Several businesses may choose to utilize new employees in the shipping and receiving area, though they may be better served to assign professionals to deal with these demanding jobs. Experienced individuals who truly know and understand the products seldom mix items which may look the same but are quite different and they know how to properly stock bins and shelves and therefore, work much more efficiently.
The best tip for new employees is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with an excellent chance to know the products, clients and paperwork along with any electronic inventory system that can take some getting used to. In addition, it is really easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for delivery.
The next suggestion is to schedule the truck arrival, as you really do not want all trucks to come at the same time. By planning arrivals and being organized, you would 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 less dock doors you will have to work which would save you money on utilities in the long run.
If you are able to, operate different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive goods during one shift and separate the shipped items to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this manner may allow you to lessen the staging area needs by 50%. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. Also, by separating your shipping and receiving, you could keep track of orders more efficiently and will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road.
If the process of unloading is sped up, this would tremendously help you out since the unloaded truck could congest your yard. According to studies, about 60% of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in less than 60 minutes, while around 20 to 30% 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 since floor defects may cause forklift operators to slow down or take detours. This may lead to a reduction of productivity. Deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors or potholes also lead to wheel wear and vehicle damage. In certain situations, floors which are really damaged could lead to loads tipping and product damage.