In the distribution center, active floor supervision can help the supervisors to improve performance in 3 key ways. Be sure to walk the floor on a regular basis to stay abreast of problems.
It helps to identify which workers might need more training by having regular presence on management on the floor. These regular visits could be used to see who might be the next to be promoted to a managerial position; it shows you consider the floor and everything that occurs there and the employees to be vital to the overall operation and very important; finally, you can address issues as they happen.
Determine the Use of Space: To begin with, you must determine the cube utilization within you workplace, making sure to examine how much empty space is situated near the ceiling. Implementing higher racks and narrow aisles and certain forklifts which operate in those kinds of settings could really increase how you store and move supplies. What might not seem like much wasted area could mean thousands of extra dollars and square feet with a few adjustments.
Check for Obsolete Inventory: If you see a stock-keeping unit or SKU has not moved in more than a year, it is definitely consuming valuable space. In addition, if you have many half-full pallets that are staged or stored in aisles, you are also not utilizing valuable space to its full potential. By re-organizing existing stock and doing an inventory overhaul, much space can be made to accommodate items that are moving faster.
How is the Flow of Product? Make the time to trace how exactly product flows through your facility regularly. Check to see if the flow is logical and sequential. Around 60% of direct labor within the warehouse is allotted to traveling from place to place. You could potentially have less personnel finishing the same amount of work by being aware of product flow. Being able to move personnel to complete various other tasks rather than having workers doubled up transporting items will get more work out of the same amount of personnel.
The order filling method must be reviewed and if it is identified that a variety of SKUs are mixed-up in one location. If orders do not need items of this mix, pickers are wasting time. One more big waste of time is having the same SKU located in many locations within the warehouse. Get the staff used of going to a specific place for every specific item so that they are just looking in one area and not traveling all over the warehouse checking more than one place for the same item. These small changes could vastly enhance the overall efficiency inside your warehouse.