Communication skills in warehouse management

As special commodities, medicines are related to people’s lives and safety. The state has very strict laws and regulations on them, whether it is the GMP management standards that pharmaceutical production companies must implement or the pharmaceutical distribution companies must comply with. GSP management standards have put forward very high requirements for the warehousing management of pharmaceuticals. Below I have compiled communication skills in warehouse management for your reading and reference.

Communication skills in warehouse management: Keep GSP in mind and strictly implement it, cold chain is more important, safety first

Analysis

One of the biggest differences between the warehousing management of pharmaceutical logistics centers and other industries is that it is managed by GSP standards. GSP regulates all aspects of warehousing management, from warehousing to outgoing warehousing, and must be strictly implemented, otherwise problems will occur. The new version of GSP has higher requirements for the cold chain, which is also a shortcoming of current pharmaceutical logistics. Both technology and concepts need to be improved. For pharmaceutical logistics personnel, what is stored and transported is medicine, which is related to the health of the people. Quality is very important, so remember this.

Safety includes warehouse building safety, equipment safety, personnel safety, cargo safety, quality safety, etc. Safety is the first priority in every aspect. As long as safety problems arise, everything will be discussed later.

Communication skills in warehouse management: systematic management, clear job responsibilities, strict performance appraisal, and clear rewards and punishments

Analysis

Many pharmaceutical logistics centers now Warehousing management is still relatively extensive, and there is still a lot of human governance. The task of building a management system is still relatively heavy, and there is still a long way to go in building a modern corporate governance system. Like many companies in China, there are often unclear job responsibilities and work processes, overlapping responsibilities, confusion and missing items. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an organizational structure (flat, matrix) that is consistent with the development of the company based on the company's strategy and market environment. , project system is the trend), clarify department responsibilities, clarify job responsibilities, sort out work processes and standards, and improve work efficiency. Warehouse management targets mostly people with relatively low educational levels and generally low quality and awareness. Therefore, to manage these people well, rewards and punishments must be clear, relatively fair and fair, and there must be a strict and clear performance appraisal plan (in line with fairness). , openness and fairness principles), piece-rate assessment is a common practice among peers. For front-line workers, economic material (money) has the greatest impact on their work enthusiasm and work quality. This method must be used well. Some companies have higher salary levels than their peers, but the penalties are also heavy. By comparison, the employees of these companies often Satisfaction is higher, company efficiency is relatively higher, and company management is relatively better. This is something some companies can learn from.

Communication skills in warehouse management: Collaborate with upstream and downstream, pay attention to the supply chain, plan incoming goods, and balance outgoing goods

Analysis

Pharmaceutical distribution enterprises Logistics is the weakest link in the pharmaceutical supply chain. It is big at both ends and small in the middle (strong upstream and downstream: upstream manufacturers often suppress goods, hospitals dare not offend and have high ordering requirements). It has the least say in the management of the entire pharmaceutical circulation supply chain (purchasing management). , inventory management, procurement execution, etc.) The level is not very high (the inventory days of the entire supply chain often take several months, and some even exceed a year). In addition, some companies tend to have assessment plans for procurement and sales, and the overall transportation level is not very high. High, resulting in logistics inbound and outbound operations that are concentrated, fluctuating, unbalanced, and poorly planned (for example: inbound volumes are large and concentrated at the beginning of the month, outbound volumes are large at the end of the month, outbound volumes are large on Mondays, and outbound volumes are large before the Spring Festival and National Day) Large quantity, etc.).

