You Might Have A Bad Warehouse If…It Has A Dirt Floor

This weeks bad warehouse story comes courtesy of Tom Freese, principal of Tom Freese & Associates Inc., and involves a dirt floor in a "clean room."

  

I’d add to what Tom said about it being “a little hard to reconcile a dirt floor with a clean warehouse”: It’s impossible to reconcile a dirt floor with a warehouse, most especially any facility that handles food, perishables and in this instance, pharmaceuticals.

Job No. 1 at any warehouse, no matter what goes in and out, is establishing and maintaining a competent efficient, safe and clean operation.

It’s not that hard to keep a warehouse clean; on the other hand a dirty warehouse speaks volumes about the owner’s attitude and image. I can’t think of a situation where a warehouse best practice benchmark would include dirt or a dirt floor.

No matter how automated or filled with management systems a warehouse may be, proper maintenance and cleanliness is the most basic and necessary bell and whistle. The WERC Best Practices Guide says this: “Good housekeeping must be part of any best-in-class warehouse. Best-in-class processes cannot succeed in a workplace that is cluttered, disorganized, or dirty. Poor workplace conditions lead to waste, product damage and safety issues ... Establishing basic workplace conditions is an essential first step in creating a safe and productive warehouse environment.”

So even if you don’t have a dirt floor, always keep it clean!

I really love your feedback - and love your contributions to share those bad warehouse stories to help educate the profession on what NOT to do, and maybe what to do if you’re not doing it.

If you've got an example of a bad warehouse practice, send me your story and photo(s) to [email protected]. If I feature your example in one of my blogs, WERC will send you a free copy of the WERC Warehousing & Fulfillment Process Benchmark & Best Practices Guide (a $160 value).

Your submission can be anonymous if you like so you don't get your boss or company in trouble! I'll be collecting examples all year and the winner will receive a free WERC Warehouse Certification Assessment by Supply Chain Visions, a $10,000 value. The runner up will win a free conference registration to the WERC conference (a $1,375 value).”