Even though there are a lot of companies who begin employees in the receiving area, they would be a lot better off to assign professionals to handle the put-away tasks. Experienced people who know and understand the products seldom mix objects which may seem the same but are somewhat different and they know how to properly stock shelves and bins and hence, work more effectively.
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 along with any electronic inventory system that could take some getting used to. Additionally, 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 schedule the truck arrival, because you really do not want all trucks to arrive at the same time. By being organized and scheduling arrivals, you would eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers and also eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard. The more efficiently you could schedule the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you will need to operate which will save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
If you can, operate different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive products in one shift and separate the shipped items to another shift. Organizing yourself in this manner can allow you to reduce the staging area requirements by 50%. You may also be able to get rid of time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. What's more, 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 occur down the road.
Speed up the process of unloading. This will tremendously help you out because the longer a truck sits at your door for loading or unloading, the more congested your yard can become. Based on research, roughly 60% of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in under an hour, whilst about 20 to 30% of the grocery business works at a similar standard. Take time to observe and time operations to be able to see how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors since any defects in the floor's surface can cause a lift truck operator to take a detour or slow down. The uneven floors could greatly reduce production. Potholes or uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams also lead to wheel wear and vehicle damage. In certain situations, floors that are really damaged could lead to product damage and loads tipping.