Several businesses might choose to use new employees in the shipping and receiving area, though they may be better served to allocate professionals to handle these demanding tasks. Experienced individuals who know and understand the products seldom mix items which are similar in appearance but are somewhat different and they know how to properly stock shelves and bins and hence, work much more efficiently.
It is a great idea if you have new staff to start them out by filling orders. This provides them with an excellent opportunity to know the products, clients and paperwork along with any electronic inventory system that can take some getting used to. Moreover, it is really easy to check their effectiveness by going over their work orders once they are packed for shipment.
Since you do not want to have many trucks arriving at the same time, the next step is to plan truck arrival. By scheduling arrivals and being organized, you will eliminate pressure on shippers and receivers and also eliminate too much waiting time in the yard. The more efficiently you can schedule the arrival of your trucks, the less dock doors you will have to operate that would truly save you 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 during one shift and separate the shipped products to another shift. Organizing yourself in this way may enable you to reduce the staging area requirements by 50 percent. You might also be able to get rid of time-wasting bottlenecks in the warehouse. As well, by separating your shipping and receiving, you will know which shift to look over if any discrepancies happen down the road and could keep track of orders more efficiently.
Speed up the unloading process. This would tremendously help you out as the longer a truck sits at your door for unloading or loading, the more congested your yard can become. According to research, about 60 percent of mass merchants are capable of unloading trucks in less than 60 minutes, whereas roughly 20 to 30 percent of the grocery business works at a similar standard. Take time to watch and time operations in order to see precisely how your facility measures up overall.
Floor maintenance is crucial as floor defects may cause forklift operators to take detours or slow down. This may result in a reduction of productivity. Potholes or deteriorating floor section seams or uneven floors also lead to vehicle damage and wheel wear. In some situations, floors that are really damaged can lead to loads tipping and product damage.