Does Your Warehouse Have a Trouble Spot?

A very early job of mine (we’re going back to the 80’s here) was as a “selector” in a supermarket-chain warehouse.

Basically, my job was to get a list from an unpleasant dude behind a glass partition, hop on my motorized pallet jack, and go shopping. I was to fulfill the list within a certain time period, or else.**

** Or else what exactly? I get fired from a crappy job at 19 years old? Whatever.

My first week on the job, they paired me up with “Ken”, who showed me the ropes.  Ken and I zipped around the warehouse, as he imparted his wisdom on me (“water NEVER goes on the bottom of the pallet”… to which I asked “but what if the whole pallet is water?“… Ken couldn’t wait for the week to be over and be rid of me.)

Anyway, one of the big things he taught me was, if at all possible, avoid the northwest corner of the warehouse. The reason? One of the racks was “Effed up”, as he put it. Meaning it stuck out two feet more than it should have. What that did was make it so a pallet jack could not make a clean turn around the rack. It had to stop, back up while turning, and then go. The opposite wall had scars of pallet jack drivers who ignored this maneuver, and the rack itself had a few bruises as well. There may have been some blood, I’m not sure. 

That corner (which they named “Amen Corner” in honor of the Master’s Golf Tournament) sometimes got really backed up. If you HAD to traverse it, you waited in a line. It cost people precious seconds. And since you got let go if you couldn’t make your time consistently, it probably cost people their jobs. And, without question, it cost the company money. 

Two feet. Two freaken’ feet. And probably thousands of dollars in lost revenue over the years.  Because time = money. 

My point is simple: little tiny things like a rack being two feet longer than it should seems like a “nothing” issue, until it starts a logjam in your warehouse, and begins costing you money.  

Bottom line: making sure your warehouse flows right, with racks of the right size, is everything. We’ve built our business on not only getting you the best racks fast, but the right racks as well. Because you can’t afford an Amen Corner of your own.