A Cool Solution to Communications Problems

Communication has always been an issue for companies especially in a warehouse setting where you need to contact employees that are spread out throughout a large facility. It can be burdensome to track down the individual you need to speak with, so a company called Radicomm has developed a cross breed of cell phone and walkie-talkie to resolve this problem.

You need to communicate quickly and effectively with your workers, but cell phone costs are astronomical. What do you do? Radicomm has an effective method to communicate without having to pay for the monthly minutes required to keep communications going. Although, the premise is similar with the one button touch and talk system, it offers cell phone like convenience by allowing you to speak with an employee individually. Unlike walkie-talkies, you can speak with an individual confidentially without the fear of broadcasting the conversation.

It runs on automated data collectors that you already have connect to your existing LAN infrastructure. It runs on a Windows Mobile 5.0 or later version software that is encrypted for safety. You can determine how the phones are used and to whom the employee can speak with in order to prevent abuse of the system. A great feature is that it is voice enabled and do not have a monthly service charge.

Procurement: Both Art & Science

Poor procurement practices can cost your organization millions in lost revenue and added expenditures because of over inventory issues. Procurement is a science that requires talent in project management and serious multi-tasking. Procurement requires a knowledge and talent for managing, controlling, directing purchases, and coordinating movement of the materials that arrive to the warehouse.

Of utmost importance is researching and developing resources for supplies and parts. Managing supply sources requires oversight of the quality of material received, quantity, dependability, and involving closely following trends in the market for those resources needed. Another important talent is contract management. Negotiating long or short-term contracts is a critical aspect of meeting budget restrictions. Remember to ask about an opt-out option if the supplier does not meet your specific standards of delivery.

It is easy to see how poor procurement practices affect your bottom line. No, wrong parts, or under stock of inventory affects manufacturing leading to no or delayed production and very angry customers. An overstock in supplies is a huge waste of money.

It is essential to the success of your third party logistics company or warehouse distribution center to work closely with both your suppliers and customers, so you can closely coordinate activity within the plant. If you need to hire an employee to fill this position, consider someone with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and five plus years prior experience preferably within the same industry. Important to the overall efficiently in production is a strong individual and best practice.

Warehouse Auctions

I recently interviewed an individual that spent her childhood in post war Europe after World War II. Guess what folks, I was told that the economy is worse now than it was after a world war. We are all looking for ways to save a buck and in today’s market, every little bit helps.

Opportunity abounds if you are looking for them. Smart business owners are looking for ways to expand and maintain their current holdings by purchasing new to them equipment. With a great deal of closures because of down-sizing, right sizing, or company closures, used and refurbished warehouse equipment are being liquidated at an enormous discount. We are talking about trucks, conveyors, loaders, lift trucks, air compressors, and much more at a fourth of the price of new equipment.

The savings of purchasing used and surplus equipment can offset the cost of shipping, even for tremendously heavy equipment like trackers. Specialty online and live auctions houses have become popular options for a variety of industries including manufacturing, third party logistics companies, as well as warehouse facilities.

The internet is a popular method to begin your search. It is recommended that you research the auction house to ensure it is a reputable provider. Keep in mind that it is best to view physically your merchandise before actually purchasing. Unfortunately, there are scam artists that will take advantage of you if you have little knowledge of the product and have not invested the time to review the merchandise before purchasing.

Happy Shopping.

Important to the Success of Any Organization

Warehousing managers, third party logistics companies, and supply chain managers all have the same problem, which is to hire individuals that are competent to do the job. Hiring the wrong person for any position is detrimental to the success of an organization; more so if he or she is in a management position.

Creating a job description is the first step to hiring the right person. Without one, you really have no idea what skills are required by the individual to do an effective job at running the operations. The error that many managers make is not to get the input of workers that have actually worked in the position. Although, it is necessary to delineate the requirements of the positions, it is also important to speak with the employees that actually spend time in the trenches. Sorry to say, that unless you have worked your way up within the organization, you may not have a good idea of the day-to-day activities that a worker does. The other drawback is that working secluded in an office interacting with upper management, can lead to a disassociation between employees and upper-level management.

