Several businesses might choose to utilize new workers in the shipping and receiving area, although they may be better served to allocate professionals to handle these demanding tasks. Qualified individuals who really know and understand the products seldom mix items that are similar in appearance but are somewhat different and they really know how to properly 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 a great chance to learn the products, clients and paperwork as well as any electronic inventory system that can take some getting used to. Furthermore, it is easy to check their efficiency by going over their work orders as soon as they are packed for shipment.
The next suggestion is to schedule the truck arrival, because you really do not want all trucks to come at the same time. By being organized and planning arrivals, you will eliminate pressure on receivers and shippers and also eliminate too much waiting time in the yard. The more efficiently you could schedule the arrival of your trucks, the fewer dock doors you would have to work which will save you a lot of money on utilities in the long run.
If you can, work different shifts for shipping and receiving. One method is to receive goods in one shift and separate the shipped items to another shift. Organizing yourself in this way may allow you to reduce the staging area requirements 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 will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies occur down the road and can keep track of orders more efficiently.
Speed up the unloading process. This will really help you out because the longer a truck sits at your door for loading or unloading, the more congested your yard could become. Based on research, about 60% of mass merchants can unload trucks in less than 60 minutes, while roughly 20 to 30% of the grocery business works at a similar standard. Make time to watch and time operations in order to see how your facility measures up overall.
Maintain your floors because 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 reduce productivity. Deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors or potholes also result in wheel wear and vehicle damage. In some situations, floors that are really damaged could cause product damage and loads tipping.