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You are a Warehouse Manager that ships Heavy Industrial Products, you want to know how to avoid retail chargebacks, freight claims | LoadProof

 

Your Business

  • Manufacture, Assemble and Ship all these heavy industrial products on time and to the right place in perfect condition so the deployment of these heavy industrial products can be done smoothly as part of construction or starting up new facilities that is already going on
  • If you really think about it, these are products that are purchased out of somebody’s capital projects and budgets. So somebody is investing big time building large buildings or gas stations or making automotive products that consumers need to buy, or a Distribution Center is going live or for example hospitals, if these beds don’t reach on time to hospitals, people cannot get treated, people might even die
  • So it is very important as a Warehouse Manager you do your part of the job thoroughly and deliver them on time. Obviously not only do the job and also keep proof that you did your job right to show it to other parties in the Supply Chain
  • So when your products arrive on time, the other resources, tools, experts that are needed to finish the construction project or other projects finish their part and complete the project on time
  • Let us say this is an expensive HVAC system for a large building, you did your job great, you thought, hey we perfectly tested the product, we perfectly packed it, we perfectly assembled whatever we can assemble here at the DC or at the factory then you shipped everything with the correct check list, correct sub assembly components, you did everything great and you thought, everything is going to be great.
  • You handed it off to the carrier, flatbed truck or whatever it is, and you breathed a big sigh of relief
  • But when the product arrived at the project site, it was damaged, it had scratches in them, it had had one part broken, or somehow somebody missed a bunch of cables now they cannot complete the installation of this product, now they are pointing fingers at you and saying – Hey the warehouse missed this
  • You did a great job, you had the best team, best people, best processes, best everything, in spite of it you are getting blamed for this, now you look like you don’t know what you are doing
  • Sometimes there are also penalty clauses if the product does not arrive on time at the right place, you will have to pay penalties also
  • Also prior to shipping, when you are manufacturing or building your HVAC system as there are other parallel projects going on, for example construction, or another vendor building another set of products for the same building construction, installation, you will have to show progress as to how the product you are building is coming along, so the other teams can be sure of making the dates, or if there is any adjustments that need to be made, they can do those adjustments as well. So as part of proving those updates, you will have to provide pictures to demonstrate the progress that you are making with that heavy industrial product
  • As a warehouse manager, you are responsible for the following
    • The warehouse manager leads and coordinates all aspects of the distribution process within the Supply Chain network.
    • Leads site’s planning, execution, and communication of all daily clerical and operational processes, including:
      • Labor Planning & Driver Management
      • OSHA, FDA and DOT Compliance
      • General Administrative Duties
        1. Employee hiring
        2. Payroll
      • Customer Service Responsibilities
      • Human Resource Administration
      • Product Functionality Checks and Cleaning
      • Warehouse Functions/ Servant Leadership
      • Load Planning, Routing, and Carrier Management
      • Collection/Reporting of KPI data

Sometimes you are responsible for the P&L of the site as well

  • If you are shipping products that need some kind of an FDA approval – then you have to keep all the related documentation for up to 12 years, depending upon the product it could be 3 years, 7 years or 12 years the duration differs.

Your Supply Chain Community

Your Supply Chain community comprises of people that you do business with, usually it is made of all these people

  • Manufacturers that manufacture products
  • Carriers
    1. Trucking companies
    2. Ocean Carriers
    3. Rail Carriers
    4. Air Carriers
    5. Multi modal – Ocean, Land, Rail, Air
  • Third Party Logistics Service Providers
  • Vendors that you buy your products from
  • Cross Dock Facility operators
  • Consolidation Facility operators
  • LTL Terminals
  • Parcel Carriers
  • Delivery Companies
  • Freight Forwarders
  • Freight Brokers

It is very important to keep in mind that you will work with all these people on a regular basis, so build and maintain professional relationships. While shipping products, moving products mistakes do happen, sometimes it is theirs, sometimes it is yours, whatever it is work with your partners, keep proof in LoadProof to demonstrate that you did your job right. So, you can have a professional conversation and articulate your position in a professional way, it is okay to say in a very professional and gentle manner, “Hey it is not fair for us to pay for mistakes that is not ours, here is a proof in the form of pictures”. However, do not burn bridges everybody is working very hard to make it for themselves. Also, people move on and change roles very quickly in this industry, so the same person could take up a different role and you might face them in a completely different side. So always build and maintain professional relationships, do not burn bridges. So, when you are working with such a community of Supply Chain service providers, having LoadProof and pictures to prove that you did your job right, gives you a solid ground to stand on, when something happens to your shipment.

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