Even though there are a lot of businesses that begin workers in the receiving area, they would be a lot better off to allot pro's to deal with the put-away jobs. Experienced people who really know and understand the products seldom mix objects that may look the same but are somewhat different and they know how to correctly stock shelves and bins and hence, work much more efficiently.
The best tip for new employees is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with a great chance to learn the products, customers and paperwork as well as any electronic inventory system which can take some getting used to. In addition, it is very easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for shipment.
As you do not want to have a lot of trucks arriving at the same time, the next step is to plan truck arrival. By planning arrivals and being organized, you will eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers and also eliminate too much waiting time in the yard. The more efficiently you can plan the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would need to operate which would 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 during one shift and separate the shipped products to another shift. Organizing yourself in this way can enable you to reduce the staging area requirements by 50 percent. You may also be able to get rid of time-wasting bottlenecks within the warehouse. What's more, 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.
If the unloading process is sped up, this would tremendously help you out as the unloaded truck can congest your yard. Based on studies, around 60 percent of mass merchants could unload trucks in under 60 minutes, whilst roughly 20 to 30 percent of the grocery industry works at a similar standard. Take time to watch and time operations to be able to see how your facility measures up overall.
Floor maintenance is crucial as floor defects could cause forklift operators to slow down or take detours. This could lead to a reduction of efficiency. Deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors or potholes also result in wheel wear and vehicle damage. In certain situations, floors which are really damaged could cause loads tipping and product damage.