Increased productivity is key for any business as it enables you to hit key targets and therefore to keep on turning over a profit. It is massively important for your distribution company for several other reasons as well – increased productivity means increased dispatch and delivery times, which in turn leads to more satisfied customers who will order from you again. If you have assessed your current processes and come to the conclusion that they could be tweaked to improve productivity, read on to find out more about techniques for increasing productivity in your distribution business.
Use a fleet tracking system
You may recognize the frustration of receiving a customer query saying that they have not received their order and the only information you have on your systems saying that the order was dispatched on a certain date. How can you keep better track of customer orders to ensure that they receive their goods in a timely manner, and also protect yourself from any potential fraudulent claims of non-delivery? A fleet tracking system can be used to manage a fleet of company vehicles, workers, and land-based machinery, providing valuable information including the exact location of vehicles, maintenance requirements, and overall production levels. This technology allows you to stay on track and increase your fleet’s productivity levels.
Maximize available space
With stock coming in and going out on a regular basis, it can be all too easy for your warehouse space to become cluttered and inefficient. This can mean that picking and retrieval times are increased, which leads to a decrease in productivity levels for your business. One way of combatting this is to maximize your available warehouse space. For instance, make better use of vertical space by inserting heavy duty industrial shelving that is strong enough to bear the weight of several stacked palettes. You should also operate a good stock rotation system to ensure that perishable items are sent out in a timely manner and to prevent over-ordering certain stock.
Keep up-to-date with traffic news
If your distribution company operates across the continental US, chances are that your fleet will come across time-consuming road works and other traffic incidents that greatly increase driving and distribution times. Stay up-to-date with traffic news using an app like Google Traffic to allow you to plan your route to avoid congestion and decrease journey times for better distribution productivity in your business.
Optimize processes
It is important that you regularly assess your processes for productivity, as doing this will allow you to continuously hone and improve your processes for maximum performance. Get staff involved in this – they are the ones who use the processes on a daily basis and as such might already have identified certain areas and ideas for improvement, as well as things that could help with these (like this floor bunding from STOREMASTA). For instance, this might mean organizing your staff into picking teams located in different areas of a large warehouse, and developing a set process for packaging items that are to be distributed to customers.
