Several businesses may choose to use new workers in the shipping and receiving area, though they might be better served to assign pros to deal with these difficult tasks. Experienced people who understand and know the products seldom mix things which may seem the same but are somewhat different and they know how to stock shelves and bins properly and therefore, work more efficiently.
The best tip for new staff is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with an excellent chance to know the products, paperwork and customers along with any electronic inventory system that may take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders once they are packed for delivery.
The next suggestion is to plan the truck arrival, since you really do not want all trucks to come at the same time. By planning arrivals and being organized, you would eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on shippers and receivers. The more effectively you could plan the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would have to work that will really 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 products in one shift and separate the shipped products to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this manner can enable you to reduce the staging area requirements by 50 percent. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. Moreover, by separating your shipping and receiving, you would know which shift to look over if any discrepancies occur down the road and can keep track of orders more effectively.
If the unloading process is sped up, this would really help you out because the unloaded truck can congest your yard. Based on research, about 60 percent of mass merchants could unload trucks in under an hour, whilst around 20 to 30% of the grocery business performs at a similar standard. Take time to watch and time operations in order to see precisely how your facility measures up overall.
Floor maintenance is key because floor defects can cause forklift operators to take detours or slow down. 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.