About David Expertise I can be assitance with inventory accuracy, best demonstrated practices for keeping warehouse integrity, receiving efficiency, and what to do with a poor performing warehouse employee.
Experience I have 3 years warehouse, 2 years trainer, and 1 year receiving manager experience for Grainger Industrial Supply. I do not cover data warehousing.
Question What, in your experience, would you recommend in the way of skills training for warehouse personnel? Exspecially for those who are just moving into managerial / supervisory positions? What subjects would you cover? Do you recommend any particular style of training / method of delivery ? (e.g. classroom-based, CD-ROM, on-the-job/buddy system). I have been asked to help a warehousing and logistics company plan the training of its employees.
Any information you can give would be much appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.
Answer Great question!
I've dealt with this issue many times with new managers.
What I recommend is a two stage process. The first should be a high level overview of the company warehousing expectations (i.e. Picking accuracy, receiving accuracy). I have delivered this stage in Microsoft Powerpoint and as a handout. I recommend that no matter which delivery you choose, a thorough warehouse walk-through should take place either before or after the presentation. During the walk-through, the pluses and minuses of the current warehouse processes can be brought to the surface.
The second stage will be the more detailed training. In my warehouse I have many processes. Not all employees perform every process so, I have training for each. The one thing they all have in common though is the buddy system. No amount of book training can replace an experienced employee.
Real world experience will always win over what the HR department can come up with. However, for the buddy system to work you need a curriculum/outline. Sit down with your "specialists" and design a training packet for all of your processes. If the training involves OSHA regulations, HAZMAT, and/or state mandates, do yourself a favor and contact a representative from those organizations.
Now to get more detailed in your question...
Topics to cover:
Accuracy, cleaniness, attendance!,SAFETY!, accountability (who is responsible for this leaking forklift?), timeliness (trailer delivery/dropoff times for example).
As far as logistics training is concerned I would need more information on the type of warehousing your company does. A quick thought would be a relation chart (like an organization chart)that shows the individual "pieces" of your companies logistics scheme. Visio is a great program for that. I believe Powerpoint also has a basic tool for creating relation charts.
