Make sure to keep cables or suspended equipment from hanging over pedestrian walkways or vehicle lanes. Take advantage of wall space to add storage lockers or hooks. Manage cords on the floor with tape, or cover them with cord covers. [5] X Research source
You may wish to develop a safety program specifically tailored to your company. Work with human resources to develop training materials. [8] X Research source Consider online training, which may allow you to archive training materials (videos and print-outs) so they can be viewed many times. [9] X Research source
Make sure these employees are trained to identify hazards, respond to them quickly, follow safety protocols, and take special care in the loading-dock area. [11] X Research source If certification is required to operate vehicles or equipment (such as a forklift), you must verify that employees have received this training. [12] X Research source
Educate your employees on appropriate protective gear such as hard hats, steel-toed boots, safety goggles, and heavy gloves. [13] X Research source Make sure forklift or other machinery operators are properly trained to use only designated lanes when moving such equipment around the warehouse.
Report, replace or repair any damaged or missing safety features. Lights, reverse sensors, and warning signals should be tested on vehicles. [14] X Research source Plan periodic vehicle, machinery, equipment and loading dock examinations and maintenance in order to maintain safety and prevent accidents. Test repaired equipment to make sure it is safe before returning it to the warehouse floor. [15] X Research source Plan periodic vehicle, machinery, equipment and loading dock examinations and maintenance in order to maintain safety and prevent accidents. Immediately attend to any reported safety hazards. [16] X Research source
Morale and group continuity are important aspects of effective operations. Groups that work well together tend to get things done quickly. Ensuring there is good morale helps the team to be productive. It is important to develop a positive workplace culture and also to give the employees opportunities to participate in relevant decision making where possible. This increases their sense of ownership of the activities they’re responsible for and may even encourage them to come up with innovations to improve the workplace.
Involve the appropriate supervisor in the decision. He or she may have good insight in picking the right applicant. [22] X Research source Plan periodic vehicle, machinery, equipment and loading dock examinations and maintenance in order to maintain safety and prevent accidents.
Make yourself available in case new hires have questions while they are settling in. Retraining may also be required, as processes within the warehouse’s organization may change. Make sure to schedule time for retraining each employee if this is the case. You can also cross-train employees (train them in more than one role) so that if one employee is ill or fired, others can temporarily take their place.
You may also ask supervisors for input regarding employee performance. Make sure you follow up with any corrective actions. Have a metric by which you can assess progress and capability of each employee. For example, this could be how long it takes an employee to complete a task, how long it takes to solve a specific problem, and the like.
Consider firing an employee if they consistently ignore safety procedures, show up late for work regularly, skip work, show up intoxicated to work, fail to complete tasks in a timely manner, or otherwise disrupt warehouse operations on a regular basis.
Make sure you have a means to assess when employees are stressed out. Signs an employee is stressed out can include a lowering of professionalism, overthinking things and inability to deal with external disruptions without losing a whole day’s productivity.
Make sure your warehouse is easily navigable by clearly labeling aisles and product groups. For example, let’s say your warehouse stocks computer components. You have everything from memory and processors to accessories like keyboards and webcams. However, the items you move most are replacement power cords. In this case, you should keep your stock of power cords closer to the loading area and easily within reach at waist or shoulder height so that they can be moved quickly and easily. This area should be labeled clearly as “power cords” or something similar.
Imagine that your computer-components warehouse regularly ships small numbers of your power cords to a large number of electronics stores. Try organizing your picking lists so that the total number of power cords is taken from the power cord aisle at one time and then separated before shipping. This will avoid having your pickers go back and forth all day. Some managers choose to implement a system of color-coding on picking lists that can either organize items by warehouse area or by customer priority, where certain colors indicate high-volume clients.
In some cases this system will have to comply with overall company policy. Make sure to learn this policy so that you can correctly implement it in warehouse operations. [23] X Research source
Use only designated areas for merchandise storage. Make certain employees have clearly marked these areas and are storing only the specified items according to the markings. Check pallets for damage, and make sure staff know how to load pallets properly for stability. Record inspection dates and any damage you find. Start the repair process or discard items as needed.
Discuss new ideas, improved procedures, equipment replacement, budgets, staff promotions, recommendations and all other work-related topics. Address questions relating to damaged merchandise or to purchasing concerns regarding vendors, pricing, quality, or merchandise availability. [24] X Research source
Coordinating loading and unloading means trying to schedule the arrival and departure of trucks in such a way that they will not have to wait while other trucks are being loaded or unloaded. Make sure that your docks are constantly being used and that there are never more trucks present than available spaces. You should also focus on limiting arrivals such that your unloading team has adequate time to unpack and sort the arriving items before more arrive. If they arrive faster than that, it creates a “bottleneck” that leads to costly inefficiencies, not to mention employee stress and frustration.
Give your receiving team enough space to work. This ensures that recently received products are not mixed up with existing product.
Put an experienced employee whom you trust in charge of quality control. Their experience can save your warehouse a good amount of money.
