We moved already! SO SORRY but you can CLICK THIS LINK and

we will get you to the correct place!

         http://distributionteam.blogspot.com/

www.thedistributionteam.com

CASH HUNTING 101

What is this guy doing?

A) Wearing appropriate warehouse attire

B) Cycle Counting

C) Holding a job

D) Hunting for cash

If you answered any of those you might be right, but really I want to talk about choice D.

This guy is doing a GREAT job hunting for cash. If you think about it, any of the above could go great with choice D.

So he is A) Wearing appropriate attire while D) hunting for cash! That is GREAT! That means not only is he safe, and keeping your company from dealing with costly litigation and lost labor time, he is also hunting for cash. Why is this part so important? (I will tell you in a second)

So he is B) Cycle counting while D) hunting for cash! Again this is SUPER! That means that he is really working hard for your company and is helping to eliminate mistakes, damages, and mis-picks by hunting for cash at the same time! (I think I want to hire this guy!)

So he is C) holding a job while D) hunting for cash. Hey this is a really FANTASTIC opportunity to help people grow in their careers. As a business we are not just there to give people paychecks from the charity of ______(insert your company name here)____. We are here to help people be even better than they thought so they can succeed and carry your company into the next generation of profitability.

WHY

I told you I would tell you why this is important, but if you read the above you may already know what I think. People who work with and for you need to be able to be your spy team. They need to be your superheros and your hardest working trusted teams of cash hunters. If they are not doing this on a regular every day part of their job, then they are wasting your time and your money too.

Make sure that all of your employees are hunting for cash. There is a seminar in November that you must attend, or send your employees too. It is 2 days in Chicago, there is a discounted room rate at the Four Points by Sheraton at O'Hare. There is no need for a rental car or even Uber as you can just take the shuttle to the hotel, and after the conference, take it back to the airport to get on the train to go down town to see the sites! This is a win win!

: REGISTER :
https://t.co/bPwo2gLipS    or http://w.mawebcenters.com/distributionteam/ecommerce/chicagoinventoryseminar.html 

Either way you are getting a great deal, a 2 day event, you will have full participation inside the seminar so bring your issues, your success stories, and let's make your company full of cash hunters! (we only have so many seats so grab yours now)

P.s. this is great for everyone who works in your warehouse, purchasing, management, and those up and coming into management. Whether your company is 4 people or 400 people, every single idea is going to save you money and add Net Profit back to your bottom line!

 

-Danah Head

www.thedistributionteam.com

danah@distributionteam.com

@Distribution_Tm

https://youtu.be/iQREdUgjgPA

Don't be Alone Anymore

Have you ever wished there was a warning sign when things are about to go very, very, wrong in your company? How many warning signs did you miss because you were just doing what you could to get through each day?

Many of us have very demanding jobs. Even if your job is only demanding of you mentally. Sitting at a desk all day crunching numbers, dealing with the boss, and minor or even serious employee issues can take a toll on you.

Whatever your scenario is, this type of mental drain can take away from the every day need of observing and noticing the things that are "band-aids" to your issues. When we only deal with things to "get through today to deal with it tomorrow" we can cause log jams in our processes.

This is why we recommend having a site visit once every few years. I say this because it gives you a sense of security that you are not the only one looking out for your business. Sometimes a band-aid solution doesn't help heal the actual gaping hole that is staring you in the face.

Smaller businesses suffer even more because they deal with limited resources and people. If you only have a few people for each position and you grow and still can not throw people at the issue, you will end up throwing good money after bad.

A site visit helps ensure that you didn't miss anything. I can't tell you how common it is to have a site visit for one purpose and end it dealing with the root cause. Most challenges do not start with the symptom that you are seeing.

Warehouse too full? Need more space? Maybe not, maybe you need to evaluate your procedures for receiving, purchasing, or maybe you have umpteen numbers of deadstock.

Employee unrest? Maybe you have an issue with management or maybe it is a space issue, an overwork issue, non-flexibility issue. Who knows what is causing this but the likelihood of you finding this on your own without a fresh set of eyes can be slim.

A site visit should come with post visit coaching and a check list that helps you determine where to go, when to get there, and benchmark your progress. That way if you get stuck you will have a sounding board for issues that arise.

Give me a call and I can help you determine if this is what you need or if your issue can be helped with other avenues.

