Even though there are numerous companies that start employees in the receiving area, they will be a lot better off to allot pro's to handle the put-away jobs. Qualified individuals who truly understand and know the products seldom mix things that might look the same but are quite different and they know how to correctly stock bins and shelves and thus, work more effectively.
It is a good idea if you have new staff to start them out by filling orders. This provides them with an excellent chance to know the products, clients and paperwork as well as any electronic inventory system which can take some getting used to. Additionally, it is very easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders once they are packed for shipment.
The next suggestion is to schedule the truck arrival, as you really do not want all trucks to come at the same time. By being organized and planning arrivals, you would 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 less dock doors you would need to operate that will truly save you money on utilities in the long run.
If you can, work different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive products during one shift and separate the shipped products to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this manner may allow you to reduce the staging area requirements by 50%. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks within the warehouse. What's more, by separating your shipping and receiving, you would know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road and can keep track of orders more effectively.
Speed up the unloading process. This would really help you out as the longer a truck sits at your door for loading or unloading, the more congested your yard could become. According to research, around 60% of mass merchants can unload trucks in less than an hour, whilst about 20 to 30% of the grocery industry performs at a similar standard. Take time to watch and time operations in order to see how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors since any defects in the surface of the floor can cause a lift truck operator to slow down or take a detour. The uneven floors can really decrease production. Deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors or potholes also result in vehicle damage and wheel wear. In some cases, floors which are really damaged can cause loads tipping and product damage.