Several businesses may choose to use new employees in the shipping and receiving area, though they might be better served to allocate professionals to handle these difficult jobs. Experienced people who truly understand and know the products rarely mix items that might seem the same but are somewhat different and they know how to correctly stock shelves and bins and therefore, work a lot 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, clients and paperwork as well as any electronic inventory system that could take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is really easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders once they are packed for shipment.
The next tip is to plan 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 pressure on shippers and receivers and also eliminate too much waiting time in the yard. The more efficiently you could schedule the arrival of your trucks, the less dock doors you will have to operate which 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 during one shift and separate the shipped products to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner may allow you to reduce the staging area needs by 50%. You might 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 happen down the road.
Speed up the process of unloading. This will really help you out since the longer a truck sits at your door for unloading or loading, the more congested your yard can become. Based on research, around 60% of mass merchants can unload trucks in less than an hour, whereas roughly 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business works at a similar standard. Make time to watch and time operations to be able to see how your facility measures up overall.
Floor maintenance is important because floor defects could cause lift truck operators to slow down or take detours. This can lead to a reduction of efficiency. Potholes or deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors also cause wheel wear and vehicle damage. In some cases, really damaged floors can lead to product damage and loads tipping.