Some companies may choose to utilize new workers in the shipping and receiving area, though they may be better served to assign pros to deal with these demanding tasks. Qualified people who really know and understand the products rarely mix items that are similar in appearance but are somewhat different and they really know how to correctly stock bins and shelves and therefore, work a lot more efficiently.
It is a great idea if you have new employees to start them out by filling orders. This provides them with an excellent chance 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 as soon as they are packed for shipment.
As you do not want to have lots of trucks arriving at the same time, the next step is to plan truck arrival. By being organized and scheduling arrivals, you would eliminate too much waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers. The more effectively you can schedule the arrival of your trucks, the less dock doors you will need to work which will save you money on utilities in the long run.
Operate with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you are able to, receive goods during one shift and separate your shipping to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this way could allow you to lessen the staging area requirements by 50 percent. You might also be able to get rid of time-wasting bottlenecks within the warehouse. Additionally, 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 efficiently.
Speed up the process of unloading. This will tremendously help you out as the longer a truck sits at your door for loading or unloading, the more congested your yard could become. Based on research, roughly 60% of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in under an hour, while roughly 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business performs at a similar standard. Take time to watch and time operations in order to see how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors as any defects in the floor's surface can cause a lift truck operator to slow down or take a detour. The uneven floors can greatly decrease production. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also result in vehicle damage and wheel wear. In some situations, floors that are really damaged could result in product damage and loads tipping.