-Danah Head

www.thedistributionteam.com

danah@distributionteam.com

@Distribution_Tm

https://youtu.be/iQREdUgjgPA

What is a proper warehouse layout...your guess is as good as mine. The issue: no two warehouses are alike. Some are new, some are old, some are renovated, some were used for one thing originally and now are something new altogether.

The best warehouse layout is one that makes sense to save time and labor dollars of your warehouse staff. Some companies have large items and some companies have super small items. Whatever your items are, here are some quick tips to get you started. If you need more direct strategy, drop me a note and let me know how I can help.

LOCATION - LOCATION - LOCATION....

Not just for selling or buying your house, but for where are your products placed in the warehouse. Recently on a site visit the operations manager said he used to work for a parcel delivery service. This service made him realize that to save time of the pickers it would be best for everything to have an address. This is very true. Evens on the right, odds on the left. Makes sense.

SOFTWARE

Another valuable tool is your software. More than likely it has a pick-path option that will allow you to program the software to give your pickers a logical path through the warehouse. For example, you wouldn't want pickers going from the front of your warehouse (near the shipping area) to the back and back again to the front on one run would you? Probably not. you are wearing out your equipment and your people.

INVENTORY

No matter what you do, location and software or some variable in between, you will not accomplish much if you don't know what you have on the shelf in the first place. I realize that sounds insanely obvious, but think of this. Even if you have the best locations, and the best software, if the wrong items are on the wrong shelves...no one is going to save time.

So you will need to run a HITS report. Find out what items have the most HITS (lines sold per year) and which do not. Highest hit items should be in the front of the warehouse, least hit in the back. This will change over time, but not drastically where you will have to rearrange all the time. This system will even help your put away team when they are putting away newly arrived product. The theory is that the put away team can be quick about what comes in most often, if it is all right in the front near where products come in and leave, then they will save labor.

I hope that this blog has inspired you to think outside the box and re-evaluate how you use your warehouse space, no matter the shape or size.

Have a great day and please, let me know how I can help and what is going on in your warehouse!

danah@distributionteam.com

Labor Losses

There are so many ways a business loses money. One is obvious, theft, damage, loss, etc. Those things are very understandable losses. Those you can see. However what about the loss of labor dollars. Those are harder to see unless people are just blatantly working over time without checking or some other blatant abuse. However, what about labor dollars that are really truly almost invisible, or simply hard to track.

Ask yourself this: Are the people who work for and with me happy to be here?

If the answer is mostly, or yes! Then great, you should read a different blog in my archive. If the answer is mostly, Yeah, except for ____(insert name/department here)___, or no...then maybe you should read on.

As was once sung, people are in fact, people. Disappointing as that may seem, you can not just replace everyone with robots...well for now anyway. Even if you did make everyone into a robot, you will be bored, and who will you talk to about the latest sports scores or the best coffee in town is...

People who feel taken for granted, work slower. They also do less quality checks. They tend to work just enough to get the 8 hours to pass.

People

People need rewards, they need understanding, and in 2016 they need flexibility, they need appreciation, and a paycheck. The issue is, with the competitive market the way it is, a lot of people will flee if a better offer is waved. Most people will leave not for money, but for the hope of being respected or trusted. Sure there are those who you just can't trust and you have to dig deep to truly respect. We all have our seasons. Not everyone is in the same place at the same time. So people, unlike robots, are a complex thing.

Paychecks

So what I am getting at is that people do not come to work JUST for a paycheck. People come to work for a sense of belonging, for a sense of pride, to pay their car payments yes, but also to be successful. People who come to work and do not feel successful, won't stay forever. There are certain generations of people who will stay, no matter what, but they are retired or retiring. The rest of us, we want to feel successful.

What to do:

Find out what the general feeling is in your departments. Maybe you can't change the entire culture of the company, but can you change yours? I always say, bring coffee and doughnuts. People spill it when they are hyped up on glazed sprinkles and dough. Good coffee is just a bonus point that people will remember and ask for. (do it and see) Start with that, then maybe simple little things here and there. Performance rewards or contests.

Reward cycle counting, damage reduction, theft prevention, safety patrols, loss reduction, savings in purchasing during certain time frames, inventory reduction of dead or dying stock....there are simple fun and easy ways to show you are watching. Show your people that they are appreciated. People who are appreciated will reward you with harder work, longevity of career, and loyalty.

I personally am quite lucky I have all of the above and then on top of that I am appreciated with sprinkles of emails and notes telling me what or how you used this information. I hope you are successful today and know that someone out here wants you to be awesome!

