Even though there are a lot of companies that start workers in the receiving area, they will be a lot better off to allot professionals to handle the put-away tasks. Experienced individuals who understand and know the products seldom mix items that are similar in appearance but are quite different and they really know how to stock bins and shelves correctly and hence, work more effectively.
It is a good idea if you have new employees to start them out by filling orders. This provides them with an excellent opportunity to learn the products, paperwork and clients along with any electronic inventory system that may take some getting used to. Moreover, it is easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders as soon as 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 pressure on shippers and receivers and also eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard. The more efficiently you can plan the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you will need to operate that would save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
If you can, operate different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive products in one shift and separate the shipped products to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner can allow you to lessen the staging area needs by 50%. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. Furthermore, by separating your shipping and receiving, you can keep track of orders more effectively and would know which shift to look over if any discrepancies occur down the road.
Speed up the unloading process. This will tremendously help you out as the longer a truck sits at your door for unloading or loading, the more congested your yard could become. According to research, about 60 percent of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in under an hour, whilst approximately 20 to 30% of the grocery industry works 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 because any defects in the surface of the floor could cause a forklift operator to slow down or take a detour. The uneven floors can greatly reduce productivity. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also cause wheel wear and vehicle damage. In some situations, floors that are really damaged could cause product damage and loads tipping.