How To Set Up a Shipping and Receiving Area – Process Guide

Here, we’ll go over the various details you’ll need to gather in order to set up a productive packing station in your facility and provide some advice on how to make the process go more smoothly.

Packing is a crucial step in the fulfillment process, particularly in a cutthroat market where customers carefully examine every aspect of their online ordering experience. Personnel must have access to all required tools and have enough room in a designated area to finish packing each order in order to facilitate quick, secure packing procedures.

Order Packing Process

We must comprehend the order packing procedure and its requirements before delving into the how and why of setting up a packing station. In a warehouse environment, items are first picked from storage or inventory bins.

Each order is picked up separately to guarantee that every component is included before moving on to the packing station.

All of the items in an order are counted during packing, and the shipping costs are calculated after each item is carefully weighed. The person in charge of packing the order must then choose the proper packaging, which entails picking the right boxes or envelopes, including foam, peanuts, or other protective materials, and then securely packing and sealing the finished package.

The order packing process is then complete when a label is created and attached to the package. The order is now prepared for shipping.

Here’s a basic breakdown of the order packing process:

1. Account for all items
2. Check weight
3. Choose packaging
4. Pack
5. Label

What is a Packing Station?

The purpose of warehouse packing stations is to facilitate and speed up the order packing process. While packing stations can be custom designed to meet the unique needs of each business, they all share the same fundamental components.

Prior to sending an order out for shipment, a packing station must have all the supplies packing staff will need to successfully pack, weigh, and label it.

Depending on the kinds of products they sell or ship, the distance the packages are traveling, etc., each company will have slightly different packing procedures. While some people only require slots for a few different kinds of padded envelopes, others may require a packing station with a half-dozen different sizes of cardboard boxes.

Whatever supplies your business uses to pack orders, they should all be easily accessible to staff using packing stations.

The majority of packing stations include shelving or hanging storage so that packing supplies, rolls of paper, tape, label makers, scanners, knives, and other items can be stored there for convenience, efficiency, and comfort. The majority of packing stations also have base cabinets or storage drawers for storing extra supplies, which eliminates the need for frequent trips back to the station.

Some common materials that are often stored in or on packing stations include:

• Bubble wrap
• Rolls of packing foam
• Paper
• Lights
• Scanners
• Label printers
• Scissors/box cutters
• Boxes
• Envelopes

Benefits of a Well-Configured Packing Station

When your facility is already equipped with workstations, why worry about setting up designated packing stations? Many warehouse managers are opposed to the idea of adding packing stations to a facility because they mistakenly think the process will be difficult and ultimately more trouble than it will be worth.

In fact, many warehouses disperse their packing process throughout the building, reducing efficiency and wasting space.

Although it is possible to pack products without a packing station, businesses that invest the time to incorporate specialized packing stations into their fulfillment centers frequently discover that doing so makes them more competitive and customer-pleasant. Here are just a few of the benefits of adding well-configured packing stations to your facility:

Efficiency

Packing stations make it easier to keep everything in one spot and provide packing staff with quick access to the supplies they need so they don’t have to frantically search the facility for everything they require. You can pack and ship more orders by centralizing everything, which makes the order packing process much more effective.

The establishment of designated packing stations also aids in the release of valuable warehouse space that your ineffective packing system may have occupied, making more space for other employees to work and freeing up storage that might be required for growing inventory.

Competitive Edge

As was already mentioned, setting up packing stations in your warehouse or fulfillment center can help you to organize your picking, packing, and shipping procedures, making the entire space more productive. A competitive advantage can be yours if you increase efficiency because customers and rivals will notice and take note.

As word spreads about your quick, dependable ordering process, you’ll see an increase in sales if you fill orders for your own business. You’ll find that more sellers approach you for your services as you fulfill orders or store inventory for other businesses or independent sellers, which could start to expand the scope of your business.

Employee Comfort

Order packing can be physically taxing, particularly if a well-designed packing station is not used. Repetitive motions such as bending, lifting, stooping, and leaning over can result in chronic pain, skeletal or muscular issues, and even conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome.

By maintaining everything within a comfortable range and incorporating ergonomic elements created specifically for the human body, packing stations designed for effective, comfortable packing help to protect personnel.

