In the distribution center, active floor management could assist the managers to improve performance in 3 main ways. Be sure to regularly walk the floor to stay abreast of issues.
By having management show presence on the floor on a regular basis, it helps to identify which workers may require more training and which may be the next to be promoted to a supervisory position; it shows you consider the floor and all goings on there and the workers to be essential to the overall operation and extremely important; finally, you can address problems as they occur.
Determine the Utilization of Space: First, you must determine the cube utilization within you workspace, making sure to check how much empty space is located close to the ceiling. Implementing narrower aisles and higher racks and certain forklifts which work in those types of environments could greatly increase how you transport and store materials. What might not look like much wasted area could translate into thousands of extra dollars and square feet with a few adjustments.
Check for Obsolete Inventory: For instance, if a stock-keeping unit or SKU has not moved in over a year, then it is considered to be consuming valuable space. Also, if you have many half-full pallets staged or stored in aisles, you are also not utilizing valuable space to its full potential. By re-organizing existing stock and doing an inventory overhaul, much room could be made to accommodate objects that are moving faster.
How is the Flow of Product? Take the time to trace how exactly product flows through your facility regularly. Check to see if the flow is sequential and logical. Around 60% of direct labor within the warehouse is allotted to traveling from place to place. You can probably have less employees completing the same amount of work by being aware of product flow. Being able to move personnel to complete other tasks rather than having employees doubled up transporting objects will get more work out of the same amount of staff.
The order filling process must be reviewed and if it is identified that a variety of SKUs are mixed-up in one place. If orders do not require items of this mix, pickers are wasting time. Another huge waste of time is having the same SKU situated in many locations within the warehouse. Get the employees used of going to a particular location for each and every particular item so that they are just looking in one area and not traveling through the warehouse checking more than one location for the same thing. These small changes can vastly enhance the overall effectiveness within your warehouse.