If you’re setting up a warehouse, your location naming system will either make your team fast… or frustrate them every single day.
This guide gives you a simple, proven structure that scales as you grow.
First, the basics
Before naming anything, it’s important to understand the physical structure of a warehouse:
Aisle — the pick face on either side of the walkway between racks
Bay — a vertical section within an aisle
Shelf — a horizontal level within a bay
Location — a specific position on a shelf
And in practice:
A picker moves through aisles
Stops at a bay
Looks to a shelf
Picks from a location
The structure we recommend
Use a consistent, segmented format like:
01-03-A-02
This means:
01 → Aisle
03 → Bay
A → Shelf (bottom shelf)
02 → Location on that shelf
How to define each part
1. Aisles → use two-digit numbers (01, 02, 03…)
Always use two digits, starting from 01.
Important:
When walking down a physical aisle (the walkway), you are actually naming each pick face, not the walkway itself.
So as you walk down:
01 might be on your left
02 might be on your right
This means each side of the aisle is treated independently, which keeps everything consistent and easy to follow.
Why:
Removes ambiguity about “which side” to pick from
Keeps numbering consistent across the warehouse
Makes navigation obvious for pickers
Avoid:
❌ Treating both sides of a walkway as the same aisle
❌ Single digits (1, 2, 3)
❌ Letters (A, B, C)
Numbers are clearer, scalable, and easier to work with.
2. Bays → also two-digit numbers
Within each aisle, number bays:
01-01 01-02 01-03
Pick a direction and stick to it (e.g. front → back).
Why:
Predictable movement for pickers
Easier to train staff
No guesswork
3. Shelves → use letters (A, B, C…)
Shelves should always be letters, starting from the bottom:
A = bottom B = next up C = next up
Why:
Easy to distinguish from aisle/bay numbers
Visually intuitive (A at the bottom just feels right)
4. Locations → use two-digit numbers (or skip them)
If a shelf has multiple pick positions, number them:
01-03-A-01 01-03-A-02
If the entire shelf is a single location, you have two good options:
Option A (simple):
01-03-A
Option B (explicit):
01-03-A-00
Why this structure works
Fast to learn — new staff can understand it in minutes
Easy to navigate — no thinking required during picking
Scales cleanly — works for small setups and large warehouses
Visually clear — numbers vs letters reduces mistakes
Golden rules
Stick to numbers for movement (aisles & bays)
Use letters for vertical positioning (shelves)
Keep everything consistent and predictable
Don’t try to encode clever logic into names
Bottom line
A good location system should feel obvious.
When a picker sees:
01-03-A-02
They should instantly know:
where to walk, where to look, and where to pick
No thinking. No guessing. Just flow.