Page 8 - Logistics News - September October 2023

W A R EH OU SING

• Put a task on hold, reprioritise a task, assign a task to Security personnel should be stationed at every
an employee or release a set of tasks to be completed. entrance/exit to the building. Be sure to inspect any
• Monitor, plan and forecast work in real-time. vehicles leaving your warehouse to check for any
• Track the status for a particular customer, including unauthorised stock leaving the premises.
order lookups and wave progress.
• Your warehouse management solution should be Staff and visitors’ parking should be located
mobile-enabled so that your warehouse managers separately from your warehouse operations. No private
aren’t completely desk-bound. This will help you vehicles should be near your warehouse.
increase visibility and interaction on the floor.
7. Understand the motivation.

Additionally, you can locate your manager’s office above Knowing why employees steal will help you to curb the
your warehouse on a mezzanine floor with a bird’s eye view theft in a more effective way.

of the warehouse below. This allows managers to keep an

eye on the warehouse floor at all times. Why do employees steal? In an ideal world, we
wouldn’t need to ask such a question, however, there
5. Limit access to stock in your warehouse. are three common reasons for staff to develop light
Use the physical layout of your warehouse to create fingers:
barriers that help to prevent theft. Separate your Poverty: Very often when an employee is struggling
receiving and shipping docks where possible to prevent financially, they may be tempted to steal from their
newly received stock exiting on an outbound truck employer – either taking items home for their family or
before it even enters your warehouse. to sell for cash. Their justification is that they need the
item/s more than you do, thinking the company won’t
Keep your pick faces and inventory storage locations miss or can easily afford to replace missing stock.
as far away from your shipping and receiving areas as Entitlement: Some staff may believe that the
possible. The only stock that should be near these areas company they work for owes them something. They
are incoming and outgoing orders. don’t see pilfering stock as theft – it’s simply taking
what was rightfully theirs to begin with.
Provide visiting truck drivers with a dedicated Opportunistic: Finally, there are opportunists. These
lounge area to wait in while orders are being loaded thieves will take something desirable just because they
or unloaded. Only staff should have access to your can. Small stock items like make-up, clothing, foodstuff
warehouse or distribution area. and electronics are most at risk of opportunistic theft as
the thieves will take items that are easy to access and
6. Ensure you have robust security systems in your conceal.
warehouse.
Installing security systems like access control and CCTV 8. Implement a warehouse management system
cameras not only deters criminals, but also provides evidence (WMS).
of the theft that is caught on camera. These cameras should The less accurate your inventory records, the faster
be strategically placed in high-risk areas. You can also install your warehouse becomes an easy target. A WMS
security mirrors to maximise visibility and prevent blind spots allows you to keep more accurate, less corruptible
in hard-to-reach corners of your warehouse. records.

Additional security measures like unplanned Knowing exactly what stock you have on hand (and
warehouse walk-throughs by supervisors, team leaders where that stock is located in your warehouse) helps
or management can act as an additional deterrent. Make you identify missing stock immediately and ultimately
sure these walk-throughs are completely unpredictable. reduces warehouse theft. However, trying to keep track
Some key areas to check include shipping and receiving of stock manually often leads to errors – especially if
bays, and entrances and exits. you’re doing infrequent stock takes. •

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