Remote warehouse. Does your business have a branch or a remote warehouse? Attention to employees

The owners of manufacturing and trading companies do not need to explain why a warehouse is needed and what strategic function it performs. However, many start-up entrepreneurs who want to get the maximum profit from their activities and recoup investments in a growing business as early as possible neglect the need to rent a storage space.

This is partly due to the fact that the cost of renting non-residential premises remains at a fairly high level, despite the fact that the economic crisis has "knocked down" a considerable part of potential clients forced to close their business.

Today we will talk with you about how to organize the work of a warehouse "from scratch", we will give several "reinforced concrete" arguments in favor of its necessity, and also think about how and on what you can save money by organizing its work.

Everything seems to be clear. Then go ahead!

Classification

In order to choose the right strategy for arranging a warehouse area, you need to have a clear idea of \u200b\u200bwhat function it will perform for you, both for the owner and for your potential buyers. All warehouses can be roughly divided into three categories:

Administrative household... Such premises, as a rule, are used for storing inventory, food for internal use, medicines, household chemicals and other products that are not intended for sale. It happens that the "administrative department" is formed within the backroom, so to speak, in order to save money. The current legislation regulating this issue does not prohibit doing this;

Technological. These warehouses are a kind of "staging area" for products that you are going to produce yourself or bring from its manufacturer. The speed of goods shipment will largely depend on the work of such a warehouse. For these needs, a lot of software has been created today, designed to create comfortable conditions for accounting of goods and materials. Here's a good example! Check out the rates and;

Utility. The name of this type of warehouse speaks for itself. Some particularly thrifty entrepreneurs manage to combine all three types of warehouses within one area, but this is not entirely correct. In our case, if we are talking about a "utility room", it is better to organize it within the office. So it will turn out cheaper and will not interfere with work either.

As you can see, the general concept of "warehouse" has a fairly broad paradigm of meanings. In many ways, it is precisely a clear understanding of what purposes the premises will be used for in the future that the future success of this enterprise depends.

Where to begin?

After you decide on the purpose of the future warehouse, it's time to start looking for a suitable area. It just so happened that most of the premises designed for these needs are located in the industrial zones of cities.

This was partly facilitated by privatization, when fairly "solvent" gentlemen simply bought out entire buildings from dilapidated factories and subsequently began to engage in leasing of premises. You need to be prepared for the fact that the location of the warehouse too far from your office can create some discomfort in interaction with future employees in this area.

In any case, remote warehouses have one advantage - rental costs can be significantly lower (generally high) than in areas located closer to the city center.

There are two well-known ways to find the right place:

Search for information on the Internet. Here you can count on a fairly wide range of proposals;

Travel around the city and pay attention to the signs. As a rule, in especially "hot" places, they are hung out even with an indication of the rental price for 1 m 2;

Find out from friends. It is quite possible that not so long ago they themselves were looking for the necessary premises;

Find a place close to future customers (you probably already know exactly who you will sell your products to).

Regardless of where the warehouse will be located and what the owner will charge for rent, it is important to take into account his future “decoration”. On the Internet you can find a huge number of typical layouts, one of which can be applied to your area. The above image shows a typical plan designed for safe storage of products - just our case!

What's next?

After the lease is signed, you need to start arranging the premises. But before that, it is important to carefully read the contract, check with the owner who will pay for utilities. that this particular issue is becoming a stumbling block in matters of rent. You should be more careful here.

However, suppose that all the ambiguous moments of cooperation are settled, and now you need to organize the direct work of the warehouse. Depending on how the room will be adapted to this, the order of further actions will depend.

There is a fairly large number of offers on the market, where ready-made warehouses with racks, pallets, loader services, jacks, etc. are rented. If this is not your case, then the equipment and decoration will have to be rented (Internet for help), and this is an additional cost. In any case, this makes it possible to organize the space exactly the way you want it. At this stage, you will need to do at least a few things:

Agree with the workers to carry out the "rough" work (arrange racks, make partitions, clean the area, etc.);

Find people from among the warehouse workers (preferably with good work experience), estimate what the number of staff should be;

If you have your own freight transport, you will need a driver and a freight forwarder;

Get yourself. It should be inexpensive.