Considerations for Adding Packing Stations

Before placing an order, there are a few fundamental factors to take into account once you have decided that your warehouse or fulfillment center needs packing stations. Here’s what you should consider before you start the process of designing or choosing your packing stations:

Lean Warehouse Principles

In a warehouse or fulfillment center, every task is interrelated and has an impact on the others. If a step in the process is cumbersome, inconvenient, or poorly thought out, it can have an impact on the rest of the chain, causing issues that ultimately affect the customer.

The various operations and tasks carried out within a warehouse that follows lean principles have been carefully evaluated, and systems that enable them to happen as smoothly as possible have been created.

A few questions to ask when determining whether problems in other areas of the facility could be impacting the packing process include:

• Do all pieces of equipment encourage effectiveness and quality?
• Exist any inventory gaps that might affect shipping?
• Has the selection process been streamlined?
• Do you have failsafes in place to safeguard employees and deal with problems as they arise?
• Is the entire facility being utilized effectively?

5S Workflow

A method of office organization called the 5S Workflow system was created in Japan with the goal of fostering a calm, organized, and productive workplace. Since each step of the 5S system can be used to streamline and increase efficiency, it is a great tool to use when setting up a packing station.

The words Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke are referred to as the “5 S’s” in Japanese.

1. Seiri – Sort: Sorting or organizing your workspace is step one of the 5S workflow process. This step entails determining which items are essential to the workplace’s operation and which ones are just clutter and separating the two groups of items accordingly. To make room and create a less cluttered and more relaxing environment, all extraneous, inconvenient, or unused items should be eliminated.
   
   Sorting out the supplies needed for successful packing should come first when setting up a packing station. The packing area should then be cleared of any extra or redundant supplies.
2. Seiton – Set in order: Setting things in order, or giving each item a place where it can be conveniently located, accessed, and used, is the second step of the 5S workflow process. Every piece of equipment, tool, and consumable should have a designated spot, and labels or signs should be put up to let people know they are there.
   
   When setting up a packing station, you should find a place for all of the supplies used to pack orders, such as the necessary tools, equipment, boxes, paper, bubble wrap, etc.
3. Seiso – Shine: Maintaining a workspace and all of its equipment in good condition requires routine upkeep and cleaning; make a habit of “shining” your workspace each day. Shining involves doing things like cleaning, organizing, making minor repairs, performing maintenance, and making improvements as needed.
4. Seiketsu – Standardize: Create standardized procedures to maintain your space after you’ve cleaned, organized, and set it up. Standardize the manner in which cleaning is done and when it takes place, the cleaning supplies that are used, etc. You will be more successful in keeping a well-organized working environment by developing routines and firmly establishing expected standards.
5. Shitsuke – Sustain: Making standardized rules is one thing; enforcing them is another. Create a company culture that supports maintaining order and organization as the last step of the 5S method. This entails ensuring that all employees receive regular and sufficient training, requiring and exemplifying discipline and routine, and frequently checking in with employees to gauge the effectiveness of established standards.

Ergonomics

It’s crucial to think about a packing station’s ergonomics to prevent staff members from getting hurt or having trouble packing more challenging orders effectively. Workstations should be customized to meet the individual requirements of your employees, including equipment to help with lifting and packing bulkier items, ergonomic seating, and easily accessible storage.

If a packing station’s ergonomics aren’t taken into account, it could land you in trouble down the road when workers are exhausted, in pain, and unable to keep up with demand for orders. You can contribute to the creation of a more productive, happy workplace by designing packing stations to meet the physical requirements and needs of employees.

Designing Custom Packing Stations

Although generic packing stations are available, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, and pre-made packing stations rarely satisfy all of a company’s requirements. Your packing station’s layout and design will be largely influenced by the kind and size of goods that are typically shipped from your facility.

Businesses that ship food and drink products directly to customers, for instance, will have very different needs than those that ship commercial auto parts from manufacturers. The size and scope of your operation will also have a big impact on how much space is needed for packing, how many workstations you’ll need, where packing stations will be placed, etc.

