Even if there are numerous businesses who begin workers in the receiving area, they will be a lot better off to allot pro's to deal with the put-away tasks. Experienced individuals who know and understand the products rarely mix objects which are similar in appearance but are quite different and they know how to stock shelves and bins correctly and thus, work a lot more efficiently.
The best suggestion for new employees is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with an excellent opportunity to know the products, customers and paperwork along with any electronic inventory system that can take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is very easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders once 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 schedule truck arrival. By being organized and planning arrivals, you will eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on shippers and receivers. The more efficiently you can schedule the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would need to work that will truly save you money on utilities in the long run.
If you can, work different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive products in one shift and separate the shipped products to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this manner could enable 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. As well, by separating your shipping and receiving, you can keep track of orders more efficiently and would know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road.
Speed up the unloading process. This would tremendously help you out since the longer a truck sits at your door for unloading or loading, the more congested your yard can become. Based on studies, about 60% of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in less than 60 minutes, whereas around 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business performs at a similar standard. Make time to observe 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 forklift operator to take a detour or slow down. The uneven floors could really reduce production. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also result in vehicle damage and wheel wear. In certain situations, floors which are really damaged can result in product damage and loads tipping.