Even though there are many companies that start workers in the receiving area, they would be much better off to assign professionals to handle the put-away tasks. Qualified individuals who truly know and understand the products rarely mix items that are similar in appearance but are quite different and they really know how to correctly stock shelves and bins and hence, work more efficiently.
The best suggestion for new staff is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with a great chance to know the products, paperwork and customers along with any electronic inventory system that might take some getting used to. Moreover, it is very easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for shipment.
Since you do not want to have many trucks arriving at the same time, the next step is to schedule truck arrival. By scheduling arrivals and being organized, you will eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers and also eliminate too much waiting time in the yard. The more effectively you could schedule the arrival of your trucks, the less dock doors you will have to work which would save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
Operate with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you can, receive products during one shift and separate your shipping to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner could enable you to lessen the staging area requirements by 50%. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. As well, by separating your shipping and receiving, you can keep track of orders more efficiently and will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies occur down the road.
If the process of unloading is sped up, this will really help you out because the unloaded truck could congest your yard. Based on studies, approximately 60% of mass merchants could unload trucks in under an hour, whereas about 20 to 30% of the grocery industry works at a similar standard. Make time to observe and time operations in order to see exactly how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors because any defects in the floor's surface can cause a forklift operator to take a detour or slow down. The uneven floors can really decrease efficiency. Potholes or uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams also result in vehicle damage and wheel wear. In some situations, really damaged floors can cause product damage and loads tipping.