnetic options, our solutions improve warehouse efficiency and accuracy.

Contact Camcode today to create a labeling system that drives lasting success.

Frequently Asked Questions