4 tips for making warehouse management count

Great materials handling systems will only get you so far if you don't have management in place to get the most out of them.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 8/2/2007

When it comes to warehouses and distribution centers, things aren’t always what they seem. A facility that looks great on paper may still be underperforming, especially if management isn’t setting the right tone for associates, according to Joe Dunlap, a senior manager at Accenture.

“Usually, we are asked to develop the business case or figure out the payback for a potential project,” says Dunlop. “The area that is undervalued, and is hard to put a precise figure on, is the impact of management on the success of a system. But management is no less important to the productivity of a facility.” 

Dunlop says there are at least four things he looks for to see if management is on the ball or letting things slide.

1) Check out the net
Most distribution centers have a safety net in pick modules to catch cartons that get dropped or knocked off a container or pallet rack. “Seeing a couple cartons in the net is normal,” says Dunlop. “But I’ve been in facilities where I’ve seen dozens, which means no one is taking the time to remove them. Likewise, Dunlop looks to see whether the trash cans are over-flowing. “All trash cans are not going to be emptied by the janitor,” says Dunlop. “But when trash is overflowing, that sends a message to employees that has an impact on productivity.”

2) Do it right the first time
What happens when an employee performs a task the wrong way can say a lot about how a facility is being managed. “I recently visited a facility where I saw an employee in a pick module labeling baby food containers that he then put on the floor and not on the conveyor belt,” says Dunlop. When they summoned the supervisor, he explained that the containers were getting damaged when they put them on the belt, so employees were supposed to put them in a tote, where they wouldn’t get jostled as much. “That’s a good solution,” says Dunlop. “But even as we were standing there, the supervisor didn’t tell the employee who was putting them on the floor that he was doing it wrong.”

3) Safety counts
A facility with a safe working environment is a more productive facility. For that reason, Dunlop looks to see if employees are tucking in their shirts and wearing steel-toed shoes, or are they wearing loose-fitting clothes that might get caught in a conveyor and open-toed sandals. He also looks to see whether lift truck drivers are wearing their safety belts, observing speed limits and honking their horns, and whether associates walk in the pedestrian walkways to and from the break rooms.

4) What do I do next?
Dunlop believes the overall pace of a facility says a lot about management. “I don’t just look to see how many cartons they’re moving,” he says. “I want to see whether employees go directly to their assigned areas, or do they meander around the building.”
Other tell-tale signs:

• Do employees go right back to work, or do they linger in the break areas?
• Are they doing housekeeping chores during idle time, like emptying those trash containers?
• Most important of all, do they seek out their supervisor when they’re waiting for instructions, or do they just hang out?

Paying attention to details like those above, Dunlop says, sends a message that the little things count. “They can go a long way to improving the morale and productivity of a facility,” he adds.