Even though there are a lot of businesses who start employees in the receiving area, they would be much better off to assign pro's to handle the put-away jobs. Experienced individuals who really know and understand the products seldom mix objects that may seem the same but are somewhat different and they know how to properly stock bins and shelves and therefore, work much more effectively.
It is a great idea if you have new staff to start them out by filling orders. This provides them with a great opportunity to know the products, paperwork and customers along with any electronic inventory system which could take some getting used to. Additionally, it is very easy to check their effectiveness 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 plan truck arrival. By planning arrivals and being organized, you would eliminate too much waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers. The more effectively you could schedule the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would need to operate which would really save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
Work with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you can, receive goods during one shift and separate your shipping to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner can enable you to lessen the staging area needs by 50 percent. You might also be able to get rid of time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. Also, 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 unloading process is sped up, this will really help you out since the unloaded truck could congest your yard. Based on studies, roughly 60 percent of mass merchants could unload trucks in less than 60 minutes, whereas around 20 to 30 percent of the grocery industry performs at a similar standard. Make time to watch and time operations to be able to see how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors since any defects in the floor's surface could cause a lift truck operator to slow down or take a detour. The uneven floors could greatly decrease productivity. Potholes or deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors also result in wheel wear and vehicle damage. In certain situations, really damaged floors could result in product damage and loads tipping.