The diagram shows the well-functioning work of warehouse personnel

Attention to employees

Of particular importance will be the people you work with. Their diligence, responsibility and elementary decency will determine how correctly the warehouse will be filled, how quickly the products will be shipped, whether or not there will be problems with damage or theft of products.

In one of our previous articles on how the accounting department writes off spoiled or stolen goods from the balance sheet of the organization. Be sure to read it, but we hope you won't find it useful.

You can and should entrust the selection of personnel to a recruiting agency if you do not feel confident in your “recruiting” abilities. Their specialists, as a rule, are well versed in the specifics of this work, I know how to identify potential thieves and idlers, thanks to which the selected candidates will be almost ready to work with you. Here, one should not forget about labor protection. How well are you familiar with the legislation in this area? Be sure to check it out.

Among other things, it will be necessary to resolve issues with overalls, staffing, internal daily routine, a place to rest and many others, which is somewhat different from "office" work. Do not forget that in the Russian climate, staff will need to be provided with free tea and cookies. If in the office it is more "whim", then in the warehouse it is already an urgent need.

About work control

"Trust but verify" - the only correct approach to work with warehouse personnel. This does not mean at all that it is necessary to come to the warehouse every day, to sit somewhere in the corner and vigilantly observe how others do their work. It is quite enough to periodically go into and observe how many products are left in the warehouse, what shipments are taking place, how soon the storekeepers "release" arriving cars, etc. The current development of programs allows you to do this not even from the workplace, but, for example, from a phone, laptop or tablet. Service "" favors this in many ways.

conclusions

Based on all of the above, we can conclude that the organization of the warehouse operation is a rather laborious, but quite feasible process, where a lot depends on the approach to business, on the available resources, as well as on which team you will be surrounded by. Whether to work with like-minded people or with simple "mercenaries" is up to you. We hope that the material offered by us will help you in developing your business!

We wish you good luck and see you soon!

Once, one of my clients, tortured by another wild assortment of goods, decided to put things in order in their warehouses. Our experience and an unusual solution are in this article.

As a rule, trading companies are organized according to the following scheme: there is a central office where deals are concluded, negotiations, management and several warehouses are located. The main office is located in a prestigious area and serves as the face of the company. Warehouses are located in less prestigious areas, or even beyond the Moscow Ring Road.
With a fairly large turnover and a large assortment of goods, the question arises, how can all this be controlled?

Regular warehouse: about 12,000 items are stored, the name of which often differs by only one digit in the 60th position

The discrepancy between real balances and data from the central system is becoming the norm. Deficiencies and re-grading bloom in double color.
And after a particularly large shortage, Big Boss, banging his fist on a suitable surface, decides: "We make an inventory and deduct all the shortages from the salary." The most dull ones are fined. It rarely helps. More often than not, it's not about the employees. It is impossible to collect several hundred positions in dozens of documents without error, some of which differ only in the number in the n-th digit, without error. A computer should help a person in this.

We have applied the following scheme -
1. Upon receipt, all goods are checked for the correctness of the barcode, in case of an error, a new barcode is applied.
2. When the goods are dispensed (order is assembled), the computer, through a barcode scanner, controls the correspondence of the issued goods to the buyer's order.

At first glance, everything is simple, we connect the scanner, put computers in the warehouse and go. On the second - problems begin to appear
1. If the warehouse and office are not in the same place, you need to solve the problem of their connection.
2. Knowing our storekeepers, it becomes clear that the keyboard cannot be trusted.

In order to prevent damage to the computer, it had to be screwed to the bottom of the table with a metal band, and the monitor was screwed to the ceiling. As a result, the storekeeper only has access to the scanner mounted in the table.

We now turn to technical issues.