OnePointe Solutions provides a wide variety of packing station components and accessories, including mounted and modular casework, personalized workbenches, and ergonomic seating. We can assist you in creating the ideal packing station for your unique requirements. Our design team will closely collaborate with you to identify the solutions that will help to improve packing efficiency, employee comfort, and organizational effectiveness.

Inbound & Outbound Logistics Process (Step-by-Step Guide)

To figure out the difference between inbound and outbound logistics, it’s important to first know the basics of an inbound and outbound process. That will make it easier for you to comprehend how it affects the effectiveness of your supply chain as a whole. Let’s examine shipping and receiving as well as inbound versus outbound logistics, paying particular attention to areas where your company can grow.

The Inbound Process:

1. Recording and Receipts

Recording and receipts drive the inbound process. Supply chain specialists can make sure that every step is carried out and accurately communicated by using receipts. Basic invoices include the item, quantity, unit of measurement, and other necessary data.

Elements that should be tracked throughout the inbound process include: lot numbers, manufacturing dates, expiration dates, serial numbers, P.O. tracking, various inventory receipt statuses, default receipt status rules, emergency re-direction, routing of times to special staging on “short” inventories, immediate availability of items for backorders and cross-docks, and more.

Pre-receipt notification is among the newer and exciting logistics services in use by supply chain companies (like This service expedites the inbound procedure by minimizing the amount of information entered manually. The pre-receipt process reduces costs, eliminates receiving errors, and enables real-time receiving and put away operations.

2. Load Arrival

Your receiving process should start immediately after pre-receipts have been loaded into the WMS system.

Product is more than just received with a highly functional WMS system, though (like the one BR Williams uses). The system can reserve docks, doors, and staging areas as well as schedule deliveries and loads in advance within minutes.

Performing each logistics service more quickly and efficiently is a benefit of the preliminary inbound planning used by supply chain management companies. All receipt information should be already entered with minimal human error. The warehouse coordinator can easily designate an unload staging area when a receipt or load arrives because they are aware of which dock door to direct the truck to.

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3. Receiving Real-time Information

The “receipt” is handed to coordinators, already “bar-coded” with specific instructions for an associate who can begin the receiving activities and real-time reporting.

Checking processes as you go ensures that the inbound process continues to run smoothly. Your logistics and trucking companies should use automated systems to make sure that warehouse employees are at the right dock door and are unloading the right shipment based on data from the bar-coded receiver.

Warehouse staff start detailed receiving as soon as the inbound receipt and load arrival process is finished. For each supply chain and trucking company, there are various types of receiving.

BR Williams does detail receiving in two ways:

1. One-Step Receiving: When customers benefit from eliminating the staging and have their products sent directly to storage
2. Two-Step Receiving: When the receipt/load needs to be staged instead of putting directly into storage

4. License Plate Tracking

Having control over your moving product is just as important as having control during storage and warehousing. Because of this, trucking firms have begun to permit WMS systems to track their license plate numbers.

In December 2017, when ELD compliance becomes required, this crucial step in managing the entire inbound process will be required.

5. Put-away and Receipt Close

In earlier systems, only experts stocked the product after it was received. In some situations, this is still accurate today. Newer systems, however, offer automation and additional options.

For instance, the WMS system from BR Williams specifically allows user-configurable settings that help determine whether your product will be put away in accordance with operator- or system-directed methods.

The last step for logistics and trucking companies involved in the inbound process is updating in real time that the trailer or carrier has been emptied.

Review and exceptions are now possible thanks to real-time capabilities.

Receipts and other information can be sent in real-time, which speeds up the process. It also allows for docks to be immediately labeled “available” for other receipts/lead shipments.

The Outbound Process:

1. Order Entry, Adds, Changes, and Deletions

When the inbound process is handled correctly, it allows for an easier outbound process.

The pre-receipt stage of the inbound process is analogous to order entry. The first steps of an outbound system is to validate orders, check for errors or duplications, and handle exceptions immediately.

Customers should have the option to add, modify, or delete specific items or entire orders up until the point at which line items are loaded onto an outbound trailer.

Real-time reporting is essential to the outbound process for several reasons, chief among them being the availability of these logistics services to customers.

