You Might Have a Bad Warehouse If…The Receiving Dock Is On the Second Floor

Let’s get the New Year off to a rousing bad warehouse start with something I personally witnessed, a two-story receiving operation.

The receiving dock in question had a second-story mezzanine. On its face this doesn’t seem like a very workable or efficient operation (and it wasn’t), but the rationale I heard for it was that the warehouse was “space constrained.”

But think about the result: Off the truck. On a pallet. On the forklift. Up to the 2nd floor. Off the pallet to receive. Back on the pallet. Back on the fork lift. Back to the main floor. It’s reminiscent of a Chinese fire drill!

Any best practice warehouse will have a steady and efficient flow into and out of the facility. It stands to reason that from a cost and efficiency standpoint the fewer touches, the better. As the WERC Best Practices Guide says, “some of the most valuable square footage in the warehouse is dock space.” It becomes much less valuable—and a logistical problem—if the receiving dock is upstairs!

The guide continues: “Docks in today’s warehouses must be more flexible and must support a variety of receipts that are coming in at a faster rate and in greater frequency and with just-in-time and VMI programs, smaller quantities and mixed pallets.” In addition, inefficiencies on the dock “cause extra costs from trailer detention fees, excessive trailer moves to support new arrivals or higher priority shipments, and in additional handling of materials on the dock.”

There are also hidden costs if a receiving dock is disorganized. Product or materials can be lost or misplaced in the rush, receiving transactions uncompleted, errors can multiply, and in the confusion materials are moved when they should not.

There might have been a good use for that mezzanine, say for storage, but not as a receiving dock.

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.

I need a fresh batch of your stories! 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).”