Although the above factors exist objectively, we should break the traditional concept and use supply chain collaboration thinking to promote supply chain collaboration. Only by doing a good job in supply chain collaboration can we fundamentally change the current busy and chaotic situation and truly achieve a lean supply chain. , the logistics cost can be lower:

(1) Adopt measures such as the purchase reservation system, open weekend receipts, and weekly breakdown of the purchase execution plan with the purchaser to make the incoming goods more planned and the quantity to be relatively high Balance;

(2) Try your best to make delivery plans with downstream customers and balance the workload relatively. This is indeed difficult, especially for hospitals above level two, but it is not without successful cases. The key is to look at How to collaborate and how to let downstream customers also feel the benefits. Compared with e-commerce, the regularity of hospital ordering is actually very strong. The key is that we must break through some inherent concepts and ideas, dare to break through, and dare to try. Retail formats do better in terms of downstream delivery planning, especially retail chain companies with many direct-operated stores. Compared with other formats, the warehouse management of these companies is more regular and planned, and the volatility is relatively smaller. The quantity is also relatively balanced.

Communication skills in warehouse management: Plan well, do more planned things, do less urgent things, and do it step by step

Analysis

Do a good job in supply Schedule the operation plan based on the chain plan, and do personnel and resource planning based on the operation plan. In this way, the warehouse will be on track, otherwise it will be busy and give people the impression of being busy and chaotic. Other tasks in warehouse management must also be planned accordingly, such as annual work plans, monthly work plans, and weekly work plans, which must be decomposed and implemented layer by layer, and the execution of the plans must be monitored. Do more planned things, less urgent things, don't be a fire captain.

Communication skills in warehouse management: 5S is very important, optimize storage locations, do more pre-categorization, and cooperate well before and after

Analysis

A warehouse management You can tell whether it is good or bad by checking the cleanliness and tidiness of the site. How can it be efficient and accurate if you can't even organize, organize and clean it well? This should be learned from Japanese companies. Doing a good job in 5S is to manage on-site management. Many people know this, but few have done it well. If you want to do a good job in 5S, you can't just stop at training and publicity (such as posting posters). What's more important is implementation, supervision, and long-term persistence.

Warehousing commodity storage location optimization plays an important role in improving the efficiency of picking and warehousing. We should insist on optimizing commodity storage location based on commodity EIQ analysis (it can be done by the system (WOS) or manually), and Normalize and institutionalize (generally large-scale adjustments are made once every three months, and local adjustments are made every week), and try to put the products in the right position as much as possible.

There are nine principles for commodity storage in logistics centers. The purpose is to store commodities in a reasonable geographical location, with the overall goal of reducing handling waste:

(1) The principle of being close to the exit: try to place the goods as close to the entry and exit of the warehouse as possible to reduce handling waste

(2) Turnover rate principle: the higher the turnover rate, the closer to the exit of the warehouse

(3) Goods correlation principle: Goods with high correlation are in The storage locations are adjacent during storage

(4) The principle of cargo identity: that is, the same kind of goods are stored in the same storage location

(5) The first-in, first-out principle: advanced goods go out first

(6) Principle of stacking high: In order to improve space utilization, goods that can be stacked should be stacked as high as possible

(7) Principle of facing the aisle: Goods should face the aisle for easy identification Barcodes, marks and names

(8) Product size principle: In order to effectively utilize space, the unit size of items and the shape of the entire batch of the same items must be known when arranging the warehouse

(9 ) Principle of weight characteristics: The heavier ones are placed on the ground or lower shelf, and the lighter ones are placed on the upper shelves

Warehousing operations involve receiving, inspecting, putting on shelves, picking, packaging, reviewing, collecting goods, and leaving the warehouse. Many links, such as multiple positions, often involve multiple positions, so there will be interfaces. In many warehousing problems, the interfaces are often the problem, and the bottlenecks that affect efficiency often lie in the interfaces. Therefore, as each link, the downstream links should be regarded as Customers are the same. On the one hand, we must do a good job in this link to ensure quality and implement comprehensive quality management to ensure that downstream links are exempted from inspection. At the same time, we can do some preparation work for the downstream and do more pre-categorization (such as the receiving inspector to arrange the goods on the shelves according to the Target areas are pre-categorized) to improve the efficiency of the entire operation chain.

We must cooperate well before and after, do more for each other, be more considerate, and break away from departmental thinking.