2. Replenishment and Product Picking

Establishing pick prerequisite requirements and planning logistics services and activities to be finished prior to the corresponding pick tasks are the main components of replenishment, which is essentially planning for upcoming deliveries.

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Your supply chain can continue to run as a result of this step with little manual planning and strategy needed in between.

Picking can be an easy or very difficult process. Because different businesses, industries, and customers have different needs, your selection process should be distinctive.

Select logistics and trucking companies that offer specialized picking capabilities and techniques.

Picking strategies may include:

1. Line picking
2. Cluster picking
3. Batch picking
4. Zone picking
5. Label-based picking
6. Paper-based picking

3. Packing, Staging, Checking, and Loading

Possibly the most crucial logistics service involved in the outbound process is packing. In accordance with the demands of the customer, it also entails packing items, inspecting, labeling, routing, and manifesting outbound orders.

The reputation of the company will be in jeopardy if this step isn’t handled perfectly. Completed shipments and arrival times may also be compromised.

If an automated system is used, staging areas should be selected in advance. For accuracy and timeliness, each step of the staging, checking, and loading process should be recorded in real-time through a WMS.

When all shipments have been loaded and are prepared to leave, a warehouse coordinator should be automatically updated, and a warehouse employee should be given instructions to load your order onto a trailer.

4. Shipping and Document Generation

The last step to a successful outbound process is shipping the product to its final arrival place and creating a log of the process for your records.

Using trucking companies that use a WMS, like https://www.a1autotransport.com/freight/, is crucial for this reason. A customs agent, such as Mobius Customs, will also be required to make sure that all of your paperwork is accurate and that any problems are resolved. The final reporting is essentially finished if each step of the process has been documented.

5 Principles of a Successful Material Receiving Area

The same principles for an optimized warehouse will ensure an efficient receiving area:

• Reduce how often something is touched and how far it travels.
• Make sure that cross-traffic and bottlenecks are avoided along each product’s intended path. These routes should be planned and tested before operations start.
• Decide who does what, where, and in what order by establishing standard operating procedures. These procedures should be communicated to employees and documented.
• Processes should always be automated.
• For your space and materials, use the right equipment.

The warehouse’s receiving area is just the starting point for materials. The objectives and processes of the other warehouse operations must be seamlessly integrated with those of receiving in addition to these other guiding principles.

Receiving Area Essentials

Similar to the overall layout of a warehouse, the design of the receiving area will be greatly influenced by the product and any processes it needs to go through. Occasionally, items might be moved directly from the truck to a storage shelf. Prior inspection, counting, sorting, or weighing of other materials might be necessary.

The majority of businesses will require at the very least some simple organization and inspection procedures. They must be aware of whether they have received everything they ordered, that it is undamaged, and where to put it so that it can be located when needed.

For our purposes, we’ll assume that a warehouse’s receiving area includes these basic elements:

• Delivery
• Inspection
• Organization

Most people have at some point relocated to a new house. An excellent comparison for the operation of a warehouse receiving area is moving day. You must make arrangements for a moving company or friends to transport and unload your belongings (delivery), ensure that everything arrives safely and undamaged (inspection), decide what goes where (organization), and then put everything away (moving on to storage).

Similar principles apply to receiving areas in warehouses. Of course, the process becomes more difficult the larger the operation. Each of the aforementioned elements may contain a variety of distinct tasks and processes.

The need for a separate area for each procedure is crucial. The foundational idea behind warehouse receiving setup is this. It’s likely that something will be overlooked if delivery, inspection, and organization don’t take place in separate areas.

For instance, if there is no designated area for inspection, employees might not be able to distinguish between what has been inspected and what has not, and damaged goods may end up in storage and eventually in the package delivered to the final customer.

There are times when everything goes smoothly, just like moving day. The logistics are sometimes a nightmare. The degree of planning and preparation is typically what makes the difference.

Conclusion

Every area within a warehouse needs to be planned to maximize efficiency. The receiving department is the place where efficiency standards are first established for a product. Operations further downstream may suffer if an effective flow is not created. Putting in place effective receiving procedures will help ensure that items get off to a good start as they move through the warehouse.

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