Initially, we considered several options for connecting the central system with a remote warehouse.
Direct connection - the usual network to the warehouse. Either wires or a radio channel. In this case, the network bandwidth must be at least 10 Mbps. Refused due to the inability to reach the warehouse network. The radio channel turned out to be very expensive and limited in range.
Terminal connection - in a nutshell, its principle of operation is as follows: the program is executed on the server, and only the image is transmitted to the client (warehouse computer). Moreover, the client may not know that it is not his computer that is working, but the server in the central office.
The benefit is in the "width" of the required communication channel. Compared to direct connection, it is much more modest - about 64Kbps per computer, which allows using the Internet connection. However, the connection must be continuous to work. The amount of data transferred is quite large. With 5 workplaces, it can be hundreds of megabytes. If we also take into account the required licenses for the terminal connection, the cost of the solution seems to be quite high. In addition, it is not entirely clear how to transfer scanned barcodes to the server. The terminal connection was also dropped.
Periodic data sync through the 1C URBD component. An attractive enough solution that allows you to periodically exchange data with a remote warehouse through any communication channels, even through a boy on a bicycle with a floppy disk. The only problem is that if the configuration of the central system is changed, the changes are transferred to subordinate warehouses, which requires the suspension of their work.

Our solution it was like this: for the warehouse, a minimum configuration is written on 1C, the functions of which are receiving release documents from the central system, controlling the order assembly (goods issue), sending to the central order assembly confirmation system. Sending data is carried out via e-mail. This allowed us to solve several problems at once:
- The communication channel can be very narrow, down to a simple modem.
- The communication channel may be temporary.We connected, received information, confirmed receipt, disconnected, we are working. Given the fact that any connection can break, this method ensures the continuity of the warehouse. The provider fell - we call another. We cut off the telephone line - we connect the mobile phone and the connection is still there.

The next problem was in the qualifications of storekeepers. Working directly with a computer was not immediately discussed. Therefore, "keys" were printed on an ordinary printer - pieces of paper on which information was written in a barcode - the storekeeper's personal number and the team. Computer control is reduced to presenting the required key to the barcode scanner.

As a result, the whole chain of work looks like this:
1. The manager places the customer's order in the central system. The goods are reserved for the buyer.
2. The order is transferred to a remote warehouse.
3. At the warehouse, the order is assigned a barcode and the document is printed. According to it, the storekeeper starts assembling the order.
4. After assembling the order, the storekeeper approaches the computer and is identified by his "key"
5. The storekeeper brings the printout of the collected document to the barcode scanner and the computer automatically opens the required document.

Today, many enterprises are faced with the need to create geographically remote divisions. It can be a warehouse on the outskirts, a branch in another city or a representative office in the capital. Each such unit needs its own database for accounting purposes, and full or partial data exchange with the central database is desirable. As practice shows, such a simple situation is often resolved by enterprises not just "unsuccessfully", but completely unacceptable. We will not consider illustrative examples of unsuccessful implementations in this article, on the contrary, we will sequentially consider the simplest and most effective method. So, the situation: In the center of the city there is an office of the enterprise, accounting is kept in a typical 1C Trade. The occupation does not matter for us, well, for example, furniture. The enterprise has a geographically remote warehouse on the outskirts. A task:

• The warehouse requires a database for the quantitative accounting of materials and components. Data on the receipt of goods and materials is received and loaded automatically from the office database (Database).

• Directory "Nomenclature" in the warehouse and office bases must be the same.

• Primary documents (receipt of goods and materials, etc.) are entered in the office database. Their subsequent transfer to the warehouse DB (Database) is required. In the warehouse database on the basis of the receipt, picking documents and invoices are entered. After their creation, they are transferred to the office database.

Thus, in the office and in the warehouse there is a real picture of the movement of goods and materials. The question immediately arises. How to transfer data from database to database? It is clear that not every enterprise has its own programmer. But you don't need it here. Both of these configurations are the same. Therefore, the data transfer can be carried out using standard 1C reports supplied with the program or with the ITS (Information and Technical Support) disk. Here is a small recommended description of such a system:

Key points:

The Warehouse database is an exact copy of the Office database, geographically located at a remote warehouse and exchanging with the Office database documents of receipt and consumption of goods and materials, as well as relevant reference books.
Data exchange is performed using the standard processing "Universal data upload" and "Universal data download" (You can find them in the Service / Additional features section).

