Even though there are many companies that begin employees in the receiving area, they would be a lot better off to assign professionals to deal with the put-away tasks. Experienced people who understand and know the products seldom mix objects which may seem the same but are somewhat different and they really know how to properly stock shelves and bins and thus, work a lot more efficiently.
It is a good idea if you have new employees to start them out by filling orders. This provides them with an excellent opportunity to learn the products, clients and paperwork along with any electronic inventory system which could take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is really easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for delivery.
The next suggestion is to schedule the truck arrival, as you truly do not want all trucks to arrive at the same time. By planning arrivals and being organized, you would eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers. The more effectively you can plan the arrival of your trucks, the less dock doors you will have to operate which would save you money on utilities in the long run.
If you are able to, operate different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive goods during one shift and separate the shipped products to another shift. Organizing yourself in this way may allow you to lessen the staging area needs by 50 percent. You might also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. Furthermore, by separating your shipping and receiving, you can keep track of orders more efficiently and will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road.
If the unloading process is sped up, this would tremendously help you out since the unloaded truck can congest your yard. Based on research, approximately 60% of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in less than an hour, whereas roughly 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business works at a similar standard. Make time to observe and time operations to be able to see exactly how your facility measures up overall.
Floor maintenance is key because floor defects may cause lift truck operators to take detours or slow down. This could result in a reduction of productivity. Deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors or potholes also result in vehicle damage and wheel wear. In some situations, floors that are really damaged can cause product damage and loads tipping.