Communication:

Within the Control Room at a Major Sports Manufacturer there were various issues in terms of communication. Often not enough was getting through to the department mangers on shift (13 depts total) with the overall feeling / opinion on the distribution centre shop floor was that they were not competent and just saying things to keep everyone quiet and at bay. Through observing and discussing with the management on the departments a more proactive approach was adopted rather than a reactive one.

This being that whenever a fault on the material flow within the DC was identified, the technicians who would coordinate how to deal with each fault.

Would first identify it, then inform the support staff to fix the fault and also inform the area management of the fault which may have an impact on their performance. This approach may have been simple, but significantly reduced the complaints from the DC management and increased the trust in the information being given. This reduced radio chatter and increased the productivity of the technicians within the Control Room to focus on more important tasks that were expected of them by the wider business.

Honesty In Workplace:

There was a sense of animosity and issues between the operatives within the Control Room that was not being dealt with as they were assuming things between each other. Mainly laziness and a lack of effort by one of the more experienced staff members. Upon having a open dialogue between the management and the operatives it was identified that there were personal issues impacting the lazy individuals work. The lack of support from his previous managers had also worn him down and he felt he had become a ‘black sheep’ of the department and was on the edge of leaving.

The saving grace was just being able to voice his issues and have someone listen to them. He also had the first positive comment on his work mentioned to him by his new line manager for the first time in 3 years. This small comment of a job well done made him stay and having people who made him feel heard meant that he felt more appreciated and valued within the business. His moral improved significantly and started to increase the amount of work he was getting through and was reinvigorated with a want to learn more. He also became less abrasive and frustrated with those around him who also commented on his improved attitude. The other staff members rather than complaining to management spoke with him first hand and dealt with their issues openly. Resolving the communication and perceived animosity and creating a more professional and happy working environment.

Process Improvement:

The International despatch department in for a Major Sporting Distributor has an invoicing system that is generated for various countries that are supplied with stock. Within these invoices certain pallets need to be segregated from the main stock as they hold gas which needs to be transported in separate trailers for Health and safety reasons. There were multiple gas items sneaking through onto the Invoices which were incredibly difficult to be removed from the invoice as this was generated at the point of no return in the loading process. The stock which had thought to have been identified correctly was coming from an unknown source.

Working through the 5 whys principle and using root cause analysis to work back through the process flow of the DC it was identified that there were large numbers of gas items being stored in automated picking locations. This was a massive no as these were against health and safety regulations within the DC and also a massive insurance risk. This was raised with senior management within the DC as a receipting error on Receiving, the very start of the process as well as a putaway issue on the back of this initial error. This was rectified within 3 hours and all the stock putaway in the correct location. This inspired a change to SOPs within the DC meaning that the symptom of the Commercial invoice error and all the previous breaches of health and safety were fixed. Saving man hours, improving efficiency and increasing safety.

Using our core program of Accountability and Continuous improvement mnethodoligies we have been able to quickly shift the day to day effectiveness to such an extent that other departments are now adopting the same methodoligies.