The document provides observations and recommendations for improving operations at a central warehouse. It notes issues like poor visibility and labeling leading to inefficient picking, improper storage of items making accessibility difficult, and reactive ordering based on forecasts rather than actual usage. Recommendations include improving labeling, storing like items together, implementing a pull-based replenishment system to reduce over-ordering, dedicating staff to daily invoice posting, and providing trainings to foster a lean mindset focused on eliminating waste. The overall aim is to make inventory and material flow more visible to reduce picking times, minimize potential for waste and errors, and better manage costs.

1. REPORT ON LEAN WAREHOUSE OPERATINS IMPROVEMENT
INTRODUCTION
After one month of induction and orientation at the central warehouse, I would like to present my report on
observations and raise a few recommendations for your considerations.
A warehouse distribution operation is at the heart of the supply chain and while much of its success is reducing
waste by making the process more visible and material flow (Lean), and reducing process variability and the
defects this processes create (Six Sigma) to enable the supply chain work effectively and efficiently.
OBSERVATIONS
VISIBILITY
Picking inventory from the shelves is a scavenger hunt. The steps a picker takes going back to the warehouse
several times in a day added up could be used to reduce the pick time dramatically. Picking wrong items and
having to repeat the process is expensive.
There is extremely poor labeling in the warehouse leading to multiple locations of items this becomes laboure
intensive especially for the staff.
STORAGE ISSUES
Poor storage strategies in the warehouse eg: storage of 90kg bags of production floor stored in the beverage store,
next to sodas and water. Incase of spillage of soda, we will incur a waste of 90bags or more of floor. How will we
treat such waste?
Like items are not stored together. Location of fridges in every store reduces on efficiency and makes accessibility
really hard.
REPLENISHMENT
Reorder is mainly based on forecasting rather than actual use.
There is a lot emergency order made this is as a result of having no order filling system. Emergency orders lead to
over ordering due to anticipations and we don’t get to enjoy volume discounts from suppliers.

2. INVENTORY = $
Thinking differently about inventory is vital in a warehouse. Getting people to think differently about inventory is
our daily operational goal. What do you want to know at the end of each day? Exactly how much you have.
Delays in posting of invoices in the systems are not done on a daily basis. This is brought about mainly by lack of
enough Operating equipment like computers to do this posting. This results to human errors while trying to beat
dead lines of the postings of several days’ invoices at ago. Not unless we are able to eliminate these errors, we will
not be able to eliminate defects in our operations
Perishable invoices from outlets are a times not delivered for posting on time as a result there are inconveniences
in accountability of this invoices daily.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Some stock items increase our coast on a daily basis .Accountability of items like garbage bags, carrier bags and
bread bags. We use this for packaging of dispatching items to our customers but we ignore this small costs that
eventually need to be accounted for since we don’t get them for free.
RECOMENDATIONS
If inventory was actually stacks of dollar bills would we manage them differently? Would we secure them
differently? would we let people have all those samples?
PICKING PROFICIENCY
Accuracy is key to managing a successful operation.
Labeling is critical to inventory success.ussing of colours as much as possible, big coulor charts can help employees
learn quickly where specific products are.
Things that move most and the fastest should be most easy to get.
The use of 5S METHODOLOGY will help employees in visibility and rotation of inventory.
STORAGE ISSUES
Like items should be stored together.
The beverage warehouse is not actually as it is called since food items dominate the warehouse.
All the fridges should be preferably kept in one warehose, the fridges to be subdivided by a fridge divider for every
type of meat instead of using imaginary dividers. This will increasingly assist in picking process and also help in
stock cycle counts and monitor movement. As a result we will reduce on time wasted moving from one store to
another. we wont suffer stock outs.Minimizing of possible waste occurrence by storing of unlike goods. Production
floor should be kept in the dry goods store otherwise, will lead to incurring of a cost that we should have avoided.
Space helps in accessibility. Creating of a row shelves will assist on picking proficiency.

3. ORDER FILLING.
An efficient warehouse is an empty warehouse
The KANBAN system, where all items are replenished at the rate they are consumed.
(ADU*LT)*(1+SS%)-attached is a copy of the two bin calculation.
This system ensures there are no overfills or miss-fills and helps eliminate order shortages. This will as a result give
us criteria for ordering and enable us enjoy suppliers discounts due to volume discount.
DAILY POSTINGS
I would recommend that a specific person should be entirely assigned to receiving and posting of invoices
immediately suppliers come. Creating of lpos of particular inventory such as strawberries and mushrooms should
be posted by the end of each day.
Suppliers deliveries directly to the outlets can be approached by getting paper scanners for the outlets where thy
send a soft copy for posting immediately they receive the goods.
We need more computer systems to facilitate efficiency as discussed in our previous meeting.
SUGGESTIONS
TRAINNINGS
Education is infinity,
We do not need a different management system for Lean because it is so complex to what we have done before;
we need it because it is so different.
We need trainings from BIC in logistics and supply chain companies.
CONCLUSION.
If people don’t see a problem, they won’t be motivated to change.
A lean thinker welcomes the appearance of interruptions, anomalies and problems in his or her processes as
opportunities to understand and eliminate sources of variations and disruptions
Everybody should ask ‘what can I change in my warehouse operation that allows me to reduce cost and see what I
have to fulfill.