Some companies might prefer to utilize new employees in the shipping and receiving area, although they might be better served to assign professionals to handle these challenging jobs. Qualified people who really know and understand the products seldom mix items that are similar in appearance but are somewhat different and they know how to stock bins and shelves correctly and thus, work more effectively.
The best tip for new employees is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with a great opportunity to learn the products, clients and paperwork along with any electronic inventory system which may take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is very easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders when they are packed for shipment.
Because 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 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 plan the arrival of your trucks, the less dock doors you will need to work which would truly save you 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 a different shift. Organizing yourself in this way could enable you to lessen the staging area requirements by 50 percent. You might also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. In addition, 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 effectively.
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. According to research, roughly 60% of mass merchants can unload trucks in under an hour, whilst approximately 20 to 30 percent of the grocery industry performs at a similar standard. Take time to observe and time operations to be able to see precisely how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors since any defects in the floor's surface could cause a forklift operator to take a detour or slow down. The uneven floors can really decrease efficiency. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also result in vehicle damage and wheel wear. In some cases, really damaged floors could lead to product damage and loads tipping.