Warehouse MGMNT

Warehouse manager
Gooley (2013) talks about the seven wastes or muda that lean management
seeks to eliminate.
Examples in the warehouse include the following:
1. transportation (driving an empty forklift);
2. defects (time spent correcting errors such as misspicks);
3. inventories (congestion at the inbound and outbound areas);
4. motion (interrupting movement such as staging product before put-away);
5. waiting time (bottlenecks at pick locations);
6. overproduction (holding too much inventory); and
7. overprocessing (performing unnecessary steps such as labelling and checking).
A survey carried out by Cranfield University (Baker and Perotti 2008)

showed the average number of operators per supervisor were as follows:
1. small warehouse (< 10,000 square metres): 1 supervisor per 8 operators; and
2. large warehouse (> 10,000 square metres): 1 supervisor per 15 operators.
According to Ackerman (2000), effective supervisors and managers encourage an open

exchange of ideas and have frequent discussions with their staff and peers. They should have
nine critical attributes:
1. Excellent communication skills
The ability to receive and convey messages clearly and explicitly. Miscommunication
leads to confusion, wasted effort and a missed
opportunity.
2. An ability to delegate effectively
This is a hard skill to master but very effective when achieved. Once a task is
delegated, managers and supervisors must not oversee the task too closely but neither
should they abrogate responsibility. They need to monitor how the task is progressing
and give feedback on performance.
3. Motivational skills
Supervisors and managers need to understand their staff and adapt their approach to
motivation and feedback according to each person’s needs. Providing staff with
consistent feedback, even when they are performing well, is as important as the
feedback to less well-performing staff. According to Gavin Chappell, supply chain
director at Asda Walmart in the United Kingdom, ‘if you get the culture right and the
atmosphere, structure and progression right it’s not that difficult to get a motivated
team’ (Retail Week 2009).
4. Problem-solving skills
Problem-solving and decision-making skills are closely aligned and each requires a
person to identify and develop options, and having done so, act decisively.
5. Flexibility
Supervisors in today’s fast-moving warehouse environment need to be flexible, react
quickly to urgent requests and shift priorities easily. They are asked to oversee and
undertake many different tasks and they need to be able to handle stress caused by the
pressure to meet deadlines.
6. A comprehensive knowledge of company processes and procedures

Warehouse supervisors need to have a comprehensive understanding of the
company’s policies and procedures in order that they can effectively train warehouse
operatives and coordinate their work.
7. Ability to train others
8. Be customer oriented
Today supervisors need to be fully aware of customer requirements and manage the
operation in such a way that customer satisfaction is achieved within the parameters
set. However, they also need to be mindful of costs and the potential trade-offs
involved.
9. Teamwork skills
Supervisors need to be able to set out the goals of the company to their team and
outline how the team is going to contribute to these goals. Team-working skills and
capabilities include:
1. ability to work in a group;
2. ability to build relationships;
3. ability to cope under pressure;
4. negotiating skills;
5. ability to cooperate;
6. coordination and allocation of tasks;
7. influencing skills;
8. ability to compromise where necessary;
9. ability to make decisions.
LAYOUT
Data collection and analysis
The main floor-space areas within the warehouse that need to be calculated are as follows:
●● receiving area;
●● quarantine and inspection area;
●● reserve storage area;
●● carton-picking area;
●● item-pick area;
●● value-adding services area;
●● packing area;
●● despatch area;
●● cross-dock area;
●● empty pallet and packaging storage area;
●● MHE charging areas;
●● warehouse offices; and
●● restrooms.
The areas to concentrate on are as follows:

1. Gather as much data as possible and analyse it.
2. Try to imagine the business in 5–10 years’ time and build in flexibility.
3. Concentrate on the cubic capacity of the building.
4. Ensure the design is sympathetic to the existing storage equipment and MHE (if
applicable).
5. Put the health and safety of staff at the forefront of the design.
 In order to retain a conscientious and motivated workforce ensure that the facility
has sufficient lighting and ventilation.
 Provide ergonomic equipment.
6. Reduce the amount of movement required within the warehouse.
7. Try to standardize the packaging both for movement and storage.
8. Understand the local building regulations and floor loading requirements.
9. Don’t forget the outside of the building.
Summary and conclusion
An efficient warehouse layout should reduce the amount of travel and labour touch points. It
needs to avoid bottlenecks and cross traffic where feasible and ensure that movements take
place in a logical sequence.
The key principles of materials handling are as follows:

 continuous movement is most economic;
 economy is directly proportional to size of load;
 standardization reduces costs;
 mechanization improves efficiency;
 gravity is cheap; and
 simplicity is the goal.
Slips and trips