Lean manufacturing and ISO certification requires that each position and job is broken down in the most basic steps in order to streamline work and help improve work performance. Start with the end in mind. What ultimately is the result that you need the employee to accomplish? Then consider the skills necessary to accomplish those goals. Input from not only your management team but staff in general can be an enormous help in determining those requirements.

Pallet Control Saves Money

A necessity for warehouses and at a unit cost of $2 to $80 for each pallet, loss and damage of pallets can add up very quickly and adversely affect your bottom line. Whether you purchase pallets or lease them from a company, it is essential to have a method of tracking them.

There are organizations that lease and manage pallets used by your organization. Pallet reconciliation is an important aspect of money management. They control activity with suppliers, haul, maintain, retrieve, dispose, and set up delivery points. In addition to tracking lost pallets and managing the redemption of pallets, Methods include manually counting the pallets, bar coding, radio frequency systems, and transmitter tags.

Some systems can track pallets anywhere in the worlds. Ultimately, this saves your organization an enormous sum of money by reconciling found pallets to invoices in order to maintain accuracy.

Whether you use software specifically designed for pallet management or a pallet management company, the concept is the same. Tracking pallets is an important aspect of maintaining costs. If you are unsure of how to approach this area of your business, then consider hiring a consultant to help you.

What Kind of Pallets Can You Use?

In virtually every country, state, manufacturing, warehouse, and third party logistics company you will find pallets used. There are multitudes of pallets to choose from depending on your needs.

Pallets are made of a variety of materials: each will provide a different level of strength and longevity. For instance:

Wood is the most prevalent and tends to be most affordable. Load capacity is about 2500 pounds and can be used 2 to 15 times before needing to be repaired. Drawbacks include moisture retention, warping, and splintering.

Plastic pallets have a load capacity of 1400 to 4000 pounds and can be used around 250 times. Drawbacks include warping because of weather exposure and cost tends to be on the higher side at $80 per unit.

Corrugated fiberboard carries approximately 1700 to 4000 capacity, is disposable, and runs at $5 to $7 a unit. Unfortunately, it is only good for one trip.

Metal is made from aluminum and stainless steel, can hold upwards of 5000 pounds, and can be used for up to 500 trips. Unfortunately, it is pricy. The price per unit can run as high as $250 per unit.

Prices vary depending on quality, quantity, and whether or not you use on outside source to provide the pallets or you purchase them directly.

Pods Warehouses

Whether for personal use or to meet the needs of business requirements for short or long-term storage, an alternative to the do-it-yourself storage that requires you to move either inventory or other materials via a truck and heavy lifting is the use of pods. An emerging trend is the use of pods, which is a container unit available in a variety of sizes to suite your storage needs.

What’s Nice?

• The pods are dropped off and picked up by the warehouse facility, which alleviates the worry of transportation.
• Although, the pods are stored in a warehouse facility, they are whether resistant
• The climate in the warehouse is controlled by using air conditioners and de-humidification systems
• The warehouses are under strict security and only you have the key to enter your pod
• They are portable, so they can be moved to the location of your choice at your convenience
• Do not pay for more square footage than necessary. Rent only the size pod that you need to accommodate your inventory or materials
• Can hire the warehouse to pack and unpack the pod

Warehouse storage has become much more flexible in the effort to meet the varying needs of the customer. If you are moving, have over stock in inventory, are remodeling, or relocating, there are alternatives to the typical self-storage warehouses of the past.

Team Building

Whether in a corporate office or warehouse environment, essential to any organization’s success is the ability of staff to work together. Essential to this task or opportunity, however you would like to look at it, is a strong leader that can be impartial and show common sense when dealing with employees and team building.

Each individual has their own sets of experiences, values, and personality traits, which influence how they interact with their coworkers and managers. Often if left to their own devices, employees are attracted to like-minded associates making it difficult for a truly integrated department or organization to share the same values concerning the success of the company.

Team building can take many forms, which could include personality assessments and group discussions of the results. This tends to be a great way to gain a good understanding of a coworker’s reactions and motivation. Other forms of team building can include volunteer work for a common cause or just going out to lunch to enjoy time away from the office or facility.

Team building does not have to cost the company a lot of money. Ultimately, any investment whether financially or time is well worth the rewards reflected in improved moral, communication, understanding, warehouse services, and ultimately profitability.