Even if there are lots of businesses who start employees in the receiving area, they would be a lot better off to allot pro's to handle the put-away jobs. Experienced individuals who truly understand and know the products seldom mix items that may look the same but are somewhat different and they know how to properly stock bins and shelves and thus, work much more efficiently.
The best suggestion for new staff is to start them out filling orders. This provides them with an excellent opportunity to learn the products, paperwork and customers along with any electronic inventory system which might take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for shipment.
The next tip is to plan the truck arrival, because you really do not want all trucks to arrive at the same time. By planning arrivals and being organized, you will eliminate excessive waiting time in the yard and also eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers. The more efficiently you could plan the arrival of your trucks, the less dock doors you would have to operate which would really save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
If you are able to, work different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive products in one shift and separate the shipped products to a different shift. Organizing yourself in this manner may enable you to reduce the staging area needs by 50 percent. You may also be able to eliminate time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. Also, by separating your shipping and receiving, you can keep track of orders more efficiently and will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies occur down the road.
Speed up the unloading process. This would tremendously help you out because the longer a truck sits at your door for loading or unloading, the more congested your yard can become. According to studies, about 60 percent of mass merchants can unload trucks in less than an hour, whereas approximately 20 to 30 percent of the grocery industry performs at a similar standard. Make time to watch and time operations to be able to see exactly 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 greatly reduce efficiency. Potholes or uneven floors or deteriorating floor section seams also cause vehicle damage and wheel wear. In certain cases, floors which are really damaged could cause product damage and loads tipping.