Even if there are numerous companies that start workers in the receiving area, they will be much better off to assign professionals to deal with the put-away jobs. Experienced individuals who really know and understand the products seldom mix things that may seem the same but are somewhat different and they really know how to stock bins and shelves properly and therefore, work much more efficiently.
The best suggestion for new employees is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with a great opportunity to know the products, paperwork and customers along with 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 as soon as they are packed for delivery.
The next tip is to schedule the truck arrival, since you really do not want all trucks to arrive at the same time. By planning arrivals and being organized, you will eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on shippers and receivers. The more efficiently you could plan the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would have to operate which would truly save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
Operate with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you can, receive goods in one shift and separate your shipping to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner can enable you to lessen the staging area requirements by 50 percent. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks within the warehouse. Moreover, by separating your shipping and receiving, you will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road and could keep track of orders more efficiently.
Speed up the process of unloading. This would really help you out as the longer a truck sits at your door for unloading or loading, the more congested your yard can become. Based on studies, roughly 60 percent of mass merchants could unload trucks in less than 60 minutes, while about 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 important since floor defects may cause forklift operators to slow down or take detours. This can result in a reduction of efficiency. Potholes or deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors also result in wheel wear and vehicle damage. In some cases, really damaged floors can result in loads tipping and product damage.