Even if there are lots of companies that begin workers in the receiving area, they would be much better off to allot professionals to handle the put-away jobs. Qualified individuals who truly understand and know the products rarely mix items that are similar in appearance but are quite different and they really know how to properly stock shelves and bins and thus, work much more effectively.
The best tip for new staff is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with a great chance to know the products, paperwork and customers along with any electronic inventory system which might take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is really easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders once they are packed for shipment.
The next suggestion is to schedule the truck arrival, since you truly do not want all trucks to come at the same time. By scheduling arrivals and being organized, you would eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers. The more efficiently you can schedule the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would need to operate that will really save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
Work with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you can, receive products during one shift and separate your shipping to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this way can enable you to reduce the staging area needs by 50%. You might also be able to get rid of time-wasting bottlenecks within the warehouse. Moreover, by separating your shipping and receiving, you would know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road and can keep track of orders more effectively.
If the process of unloading is sped up, this would tremendously help you out because the unloaded truck could congest your yard. Based on studies, approximately 60 percent of mass merchants can unload trucks in under 60 minutes, whereas around 20 to 30% of the grocery business works at a similar standard. Make time to watch and time operations to be able to see precisely how your facility measures up overall.
Floor maintenance is crucial as floor defects could cause lift truck operators to take detours or slow down. This may lead to a reduction of productivity. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also result in vehicle damage and wheel wear. In some cases, floors that are really damaged could lead to product damage and loads tipping.