Guide · Costs
A storage rate alone does not describe the operation. A meaningful comparison includes occupied space, product structure, movements and work before and after shipping.
Distinguish pallets, bins, dimensions and seasonal changes.
Include receiving, orders, stock counts and special work.
Calculate space, staff, systems and external services on the same basis.
Total costs include occupied storage slots as well as goods receipt, picking, shipping and exception handling. The largest cost depends on stock and its use: a rarely ordered display occupies space for longer, while a fast-moving item creates more handling. Compare storage and handling for the same period and order profile.
Bring together the information about your project. It provides a clear basis for discussing effort, open questions and a suitable starting point.
The order on the invoice says little about the weighting. Which component dominates is decided by the assortment — not the provider.
Separate occupied spaces from movements: a slow-moving item ties up space, while frequent call-offs create picking and packing work. Example without price assumptions: 20 pallet spaces over three full months equal 60 pallet-space months if stock remains unchanged.
Shipping 50 or 500 orders during that period changes movement costs, not this space quantity. For stock that changes daily or monthly, ask which billing basis applies. Record dimensions, average and maximum stock, storage duration and call-offs per item.
The warehouse-space calculator under Tools helps estimate space; it replaces neither a site assessment nor a storage quote. Assess bulky goods, glass and special storage requirements separately.
These examples illustrate ongoing exception work alongside storage and dispatch. Record case volumes, time and agreed responsibility as separate assumptions.
An in-house warehouse can be economical when suitable space and staff are already available. Check which costs actually disappear with outsourcing and which remain. Compare external storage, handling and minimum charges alongside setup and transfer. Plan normal month and peak separately. Calculate with your own figures.
PROWERB has operated promotional-products fulfillment since 1989: more than 55,000 pallet spaces across the group, including the new warehouse building completed in Kleve in 2022 with 25,000 square meters.
The warehouse is laid out by assortment logic — dedicated areas for high-runners, slow-movers, oversized items, glass, hazardous materials and protective goods. Inventory management runs RFID-capable and in real time in our own ERP and warehouse management system; permanently listed promotional items leave the warehouse the same day in over 95 percent of cases.
Critical for cost control: the Operations Cockpit shows inventory development and budget control as a live report — around the clock, embeddable into customer systems. The same-day share is an operating metric for permanently stocked promotional items, not a promise for each order.
Dispatch depends on available stock, complete and approved order data, the agreed cut-off and working days. We clarify the reporting period and applicable service level for your project.
Eight items: storage slot, inbound/goods receipt, picking and packing, dispatch and transport, kitting & assembly and finishing, exception handling and returns, inventory management and stocktaking, and system and shop. The storage slot is rarely the biggest item — handling, kitting & assembly and processing deviations shape the bill more than floor space.
Because the assortment determines the bill, not the floor space. High-runners cause handling, slow-movers tie up space and capital, oversized items, glass and hazardous materials require dedicated storage areas with dedicated processes. Anyone comparing only square meters is missing the actual costs.
Exception handling and returns — they arise per case, not per pallet. Patterns from ongoing mandates show: even a settled ongoing operation produces ongoing exception-handling work from shortfalls, transport deviations and cancellations, and shipment tracking and advance notification are a separate, permanent stream of work. These items appear on no price list but belong in every calculation.
It depends on available resources, quality and actual total costs. The in-house comparison helps calculate the same services with and without outsourcing.
Permanently listed promotional items leave the warehouse the same day in over 95 percent of cases. This is made possible by RFID-capable real-time inventory management in our own ERP and warehouse management system PROWERB CORE, with a warehouse laid out by assortment logic with more than 55,000 pallet spaces across the group.
Via the Operations Cockpit: it shows inventory development and budget control as a live report — around the clock and embeddable into customer systems. The basis is real-time bookings in our own ERP and WMS, so the bill of materials and inventory match even with kitting & assembly.
Describe your assortment, volume and channels — you'll get a cost structure back, not a brochure.
