<$MTBlogName$

« You Might Have a Bad Warehouse If…The Returns Are Beeping at You | Main

You Might Have a Bad Warehouse If…The Special Place Isn’t So Special

By Kate Vitasek | 03/19/2012 | 5:00 AM

This week’s bad warehouse blog is one related to goods with receiving issues that create unnecessary and costly delays and backlogs.

This could happen at any warehouse because as it is fairly common. It happens when product comes into receiving, has some sort of issue—for instance mis-markings or damage—and thus is moved over to a “special place.” It’s not uncommon for it to take more than a week to clear the product from that special place and in some cases I’ve seen backlogs of up to three months. Loading dock

That kind of delay can’t be tolerated in a best practice warehouse: it’s inefficient and costly for all concerned. It’s virtually the first thing out of the WERC Best Practices Guide’s gate—“the basic function of the receiving and inspection process is to take responsibility for the inbound material, validate the material received to the purchase order (PO), check for any damage to the material received and complete any required material inspections. Getting it right when you receive material will reduce headaches in downstream processes.”

Inefficiencies on the receiving dock mean extra costs, such as trailer detention fees, and there are also hidden costs from an organized receiving dock. The guide continues, “It is not uncommon that materials are lost or misplaced in the rush, that receiving transactions are not completed or errors are made, and in the confusion materials are moved when they should not.”

A temporary holding area for product with issues should be exactly that: temporary. It should not disappear into a special place because that will only create special headaches.

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).”

TrackBack (0)

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a0120a4de92fb970b0168e8e24e6a970c

Comments

bbb

By submitting your comments, you agree to our Terms of Service.

The opinions expressed herein are those solely of the participants, and do not necessarily represent the views of Agile Business Media, LLC., its properties or its employees.

About Kate Vitasek

Kate Vitasek

Kate Vitasek is a nationally recognized innovator in the practice of supply chain management. Vitasek is founder of Supply Chain Visions—a boutique consulting firm specializing in supply chain management. She is also a faculty member at the University of Tennessee's Center for Executive Education. A prolific writer, Vitasek has authored the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' best-selling mini-book series, Supply Chain Process Standards, and has contributed to other management books as well. Along with Karl Manrodt of Georgia Southern University, she co-leads WERC's popular annual benchmarking study.



About Steve Murray

Steve Murray

Steve Murray is a Principal Consultant and Chief of Research for Supply Chain Visions, a boutique consulting firm specializing in supply chain management. Prior to joining Supply Chain Visions he held a variety of functional and management roles in the distribution and manufacturing sectors, including 15 year managing an IT consulting firm. Steve has been instrumental in development of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professional's "Supply Chain Management Process Standards", the Warehousing Education and Research Council's Warehousing & Fulfillment Process Benchmarking & Best Practice Guide" and the WERC "Warehouse Certification Program". He is lead auditor for the WERC's Certification Program.



Categories

Popular Tags

Subscribe to DC Velocity

Subscribe to DC Velocity Start your FREE subscription to DC Velocity!

Subscribe to DC Velocity
Renew
Go digital
International