In general, a staging zone is a zone or a storage area in which material, load carriers, etc. are made available for further processing or transportation from there. An example is the staging zone for loading. This is physically located in the warehouse in the immediate vicinity of a gate. When a freight unit to be unloaded arrives at an associated gate, the material is transferred to the respective staging zone before it is further processed. For a freight unit to be loaded, the staging zone serves as a buffer for the loading process. In some warehouses, the staging zone is also used as a consolidation area.