Several companies may prefer to utilize new employees in the shipping and receiving area, though they might be better served to assign pros to deal with these demanding jobs. Experienced individuals who understand and know the products rarely mix items that are similar in appearance but are quite different and they know how to correctly stock bins and shelves and thus, work more efficiently.
The best suggestion for new staff is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with an excellent opportunity to learn the products, clients and paperwork along with any electronic inventory system that can take some getting used to. In addition, it is easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for shipment.
The next suggestion is to plan the truck arrival, as you truly do not want all trucks to come at the same time. By being organized and scheduling arrivals, you will eliminate pressure on shippers and receivers and also eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard. The more efficiently you could plan the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would need to work that would save you money on utilities in the long run.
Work with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you are able to, receive goods during one shift and separate your shipping to another shift. Organizing yourself in this way could allow you to reduce the staging area needs by 50%. You may also be able to get rid of time-wasting bottlenecks within the warehouse. Moreover, by separating your shipping and receiving, you could 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 really help you out as the longer a truck sits at your door for loading or unloading, the more congested your yard could become. Based on research, roughly 60 percent of mass merchants could unload trucks in less than an hour, whilst roughly 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business performs 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 key because floor defects could cause forklift operators to take detours or slow down. This could lead to a reduction of efficiency. Potholes or uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams also lead to wheel wear and vehicle damage. In certain situations, really damaged floors can cause loads tipping and product damage.