We are coming up on seasonal changes, which affect the influx of orders within a warehouse. At this point, you should have already planned your strategy with management to determine your workforce needs. Important metrics to review are past and future market trends, client orders, vendor deliveries, time of year, and cross-docking requirements in order to determine man hours that will be needed. Remember to consider training requirements and specialized knowledge that might be required.
Next, breakout duties to determine specialized and specific needs, understand your available labor resources, and estimate man power hours that will be required to fulfill orders. Important to the success of your workforce planning is the use of a warehouse management system that will help you determine material flow, coordinate labor with output requirement, and productivity reports, which help determine productivity. Critical to this process is to balance the mitigation of downtown yet avoid employee shortage, which affects completion of shipments. Remember to continue to evaluate, revise, and re-evaluate your workload planning often to maximize your labor resources.
Finally, communication on all levels is critical to the preparation and continued excellence in service in order to avoid misunderstanding, which can lead to a decrease in profitability because of waste or unsatisfied clients.
Sources
it.toolbox.com/blogs/wms-essentials/what-is-warehouse-management-system-wms-18819
builderau.com.au/strategy/projectmanagement/soa/Workload-planning-is-an-ongoing-process/0,339028292,320274629,00.htm#comment-1
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2 comments:
I love all the planning talk. Strategy is key in creating smooth transitions. One point I'd like to add is the value of a team approach. Multiple perspectives on the best way to approach challenges means all bases are covered.
Thanks for the feedback. It's very helpful and enjoyable to get additional points of view.
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