Communication skills in warehouse management: The process should be clear, the operations should be standardized, the risks should be well controlled, and the emergency plan should be established

Analysis

The warehouse management process and operation process should be clear It should be clear, clear, leak-free, and messy. The work should be standardized. Each position should have clear work standards. Those that can be cured by the system should be cured by the system. Only when the work is truly standardized can we ensure that different people will have the same results after execution. Many Pharmaceutical warehousing companies often fail to do this well, and many problems arise from insufficient standardization.

For the warehousing management of pharmaceutical logistics centers, there are many risk points such as quality and safety. A strict and executable risk management and control system must be established, and a corresponding supervision and execution system must be established to ensure that the risk management and control system can be implemented. implement. Corresponding and executable plans must be established for possible risks. Plans are not paper and cannot stay on words. They must be drilled regularly and the emergency plans must be regularly adjusted and improved according to the actual situation.

Communication skills in warehouse management: strict acceptance inspection, accurate shelving, picking methods, clear delivery and handover

Analysis

As the saying goes: You can poop what you eat, and if you eat well, you can poop well. The receipt and acceptance link in warehousing operation management should be the top priority. Strict controls must be adhered to to prevent problematic and inaccurate medicines from entering the qualified warehouse area (for example, a batch number entry error occurred in the warehouse of a pharmaceutical logistics center when receiving goods, and subsequent If the error is not found in the link and is sent to the customer, on the one hand, it will cause customer complaints and affect customer satisfaction. On the other hand, error handling will be laborious and time-consuming), otherwise errors will occur later, and the cost of error handling will be extremely high. If this link is efficient and When comparing quality, quality should take priority.

With strict acceptance, the goods must be put on the shelves accurately, otherwise it will cause trouble in the subsequent picking. Here are two points:

　(1) The RF confirmation method is generally used for shelving. If you actually scan the barcode of the storage location after putting it on the shelf, there will generally be no errors. However, many warehouses now often confirm the task in the system first when loading full boxes and parts. Write the shelf location number on it, and then manually move it to the merchant's location. This approach may seem to improve efficiency, but the accuracy rate drops. At the same time, it is recommended to use the group disk shelving method, which can not only improve efficiency, but also pass Scan the destination warehouse location to ensure the accuracy of the shelf;

(2) Try to avoid using one warehouse location to store multiple products. Even if you want to do it, you must divide it into compartments. At the same time, it is recommended to use WMS-managed warehouses as much as possible Use system instructions to put on shelves and reduce manual instructions for putting on shelves (the prerequisite is to frequently analyze the characteristics of goods coming out of the warehouse, and do a good job in storage area planning and allocation rule planning).

The largest workload in the warehousing operations of the pharmaceutical logistics center should be in the picking process. The efficiency of picking determines the efficiency of the warehouse, especially for warehouses with large dismantling operations. According to the form of picking goods, there are: whole pallet picking, full box picking, and split-part picking; according to the picking equipment, there are: automated equipment picking (such as A-frame, automatic medicine dispensing machine, etc.), automated equipment-assisted picking Goods and manual picking; according to the picking instruction medium, they are divided into: paper picking, RF/PFA flatbed picking, electronic label picking, and voice picking; according to the relationship between people and things, they are divided into: human arrival picking , Goods-to-person picking (such as: OSR, three-dimensional warehouse online picking, etc.); divided according to order processing methods: picking fruits by order, picking fruits by outbound box, picking first and then sowing, picking while sowing, single product picking wait. Regardless of the picking method, you must choose the picking operation method for the project based on the actual situation. The ideal picking operation should have the following seven points:

(1) Don’t wait? Zero idle time

(2) Don’t take it? Zero handling (use more conveyor belts and unmanned trucks)

(3) Don’t move around? Shorten the movement line

( 4) Don’t think? Zero judgment business (does not rely on skilled workers)

(5) Don’t search? Storage management

(6) Don’t write? Paper-less

(7) Don’t check? Use barcodes to check by computer

Corresponding selection methods and selection methods should be considered based on the above 7 principles. This is discussed in a separate article and will not be discussed here. To elaborate further, I would like to emphasize that replenishment should be reduced through various means, especially wave replenishment.

