The delivery of Slatwall panels and shop shelving is a complex business full of risk assessments, health and safety, quality control and liaising with outside hauliers. As an insight into how delivery works, I delved into the warehouse but instead of looking at stock control, I took stock instead of what went on. Here’s a typical snapshot of a day in the life of our warehouse.
It’s 9am and everyone is sitting around drinking coffee. No, not really but it’s a nice thought! In reality, they’ve been on the job since 7am. It’s quite a noisy environment, with routering machines on and fork lift truck beeping away. There is, as you would expect, industrial shelving containing a lot of stock plus a section designated for our packaging materials. Obviously, there is a clear system in place with paperwork to record all stock going in and out, what delivery is going to where and what returns have come in (not too many we hope!) but to keep life simple, and make this blog easier to write, I’ll focus on Slatwall panels.
Once the order is booked into the warehouse, a two man team load the panels plus any Slatwall accessories onto a pallet; quality control is carried out at the same time to ensure the customer receives items in tip top condition. This is a 2 man task as the panels weigh in at a whopping 40kg each! These teams are specially trained to handle these items. After the panels and accessories are palletised, the order is carefully checked off to ensure it is complete and then it is carefully banded and wrapped to protect the Slatwall for the journey. The pallet is then carefully manoeuvred into the delivery bay by the fork lift driver.
Slatwall panels that are to be bespoke, routered or cut are handled in the same way, they just make an extra journey into the cnc room before being palletised for delivery.
Time for a break? Not yet. Paperwork is completed and the delivery is booked onto the haulage firm transport system. Now it’s time for coffee!
This process is repeated throughout the day with the warehouse staff working really hard to get as many orders processed for delivery before the lorries arrive.
Around 3pm, the lorries arrive and a different process begins; deliveries are loaded into the appropriate vehicles, safety checks are made and a final glance over the paperwork is done, along with recording the dispatch. The drivers perform their checks and we send them on their merry way, safe in the knowledge that your slatwall will arrive safely and on time the next working day (it goes without saying that traffic, road works and breakdowns can and do cause some problems on occasion).
Picking, packing and wrapping continues throughout the day, even after the dispatch time so we have a head start for the following day. Tired workers then begin the clean-up, tidying, sweeping making sure we have a clean and tidy working environment ready for the following day.
The final warehouseman leaves at 8pm, leaving the warehouse and it’s contents in the safe hands of our security firm. I was exhausted just watching them work for the day and decided to stick to my normal job in the office. It’s much quieter in there!
Crown Display Ltd: Delivery retail display equipment, slatwall panels and shop shelving direct to your door.
