How important is warehouse logistics?

Warehouses stock a great amount of things, this is the way most people look at warehouses: A truck pulls up to the dock and someone unloads product and puts it away in racks. Somebody else comes along, grabs some product, puts it puts it on pallets and loads it in to another truck.  Warehouse logistics is so important for those who have an experience in the warehousing department the process of warehouse storage is a lot more complicated? One must have the ability to track the location of every single piece of product located throughout the facility. When a small warehouse can take up to 75,000 square feet and hold hundreds of thousands of individual pieces of hundreds, even thousands of different products, it becomes clear that maintaining a warehouse it not a piece of cake. In short it’s hard and demands a lot of hard work.  So how does a warehouse manager and his staff manage and keep track of all the product going in and out.

Two small phrases have revolutionized today's storage issues: Lean manufacturing and lean storage. "Lean" is built on the concept of eliminating waste by minimizing inventory and eradicating processes that do not add value to the customer. In warehousing, this means whatever product comes in is shipped back out, whether its internal or external within a few days. Some companies use the phrase "Just in Time Stocking" to describe this method. Using "lean" techniques requires less storage area, but requires a far greater utilization of logistics and a dedicated workforce who understands the importance of accuracy and quality. Traditional warehousing is different thelean method requires more organization and a greater focus in the processes to eradicate activities that are non-essential. When the product comes in, it must be quickly sorted, checked in, and accurately placed on shelves, racks, and sometimes they can even be placed on the floor. 

Accuracy is the key as when the employee who is picking an order comes along; there can be no time wasted looking for misplaced products Lean warehousing requires less space because there is minimal storage stock. Instead of keeping a month's supply in the racks, only a week's supply is kept on hand which is easier to deal with.

This is when warehousing logistics come into play. Every warehouse has some products that move faster than others. These faster moving products need to be organized in such a way as to so that errors can be minimized. They must also be located as close to the shipping department as possible to minimize the travelling time it takes when picking. Think of it this way: The receiving department may put away one crate of 100 parts. The shipping department may have to make a hundred trips to that crate to empty it. Thus, in regards to man hours, it makes sense to locate it closer to the shipping department than the receiving department. The whole concept of "lean" is to do as much as possible with as little as possible: less space, less equipment, and fewer workers. Through all phases of lean, this requires organization, efficiency, and a dedicated and well-trained workforce to make it work out.

How beneficial in Lean Construction

The construction agency is badly broken and needs fixing, How can an industry work on rising up and meeting the challenges of customer demand for a better quality, improved profitability and the shortage of workers that are actually skilled and know how to do their jobs right?  The first step that should be considered is to cast aside the not invented here syndrome and embrace a time tested manufacturing solution, the Toyota production system commonly called lean. Why should construction company managers even consider lean as a way to improve their business, here are some facts that will open your eyes about the construction industry in the United States.

-         Most of the time is spent waiting or fixing mistakes critical shortages exist is those workers that are skilled or qualified.

-         The return on equity for construction pales in comparison to all other industries in the US  An average working for construction shows only 40% efficiency customers are mostly frustrated with poor quality, confrontation, excessive change orders, and scheduling delay.

these are some of the same or similar issues, Japanese companies like Toyota faced in the 1950’s. Lean construction can help remediate the dire conditions described above. While lean is no gold or silver bullet, lean construction offers substantial improvements to the problems facing the construction industry? If construction companies want to prosper in the 21^st century then they should go on towards lean thinking.

Now the question that comes is, Why is there so much waste? Construction projects are so fragmented. Many times subcontractors do their work disregarding how what they do impact the work of other subcontractors. We call this the "throw it over the wall' mentality. One functional department ( in this case subcontractor) completes its part of the project and throws it over the wall to the next department (subcontractor) who throws it back over the wall because it isn't right. This mentality sub-optimizes the performance of the entire project creating quality and schedule problems. Lean construction is a very systematic application of lean thinking to the design and construction of buildings that do what clients and end users want value. Lean thinking was evolved over the last 50 years and as revolutionized a few parts of manufacturing and is now facilitating significant improvements in the way service organizations like hospitals banks etc. are meeting customer requirements.

