If you’ve worked in a warehouse, you’ve asked this question:
“Why do we do it this way?”
Why can’t the labels go on top of the case? Why is this product slotted here? Those kinds of questions come up all the time.
For me, that question never really went away.
It didn’t matter where I was working — I kept noticing things that didn’t quite make sense, things that I felt could be done better.
That way of thinking is what pushed me into different roles over the years.
I started as a night shift freezer selector at a small ice cream company in Colorado. It wasn’t long until I was promoted to a supervisor position. After a few years, I moved to help open a new warehouse in another state. Moving back to Colorado, I got a job at Nobel/Sysco as a selector. Got promoted to a supervisor there pretty quickly. Did that for a LONG time. Night shift supervisor, day shift supervisor, inbound, outbound. Then became the slotting coordinator. I loved seeing all the little tweaks I could do to improve MY warehouse.
As a supervisor, I had to fix problems as they came up. As the slotting coordinator, I could start fixing some of the causes behind them. Now I had access to the data. I could see what was actually happening: movement, velocity, trends — I could improve those numbers, from making sure there weren’t 4-1 gallon container cases too late in the pick path or in an elevated pick, or potato chips too early in the pick path. I was in charge of all of that now. That also meant I got blamed for it! Every time a selector cursed “why is this here, it should be…” it was my name they cursed. Hey, it goes with the job. But the best part was when they told me directly. Then I got to engage with the employee.
This direct engagement with the employees is very important. These conversations helped with understanding. The employees became great resources for improvement suggestions. Coaching these employees to understand the behind-the-scenes mechanics of warehousing was a large part of my job happiness.
With nearly 30 years in warehousing, I’ve seen a lot, from solving problems common in operations to planning picklines and multiple re-racking projects. Along the way I learned from people more experienced than me. I want to share my knowledge, so I started this blog and coaching program.
Do you need help problem solving an operational issue? Do you have a new slotting coordinator that needs training? Check out my different blog posts and contact me for more information and a free consultation.