Send me a note! danah@distributionteam.com  

Customer Service...100% goals

So your boss came in and told you that you need to have higher customer service percentages on all the items in your warehouse....

What should you do:
A) panic
B) find a new job
C) run a HITS & customer service report
D) contact: Danah@DistributionTeam.com
        
While I do love option D, I think it would be more prudent to do both C and D at the same time.

Start by asking your boss what he or she means to them. Is this just another edict that was passed down from the C suite to your desk because you are the next logical downhill office to "save money"? Or is this a real issue? Who brought it to his or her attention? Was this sales or management or are you just doing a bad job at maintaining your inventory levels? This is all totally fixable, so relax.

First, don't panic or find a new job, just go into your software and run a HITS report. Sort the report by your top hit items. (Can't find this report, call your software people, they can help)

Second, still don't panic, run another report: Customer Service Percentage report. This will run the customer service on each item in your inventory and tell you what percentage of the time you are able to fill a line on an order.
   Example: I call in and order 100 gizmos from you, you only have 99. You did not fulfill my order 100% did you? Nope. I only got 99. I need 100. So your customer service rate.....not 100%, not 99% either. This is pass or fail, did you or didn't you fill my order?

Your software will calculate how many times you filled the order lines completely for each item. NOW, sort that data so it matches the HITS report and paste that baby on the last column of your HITS report.

Thirdly, check out those top hit items. your "A" items so to speak. Are any of those items below 100% customer service?
  YES some are below 100%: Find out why. Fix it immediately, these items should NEVER be out of stock.
   NO, none are below 100%: Show this to your boss and explain that the items the customer is voting to have in stock with their wallets are in stock and performing well.

Finally, regardless of your report and how it comes out, be sure to discuss what goals are important to your company.

Short story to help you bring this into context:
Recently I went uniform shopping for back to school, some of the uniform sizes and styles were out of stock. A few other minor things like socks and shoes were hit and miss but that wasn't my main focus. I needed uniforms. Due to the fact that the store was out of stock, I ended up going to another store and was pretty put off by the "huge sale" signs and emails that didn't amount to anything more but a waste of my time.

Think like your customers, what items should be in stock and what is it ok to be out of. Just like with me, it was ok to be out of stock of some things, but not ok for the main purpose of my outing. Next year when I need uniforms again, do you think I will brave that store again? Probably not. I will be willing to pay more to know I can get what I need in one shot at another store.

Moral of the story:
* Make sure you have in stock what your customers want (check the HITS report).
* Make sure you stay on top of this report EVERY MONTH so your boss won't come back on that front…and also, your numbers will change here and there, so be sure to not let anything slip past you.
* DO NOT EVER think that you can have 100% customer service on everything you sell, you do not have enough space or money to stock like that. If your boss doesn’t believe you, then show him or her what it would cost to have 100% customer service on every item.
* Choose option D, give me a call or email (danah@distributionteam.com) and I will help you look like a superstar!

Have you seen this guy? Maybe he is even one of your employees? People everywhere have been going crazy to catch little cartoon critters on their phones, tablets, and other portable devices. So I am sure you have seen flocks of people staring at their phones.

For me this is happening in my neighborhood, parks, library's, and favorite coffee shops. I have to be honest and tell you I play too...for my children of course.

However, what is making the people that work for and with you to hunt for imaginary creatures and not for cash in your warehouse? Wouldn't it be incredible if the same guy in the middle of the road was risking so much to find extra cash in the warehouse?

The easy answer to why this game is so popular is instant gratification. I can walk up the street and find a stop, get required gear, and beat my tweenager at getting a higher level critter than her.

Do your employees get the same recognition when they do things that save the company money?

If not: why not?

Your employees need to know that they are valued and that there are rewards and gratifications to saving money. For example, if a forklift driver decides to follow a check list for safety, or maybe your cycle counters are doing extra good at finding product previously lost and misplaced. Why would they not get a public or even personal pat on the back?

This game should give you an inspiration on how to talk to your employees about missing cash in the warehouse as well. Cycle counting is just like hunting mythical cartoon creatures. Cycle counting should be monitored, done every day, and positive results rewarded.

Think about it: how can you implement a hunting for cash strategy that mimics the rewards and payoffs of the most popular gaming sensation in the world.

I am interested in hearing what you do to help your teams hunt for cash in your warehouse.

-Danah Head

www.thedistributionteam.com

danah@distributionteam.com

@Distribution_Tm

https://youtu.be/iQREdUgjgPA