Several businesses might choose to use new workers in the shipping and receiving area, though they might be better served to allocate professionals to deal with these difficult jobs. Qualified individuals who truly know and understand the products rarely mix items which may seem the same but are somewhat different and they truly know how to properly stock bins and shelves and hence, work more efficiently.
The best tip for new employees is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with a great opportunity to know the products, paperwork and customers as well as any electronic inventory system which might take some getting used to. Additionally, it is easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders when they are packed for shipment.
As you do not want to have many trucks arriving at the same time, the next step is to plan truck arrival. By being organized and scheduling arrivals, you would eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on shippers and receivers. The more efficiently you can plan the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would need to work that would truly save you money on utilities in the long run.
Operate with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you can, receive goods during one shift and separate your shipping to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner can allow you to reduce the staging area needs by 50 percent. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks within the warehouse. Moreover, by separating your shipping and receiving, you would know which shift to look over if any discrepancies occur down the road and could keep track of orders more effectively.
If the process of unloading is sped up, this will really help you out as the unloaded truck could congest your yard. Based on research, approximately 60% of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in under 60 minutes, whereas about 20 to 30 percent of the grocery industry works at a similar standard. Take time to watch and time operations to be able to see exactly how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors since any defects in the floor's surface can cause a lift truck operator to take a detour or slow down. The uneven floors can greatly reduce productivity. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also lead to wheel wear and vehicle damage. In some situations, really damaged floors can cause product damage and loads tipping.