Several businesses might prefer to utilize new employees in the shipping and receiving area, although they may be better served to assign pros to handle these demanding jobs. Experienced people who really know and understand the products rarely mix things which may look the same but are quite different and they know how to properly stock bins and shelves and therefore, work more efficiently.
The best tip for new employees is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with a great chance to learn the products, customers and paperwork as well as any electronic inventory system which can take some getting used to. Additionally, it is easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for shipment.
Because you do not want to have lots of trucks arriving at the same time, the next step is to plan truck arrival. By scheduling arrivals and being organized, you would eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers and also eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard. The more effectively you can schedule 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.
If you are able to, operate different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive goods in one shift and separate the shipped items to another shift. Organizing yourself in this way may allow you to lessen the staging area requirements by 50%. You might also be able to get rid of 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 happen down the road.
Speed up the process of unloading. This would really 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 studies, roughly 60 percent of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in less than an hour, whereas around 20 to 30% of the grocery industry performs at a similar standard. Take time to observe and time operations in order to see exactly how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors because any defects in the surface of the floor could cause a lift truck operator to slow down or take a detour. The uneven floors could greatly decrease efficiency. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also lead to wheel wear and vehicle damage. In certain cases, floors that are really damaged could result in product damage and loads tipping.