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Building Supply Dealers: 5 Steps to Improve Warehouse Operations

Posted by Damien Justus | Mon, Dec 12, 2016 @ 07:00 AM

building supply dealersEvery business activity is a monetary investment, whether it involves manual labor, new technology or equipment. According to The Associated General Contractors of America, “the industry has more than 650,000 employers with over 6 million employees and creates nearly $1 trillion worth of structures each year.” Those projects absorb an enormous amount of construction materials, and how well those resources are managed on a day-to-day basis directly impacts the value delivered by building supply dealers. Consequently, streamlining operations to function effectively can come down to five basic steps for dealers.

Have a Form of Measurement in Place

Dealers can't plan improvements or analyze results if they don't have steps in place to measure productivity. Performance metrics can identify the areas needing improvement. Even if there are not specific standards in place, employees are already being measured against each other.

Nearly all tasks can be measured in terms of time. Unloading, receiving, storing, order fulfillment and shipping involve repetitive tasks that will have both an average and a minimum time to set guidelines. Dealers should be able to document that one employee is picking a dozen orders a day and another is picking only five before they can start asking why.

Set Goals

Setting performance goals should be unique to each task and individual because not everyone has the same job roles, circumstances or challenges. The best way for building supply dealers to stimulate consistent improvement building supply dealersis to establish expectations for each employee.

For example, a new hire should not be held to the same standards as an employee with six years of experience. There should be separate milestones of improvement recognized for both.

Employees should be clear on exactly what's expected. Identify and communicate which aspects could be improved upon, and how those improvements will be measured. Goals should be realistic within a given time frame. Employees should be motivated to improve, not simply criticized for failure to match output numbers.

Deliver Sufficient Training

Staff should receive appropriate levels of training for their responsibilities. This includes inventory software, forklift training, safety procedures and company policies. However, training can be a drawn-out process that reduces productivity. Employees may also find excessive training to be boring or even insulting.

However, providing additional training when and where it's needed can increase productivity, reduce damaged goods, and make for a better work environment. Short increments of hands-on, volunteer training sessions will both improve their skills and keep them engaged.

Reorganize and Re-evaluate

Don't hesitate to walk the floor and observe the actions behind the numbers. Are the forklifts too small for effectively moving concrete products? Is drywall being damaged because it has to travel too far from receiving to inventory? Are the wholesale suppliers reliable and geographically desirable? Every second wasted in travel or handling raises company costs.

If one employee is a top achiever where another lags, find out what they are doing differently. Take whatever steps seem necessary to upgrade performance, organization, equipment, logistics or technology as time and budget allows.

Gather Feedback

building supply dealersNearly every company change has ramifications not just for efficiency, but for employees, vendors or service providers as well. With employees, it's necessary to maintain morale to keep them engaged and maximize employee retention. Be aware that the process of recruiting and training replacements always has negative impacts on overall performance and profitability.

Be open to feedback and take it into consideration. If so-called "improvements" depend on unreasonable demands for the cheapest cost or the fastest service, they won't inspire loyalty. Every decision should involve communication and feedback before and after it's implemented.

The warehouse is the logistics center for building supply dealers. Small changes in processes, staff and equipment can often amount to boosts in overall efficiency. Major shifts and expenses accelerate the process but should be approached in terms of risk assessment where consistent improvement should always be the objective.

But why stop streamlining employee tasks or the handling of materials?

Efficient operations should also include a fast and easy sales process because customers don’t want to wait for the clumsy handling of their payments. CrossCheck offers a suite of check processing solutions that enhance the sales process for building supply dealers and their customers. Learn more about Electronic Check Processing and Conversion Plus by downloading our free guide.

electronic check processing

Topics: Building Materials

Written by Damien Justus

Damien Justus is a business consultant and writer who's passionate about real estate, finance, investing and business technology trends. When he's not writing or investing, he enjoys traveling, hiking and skiing.