SPRING 2022

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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
ROBERT FOOTLIK TRUST BUT VERIFY from page 116
One way of gaining their attention is by soliciting
input from everyone on ways to raise quality to new
levels while tracking the results. Implement their
best ideas and post all information and results in an
easily understandable format and language. Customer
involvement can be achieved simply by adding a note,
“This order was 100% inspected as part of our continuing
program for always achieving 100% quality.” to any
carton that is randomly inspected. To get the recipients
involved in reporting problems add a phono and a name
on the quality assurance card and record all customer
interactions, both positive and negative.
Depending on the group dynamics and reaction
this step can be concurrent or an add on at any time.
Realistically at the minimum you will need at least two
months to gain acceptance and build trust both in house
and with the customer base.
Don’t Trust…Still Verify
Ever have a customer who found fault with every
single order? This could happen if someone internal to
your organization is deliberately sabotaging the orders.
Or, the problem could be on the customer’s side where
their staff is stealing the merchandise. Statistical
sampling is ae easy and quick way to develop some
suspicions, or even stop the theft on the customer’s
dock. The same card or note that is added to inspected
boxes can have a deterrent effect, especially if you notify
the customer’s quality personal to watch of these cards.
Posting the QC Sampling Notice as a label on the outside
of the cartons is a great deterrent.
Other Physical Steps
Still nervous about trusting the personnel to get
the right materials in the right box? Hedge your
bet with simple bar code labels on your racks and
shelving. These can be produced in house using any
ink jet or laser printer with the location and normally
stocked product expressed in both English and machine
language. Remember that similar labeling already exists
either as a vendor printed code or UPC in a standard
location on master cases (side) and inners (top flap) in a
usable format.
Purchase appropriate readers for both UPC and Code
39 (typical for the industry) with simple programming that
will allow for matching bar codes on racks with the ones
on the products. The purpose of simple, stand-alone
bar code reading is to verify both stocking and picking.
While wireless connectivity to a main server is great,
it isn’t necessary for verification purposes. The costs
and efforts can be minimal, with simple implementation,
but your peace of mind will make the payback virtually
instantaneous. Doing this by using a bar or QR code
program on a cell phone can take the identifiable
payback to days, not months.
The easiest place to start is stocking. Essentially, a
stocker verifies the code on the product or paper work
with a label on the rack, bin or shelf. Get this process
under control and then add picking, physical inventory,
checking and other functions. As a stand-alone process
this sets the stage for installing a new Warehouse
Management System (WMS) and can gain perhaps 50%
to 80% of the benefits before making any substantial
software investments. It will take at least two months
for any bar code label program to be usable so starting
on this in the near future is imperative.
If the Pick-Pack personnel needs to bring boxes with
them while picking. at some point you need to identify
the shipping carton type usage to determine what
cartons (and quantity) should be stocked strategically in
the warehouse and bungeed to their carts. While initially
the current pick carts and cartons can be utilized they
are not necessarily optimal for pick/pack. Self forming
bottoms for the cartons and a more user friendly cart
should be investigated. Reutilizing incoming random
cartons is still feasible, but not recommended.
A future article will discuss the personnel and
compensation issues involved in Pick-Pack operations.
Never mess with people’s paychecks until everyone in
the operation has reached a very high level of trust.
Saving time and labor in the warehouse provides an
opportunity for “gain sharing” where both individuals and
teams are rewarded. This is where the ultimate payback
is generated.
ROBERT FOOTLIK