A company’s revenue can increase dramatically by achieving significant savings in supply chain costs. A concerted effort to optimize the supply chain management of a mid-to-large-sized business can often yield a huge annual savings. However, you have to target certain specific things. One of the more overlooked of these areas is unloading.
If your company is operating in numerous destinations across the country and reaching a wider range of customers, it would benefit your business to work with a third-party loading and unloading service to ensure the safe and proper handling of your inventory. Using a lumper can greatly reduce unnecessary expenses incurred in those instances in which your shipment is damaged or delayed.
Just like any other third-party service, the key to excellence lies in a well-trained staff and well-executed procedures. In choosing an unloading service for your business, you have to consider a number of things in order to enjoy all of its cost-saving benefits.
A Skilled Staff
A professional third-party unloading service recruits based on a comprehensive understanding of each job function, as well as the performance incentives that encourage productivity. Having another firm unload your goods requires trust and dependability. As such, you want to work with a provider whose workers have sufficient warehouse experience and pay special attention to detail.
Comprehensive Training
Even with highly skilled workers, it is essential for an unloading service provider to implement specialized training for accuracy and focus even in high-demand situations. If lumping is done accurately and quickly, production goals will be met on time and therefore take out costs related to overtime labor.
Dynamic Safety
This component involves constant, active pursuit of safe work habits by the unloading provider through coaching, observing, and training. Safety orientation elements, including proper lifting techniques and those regarding hazardous materials, as well as various OSHA-certified refresher trainings on fork and pallet truck operation, should be implemented. It goes without saying that correctly executed safety measures greatly reduce the possibility of damaging goods during unloading.
Immediate Incentivization
By rewarding excellent performance with incentives, unloading staff are kept motivated and hungry to produce at a high level in every assignment. And as with any workplace situation, motivated workers tend to commit fewer mistakes, thereby reducing the risk of incurring damage and delay-related costs.
Individual Accountability
Achieving timely shipping and unloading results requires individual accountability. It is important to work with a reputable lumper service that puts a premium on individual accountability and combines quick and responsive coaching and real-time performance tracking. The extensive breakdown of load/order details and time stamps makes the unloading provider answerable to the quality of the service.
To effectively reduce supply chain costs, your company has to focus on the following: labor reduction, preventative maintenance, safety, use of systems and technology, suppliers for expense reduction, and customer service. All of these elements are addressed by teaming up with a competent and experienced third-party unloading service that will develop a customized program for your business or organization.