Even though there are many companies who start employees in the receiving area, they would be much better off to assign pro's to deal with the put-away tasks. Experienced people who really understand and know the products rarely mix objects that are similar in appearance but are somewhat different and they know how to stock shelves and bins correctly and hence, work more effectively.
It is a great idea if you have new employees to start them out by filling orders. This provides them with a great chance to know the products, customers and paperwork as well as any electronic inventory system which could take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is very easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders once they are packed for delivery.
The next suggestion is to plan the truck arrival, because you truly do not want all trucks to arrive at the same time. By being organized and scheduling arrivals, you will eliminate too much waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers. The more efficiently you can plan the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would have to work which would save you money on utilities in the long run.
Operate with different shifts for shipping and receiving. If you are able to, receive goods in one shift and separate your shipping to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this manner may allow you to lessen the staging area needs by 50 percent. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. In addition, by separating your shipping and receiving, you could keep track of orders more effectively and would know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road.
Speed up the unloading process. This would tremendously help you out since the longer a truck sits at your door for unloading or loading, the more congested your yard can become. According to studies, about 60 percent of mass merchants can unload trucks in less than 60 minutes, whereas around 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business performs at a similar standard. Take time to observe and time operations in order to see precisely how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors as any defects in the surface of the floor could cause a lift truck operator to slow down or take a detour. The uneven floors can really reduce production. Uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams or potholes also lead to wheel wear and vehicle damage. In certain situations, really damaged floors can result in loads tipping and product damage.