Careers in Distribution Introduction Careers in Distribution Copyright
Careers in Distribution Introduction Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
Thinking of a career in distribution? This course is a brief introduction to warehousing and the career opportunities in the field. The course is divided into the following sections: § § § What is warehousing (Section 1) Frontline jobs (Section 2) Management jobs (Section 2) Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
Learning Objectives At the completion of this course, you will be able to: 1. Explain warehousing’s role in the supply chain 2. Outline typical jobs in the warehouse 3. Know the skills needed for distribution jobs Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
What is Warehousing? Warehousing’s Role in the Supply Chain Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
Warehousing’s Role in the Supply Chain The modern warehouse or distribution center (DC) provides resources to support both traditional and valueadded activities. The resources are space (the building), labor (the people), and knowledge (information/data and workers’ skills). Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
Warehouse Traditional Activities Product receiving, storage, which requires putaway and inventory management shipping, which requires picking the items from storage and combining them into orders. Shipping Storage Receiving Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
The relationship between warehouse activities and warehouse resources is shown in this chart. Resources Activities Space Labor Knowledge Receiving Dock Receiving Crew Order, ASN or manifest Put items away Storage Receiving Crew Layout of space, handling equipment Pick to orders Storage/pick stations Pickers Customer orders Stage and Load Staging / Shipping Area Loaders Customer order, Transport information Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
New Warehouse or DC Activities Customers are demanding more individualization of orders and quicker response. The warehouse is closer to customers and uses relatively inexpensive resources, so it often makes sense to move final packaging, labeling, and configuration to the warehouse or DC. These are value-added services (VAS) like product packaging, product ticketing and creating shelf-ready displays. Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
What makes a DC successful? Typically warehouses are rated on throughput speed, accuracy, and efficiency (cost). Warehouse managers, in general, expect: 1. To ship all orders received by cutoff the same day, if inventory is available. 2. To attain inventory accuracy over 99% (99% of all items are in the location shown on the warehouse system or records). 3. To attain shipment accuracy well over 99% (the order is shipped exactly as requested over 99% of the time). These performance expectations demand highly-qualified workers who are skilled and dedicated. Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
Highly-Qualified Workers Continue to Section 2 to learn more about the job types and skills required in frontline warehouse jobs. Careers in Distribution, Copyright 2005, WERC
- Slides: 10