Adopting lean thinking requires sustained work over a number of years. There are no instant solutions. For most people, lean requires a change in the way they think and the behaviors that support their actions. There are many things that lean organizations do that can be copied   partnering, supply chain management, value stream analysis, flow and things related to these, but they are only lean when they are done with lean intent. That requires lean thinking around how the organization works.

Constructions storage things you should know

Storing things can be pretty hard, the construction of storage sheds nowadays are not that complicated any more with the use of latest technology that make construction easier and more efficient. The construction of buildings, in general, have become faster and easier with the new technology that keeps emerging daily that enable efficiency and quality rolled into one.

For the construction of storage sheds, technology simplyprovides easy solutions that make the storage building plans easy and doable by just any ordinary person. Apart from that the Internet has now become the venue for research works and lots of video tutorials can be found for constructing sheds. With profound background already about storage buildings as viewed on the Internet, one can easily make a storage shed plan.
Some basic details that need to be followed:-

Space matters a lot:
In a storage shed plan, include the space area where the storage shed will be located. It is essential to have this laid out first because from here, one can already have a vision how the shed would look like and how it will stretch out to the space which is available for it. Make sure that the location of the storageshed does not block any passage or somewhere near the road because it might become the cause of any future accident in the neighbourhood. If there is a lot of space then one can have a pretty big storage.

The materials required:

Wood can be utilized for the construction and it is easily found, wood other than any other material, is also easy to man ever when constructing the shed. Wood panels are the usual materials in easy construction storage. One can find this kind of materials in hardware. With modern kind of hammers that can link two and more pieces together, wood panels can eventually stand as one structure.

The design:

The design plays a very vital role, where will the doors and the windows be placed and what will be the size of them? How big is the door and how wide will it be? What would the roof look like and how high will it be? Will there be a mini porch or the façade of the storage,

Chemicals:

Another simple solution one can include in your shed plans are the type of the chemicals that you will need for the wood. This is very important so as to preserve the sustainability of the woods by preventing wood pests in harming and brining your hard work down. 

Why a Logistic Consultant should be Hired

Supply chain is very important if you are looking for an improvement , you might have to considered using the services of logistics consultant, you also might be worried about whether it will be worth the cost or not and would it bring any real benefits to your business. Here are a few reasons as to why you should consider using a consultant.

Have proper knowledge of the product

Working with a logistics consultant who has a broad knowledge base and experience working through similar issues to those you are experiencing brings a number of advantages to your team.

You will most probably have received loads of literature from sales people, for example, telling how great their products are, but how can you possibly choose between them? An independent logistics consultant is not selling products and does notget any financial incentives from the products they specify; therefore they can give objective advice. A that is is run can often get sidetracked by everyday management issues. Bringing in a consultant who can focus on delivering results will ensure that the goals are achieved quicker.

Consultancy does not need to take project ownership away from the management. However, as long as management is clear about its objectives and is able to select, direct and manage the consultants carefully, real added value can be seen.

                                                                                             

Any specific reason as to why I should hire consultant?

All organizations at some time reach this specific place when they are aware that they could be doing things better or differently. It may be one or several areas of the operations that are not achieving their goal or not functioning as efficiently as they might.

The main reasons for using consultants usually focus around:

0 Expertise
0 Resources

0 Complexity
0 Timescales

Efficient Staffing

This issue might not be long termed manage the change effectively and maximize the benefits will require an intense effort, potentially risking the performance of the rest of the operation. Permanently increasing the headcount to handle a short-term project will increase operating expenses. A consultant can assist in managing the change until the introduction is complete and the operation has stabilized. A consultant can the project objectives, provide the consultants with the information they require and set aside time to review most likely  bring benefits  to your firm but if you chose the right consultant or consultancy, clearly define progress and buy into their ideas, the benefits will be seen.

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