Artem Suglobov, Head of the Regional Warehouses Development Department says about warehouses opening, storage optimization and work according to the standard.
In the beginning
I came to the company as a warehouseman, and after a trial period I was transferred to the courier delivery and pick-up site. On this site, employees must carry out many functions and, accordingly, much to be able to do and to know. I worked in the program, packed, selected and sent the goods. While in other sites, my colleagues, for example, were only packing or just accepting the goods.
Having joined Omega, LLC for the first month I was adjusting to the daily work schedule. Before that, I had worked at a gas station for five years on a shift schedule, so it was not easy. But I had good knowledge of spare parts, because I graduated from KNAHU (Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University).
Shipping Optimization
We sent a lot of orders by courier service, and I was responsible for ensuring parcels to be ready for shipment on time. Also, my duties included parcel execution in the courier service. To do this, I had to go with the driver directly to the courier service. It took a lot of time, so I negotiated with the courier service, and we were provided with a program for parcel execution at Omega, LLC. Courier service only had to unload them. Thus, we have significantly saved the time of both the warehouseman and the driver.
Refunds and substandard — a new stage
Together with my colleagues, I participated in the preparations for the Chayca warehouse opening in Kyiv. I was responsible for organizing the storage site for bulky goods and springs, shipping process setting up. I successfully coped with the tasks, and after that I was appointed the head of the returns and substandard site. In this position, I had an important task of storage streamlining and substandard goods processing, as well as the timely acceptance of customer returns.
To improve the work, additional computerization of the site was required. A year later, I achieved that there were more computers on the return site, and this allowed me to process returns twice or three times faster.
It was also necessary to optimize the work in the return and substandard warehouses. These two warehouses were in different places, and I often had to move from one to the other. Therefore, we optimized the goods processing area and moved the substandard area to the return warehouse.
As a result, we were able to process substandard goods faster.
New challenges
After that, I participated in the opening of seven other warehouses, helped in training, the arrangement of racking equipment. Then I was appointed the head of the regional warehouse management. And in this position I was able to realize my vision of the work of regional warehouses: developed and implemented the new payroll logics and optimized the manning table.
Basic principles of work
I always combine both work and rest. At the same time, my colleagues and I can be friends and communicate well in an informal atmosphere after work.
In my work I am guided by the following principle: if we agree on something with colleagues, this must be done. And if for some reason the task cannot be completed, we communicate and agree on a solution.
I try to tell my colleagues only the information that I checked myself. Whether they are improvements or changes in the processes, I “let it through myself”, try, evaluate, and only then notify the employees.
Standards work
I am impressed that everything is standardized in the company, and therefore it is simple and clear. And if something is unclear, you can always ask for advice managers or colleagues. These managers always provide an opportunity to carry out their best practices, which, of course, are correspondent with company principles. And also provided that you take responsibility.
New technologies for work
When managing remote warehouses, the most important application is Viber. And now it’s hard to imagine how you can work without it. Although I remember time when Viber was used little: that time I had to call all the warehouses and tell what to do. Now everyone already has Viber, and therefore it has become much easier to transfer information.
Fishing, books and English
In my free time, with pleasure I go fishing with my colleagues. And we are often joined by employees from other departments.
When a free minute appears, I read business literature. For example, Jeffrey K. Liker's book "The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer" helped me very much. It describes the principles of operation of all processes, for example, how to organize everything in a way so that downtime or transition periods when there is an increase in load takes a minimum of time.
I want to go on an excursion to one or several manufacturing plants, communicate with foreign partners and trainers, and learn new technologies and developments in process automation. So now I’m going to study English.
Desire for more
I believe that in work you always need to strive for more and be ready to take the initiative. It is necessary to present the leaders with suggestions and comments, and if something is not clear, do not be afraid to ask questions. This is the only way to achieve high results.