According to Scott Stone from Cisco Eagle companies need to:
 Enforce good housekeeping. Don’t allow spills to stay on the floor. Soak up oil or
greasy waste, and instantly mop up liquid spills. Be sure you have absorbent powders
and other cleaning agents on hand. Also, consider purchasing spill containment
systems and liquid storage cabinets.
 Don’t let your aisles become cluttered. Clutter can hide spills and cause fall hazards.
 Remove or strictly control the use of cell phones. People walking in a warehouse or
on a plant floor while texting or otherwise paying attention to their phone screen are
asking for an accident (a slip, or worse, collision with an industrial vehicle).
 Provide anti-slip mats wherever possible, but in particular in areas known for wet or
oily conditions. Install carpet mats at entrances to reduce wet shoes entering an area
where polished concrete can make them into ice skates.
 Make sure workers wear appropriate footwear on your plant floor. Slippery,
inadequate shoes are a major contributor to slip and fall accidents.
 Be sure handrails are installed wherever possible. Use gates and other obstructions to
slow the pace of walking in critical areas.
 Be certain that lighting is adequate.
 Train for success. Make sure people understand that running isn’t allowed on your
floor, nor are other dangerous behaviours.
 Keep floors and traffic routes free from obstructions that may present a hazard,
particularly near stairs, on emergency routes or in/near doorways.
Forklift
The key areas are as follows:
 Make sure that workers do not operate a forklift unless they have been trained and
licensed.
 Develop, implement and enforce a comprehensive written safety programme that
includes worker training, operator licensing and a timetable for reviewing and
revising the programme.
 Establish a vehicle inspection and maintenance programme.
 Retro fit forklifts with an operator restraint system if possible.
 Ensure that operators use only an approved lifting cage and adhere to general safety
practices for elevating personnel with a forklift. Also, secure the platform to the
lifting carriage or forks.
 Do not move the forklift whilst the cage is in the air.
 Provide means for personnel on the platform to shut off power to the truck whenever
the truck is equipped with vertical only or vertical and horizontal controls for lifting
personnel.
 Separate forklift traffic and other workers where possible.
 Limit some aisles to workers on foot only or forklifts only.
 Restrict the use of forklifts near time clocks, break rooms, cafeterias and main exits,
particularly when the flow of workers on foot is at a peak (such as at the end of a shift
or during breaks).
 Install physical barriers where practical to ensure that workstations are isolated from
aisles travelled by forklifts.
 Evaluate intersections and other blind corners to determine whether overhead dome
mirrors could improve the visibility of forklift operators or workers on foot.
 Make every effort to alert workers when a forklift is nearby. Use horns, audible
reversing alarms and flashing lights to warn workers and other forklift operators in the
area. Flashing lights are especially important in areas where the ambient noise level is
high.
 Ensure that workplace safety inspections are routinely conducted by a person who can
identify hazards and conditions that are dangerous to workers. Hazards include
obstructions in the aisle, blind corners and intersections and forklifts that come too
close to workers on foot. The person who conducts the inspections should have the
authority to implement prompt corrective measures.
The advantages of such a system include the following:

 high levels of accuracy;
 driving to wrong location is eliminated;
 reduction in order-picking mistakes;
 greater operator comfort;
 less stress for the driver;
 up to 25 per cent higher pick rate;
 higher order-picking quality;
 distance and time optimization;
 saves energy;
 distance optimization means energy optimization; and
 reduction in lighting within aisles is possible (‘pick by light on truck’).

Warehouse MGMNT

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Warehouse MGMNT

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Warehouse MGMNT

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Warehouse manager

A survey carried out by Cranfield University (Baker and Perotti 2008)

According to Ackerman (2000), effective supervisors and managers encourage an open

6. A comprehensive knowledge of company processes and procedures

The areas to concentrate on are as follows:

The key principles of materials handling are as follows:

Slips and trips

The advantages of such a system include the following:

You might also like