The warehouse outbound link is another interface to the outside world. This place must adhere to the principles of accurate counting and clear handover. Otherwise, if an error occurs, the cost of follow-up processing will be high. Two points are explained:

(1) With the development of information technology and scanning technology, box-by-box scanning and confirmation may become a reality, especially for special drugs (such as anesthetics, cold chain, expensive drugs, etc.);

(2) At present, the goods collection and delivery link is the bottleneck of many pharmaceutical logistics center warehousing, such as insufficient space, low efficiency of goods collection review, need to find goods when leaving the warehouse, low delivery efficiency, etc., which is actually similar to Jiuzhou Tongdonghu New Logistics The back-end of the center adopts the dense storage shelf + shuttle car model to try to solve the above problems. I have not been there to see the effect and need to be confirmed, but the direction is correct. This is a mature case abroad.

Communication skills in warehouse management: To have an overall view, pay attention to small details, and manage militarization, the key lies in practice

Analysis

Although warehouse management is It is within the four walls, but as a warehouse manager, you must break the four walls, jump out, use the overall concept to handle things, make plans, and communicate. For example, if you do not consider the distribution link and strictly follow the Considering the warehousing process, there is no need to place the goods in the order of departure when collecting goods from the warehouse. However, if they are not placed in the order of departure, it will be troublesome for later loading. Therefore, as a warehousing manager, whether a director, manager or supervisor, he should have an overall view of the situation. View.

As we all know, details determine cost, especially for warehouse management. Only when every detail is in place can perfect results be produced.

The author has communicated with many warehousing managers at all levels, and has personally experienced that there are often hundreds or even thousands of people in warehousing. Management should be militarized, emphasizing consistency and execution. This is the only way Only then can we be efficient.

In one sentence: Just talk without practicing tricks. Some actions follow the command, and execution is still execution.

Communication skills in warehouse management: Lean culture exists, all employees improve, waste must be eliminated, and costs will naturally be low

Analysis

Must be used in warehouse management Lean culture and lean concepts promote improvement among all employees, promote daily improvement, promote everyone to be lean in everything, promote excellence, and improve the system's ability to solve problems. It is necessary to introduce lean thinking into everyone’s mind through systems (such as rationalized proposal system, lean project management system, lean project reward system, etc.) and cultural introduction, and mobilize all employees to eliminate the eight major wastes in the pharmaceutical logistics center (waiting waste, space waste, etc.) Waste, action waste, handling waste, inventory waste, energy consumption waste, process waste, rework waste), and form the company's culture. If you persist in this way, the efficiency will gradually increase and the cost will gradually decrease.

Communication skills in warehouse management: Pay attention to humanization, mobilize enthusiasm, keep service in mind, success is imminent!

Analysis

Although warehouse management emphasizes militarization Management, but we must also emphasize the differences between people, have a certain degree of flexibility, and pay attention to humanization, especially when dealing with employees born in the 80s and 90s. It is very effective to be appropriately humanized without violating principles and company systems. It is necessary to not only treat employees as work machines, but also care about their lives (such as children of non-local employees attending school). At the same time, they must establish career development plans for employees and coach their growth. Only by uniting a group of people and giving everyone a sense of belonging can we mobilize everyone's enthusiasm, cohesion, and centripetal force. Only such a team will be invincible and dare to face difficulties.

Logistics itself is a service industry. In the current pharmaceutical circulation industry, logistics is a service department. Only when the service is in place, will customers be satisfied and the business department will be satisfied. Otherwise, no matter how good other things are, As long as the service is not good enough and there are complaints everywhere, the result will be negative reviews. One point to emphasize here is to respond promptly and quickly to customer needs without delay. Frequent complaints must be systematically analyzed to find systematic and thorough solutions, rather than handling each case one by one and dealing with it temporarily.