On this episode I discuss warehouse standards and their importance. This has been one of the most important things to getting fully effective processes in place during my career in warehousing. Please leave your tips and thoughts in the comments.

Standards Breakdown

• What is a standard?
  • A process that is proven to be effective and is repeatable with a desired outcome
  • Rules that are put in place to ensure the right outcome is achieved every time
• How to develop a standard
  • Map out your process that you want to standardize
  • Include all aspects of the process; no matter how small
  • Evaluate the process to see if it makes sense; can you improve any steps?
  • Ensure the process gives you the desired outcome
  • Get feedback from the parties doing the process
• Document, document, document
  • If the standard is not documented then it might as well not exist
  • Tribal knowledge will kill you when the person with the knowledge leaves
  • Everything should be documented and readily accessible for reference
  • Update documents accordingly when changes are made
  • Create a standard for organizing your documents
• Training
  • The key to having your standards succeed is to ensure the training is robust
  • All employees should be well versed in the standard and trained from when they begin
  • Do not throw them out there and train later
  • Start them right and with the expectation
  • Follow up on training periodically and ensure that it is top of mind
• Improvements
  • Be sure to review your standards for potential improvements periodically
  • Value your employees input; they know the process the best
  • If something doesn’t make sense question it