Even though there are a lot of companies who start workers in the receiving area, they will be much better off to assign pro's to handle the put-away tasks. Experienced individuals who understand and know the products seldom mix things that are similar in appearance but are quite different and they know how to stock bins and shelves properly and thus, work much more efficiently.
The best suggestion for new staff is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with an excellent chance to learn the products, paperwork and customers along with any electronic inventory system that may take some getting used to. Additionally, it is very easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for delivery.
Because you do not want to have a lot of trucks arriving at the same time, the next step is to plan truck arrival. By being organized and scheduling arrivals, you will eliminate too much waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers. The more efficiently you could schedule the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would have to work which will truly 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 products in one shift and separate the shipped items to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner may enable you to reduce the staging area needs by 50 percent. You might also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. Also, by separating your shipping and receiving, you could keep track of orders more effectively and will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road.
Speed up the process of unloading. This would tremendously help you out since the longer a truck sits at your door for unloading or loading, the more congested your yard could become. According to research, approximately 60 percent of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in under an hour, whereas around 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business performs at a similar standard. Take time to observe and time operations to be able to see how your facility measures up overall.
Floor maintenance is important because floor defects can cause forklift operators to take detours or slow down. This could lead to a reduction of productivity. Potholes or deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors also lead to wheel wear and vehicle damage. In some situations, really damaged floors could cause loads tipping and product damage.