Work algorithm:

In the DB Office entered (manually or automatically) documents of receipt of goods and materials (materials). In the process of entering documents, new nomenclature items are entered.
At the end of the working day (or, if necessary), the entered documents are uploaded to a file using the standard processing "Universal data upload" via the Service / Additional options menu. This is done simply. Processing is started, the unloading period is selected in it, and the documents that need to be unloaded are ticked off. Then the report automatically generates a file. This is convenient in that there is an opportunity for the user to select not only the types of documents for uploading, but also individual documents of each type. The whole procedure takes 1-2 minutes.
The data file is sent to a remote warehouse. Upon receipt, the data are loaded into the Warehouse database using the standard processing "Universal data loading" (Menu Service / Additional options). Loading is carried out completely automatically, during the loading process, new nomenclature items are created (if necessary) with the preservation of the "directory tree" (hierarchy).
If necessary, a special document "Completion" is made in the Warehouse database. The purpose of the document is to write off the components that are part of the equipment set being sold and register the receipt of this type of equipment at the warehouse. You can set the composition of the kit in the "Nomenclature" Directory / Directories / Accessories. Picking documents are located in the Documents / Kits / Picking Document Journal menu.
At the time of shipment of goods and materials at a remote warehouse (DB Warehouse) on the basis of the document "Picking" (or, if there was no picking, then on the basis) the document "Implementation" is made. The buying firm is selected as the counterparty. Documents Implementation and equipment are uploaded to a file according to the algorithm described above and then sent to the Office database. Prices for equipment can be omitted, since only quantitative records are kept in the Warehouse database.
In the Office DB, the Sales and Procurement documents received from the remote warehouse are loaded in a standard way. Then the document Completion is carried out (at the moment, the components included in the selected equipment are written off and the equipment itself is registered). The required retail prices are set in the Sales document and the document is also posted.

General remarks:

The organization of work at this stage assumes the presence of a qualified user in both information bases.
In case of such specific situations as equipment dismantling, return from the buyer, etc. the corresponding documents must be transferred from the Office DB to the Warehouse DB to match the quantitative accounting in both configurations. Data exchange is performed according to the algorithm described above.
Any documents contained in the databases can be transferred.

Both reports used are simple, and loading data does not require any actions from the user at all, except for selecting a file. Does it make sense to pay to write specialized porting systems that, at the slightest configuration change, will require a programmer to reconfigure? In the described algorithm, there is one key condition - the bases must be the same, therefore, if you make changes to the configurator in the office database, then you must make them into the warehouse database. In general, and in general, this algorithm is quite simple and does not require programming skills.

Kolyasnikov Sergey Anatolievich
LLC VK "Ural-Soft"

Many stores, either with low purchasing power, or with the impossibility of bringing a large amount of goods to the windows, began to sell them from the warehouse. Firstly, this gives a much larger assortment for the buyer than the presence thereof in the window. You can choose expensive and exclusive models, which are unlikely to get dusty or even damaged when brought to the showcase. Secondly, the seller does not bother with the fuss associated with packing and unpacking the goods. Plus, you need to find it and bring it from the warehouse, wipe it, turn it on and demonstrate its efficiency, fill in the guarantee, make a "hole" after you, print and cut out a price tag for a new one, etc. etc.

Also, the seller rests on the arrival of the car, because it does not come so loaded if it was all carried to the store.

In some companies, the seller for what he sells from a remote warehouse earns even more than he would sell it from the window.

Benefits for buyers

The buyer will be 100% sure that his goods have never been on display, have not been demonstrated as a sample, the goods will be in their original packaging and are completely new.
The time for making a purchase is reduced several times.
No need to look for a delivery car and people who will load the goods into the car.
You will not have to look for people who will bring the goods to the apartment and pay them for each floor passed.
Delivery of goods will be carried out on any day that the buyer chooses.
The buyer has the opportunity to choose a wider assortment of goods than in the store, since the full assortment is not always presented in the window.

Advantages of selling from stock using samples

Saving energy and time

there is no need to look for the sold item in the warehouse
no need to check, unpack and pack
no need to issue a warranty card (if included)
there will be no "holes" that need to be closed when selling from a shop window (move, raise, lower, rearrange by price, etc.)
saving the labor of loaders when unloading KBT, there is no need to order goods that can be sold by samples in large quantities
when selling by samples, it is not necessary to put a new product in place of the one sold every delivery.
the uniform is always clean.

Improving the quality of customer service

the speed of registration of the sale increases
more time to serve other buyers
increasing the prestige of the store: we always have a full showcase and the opportunity to purchase a completely new product in packaging, and not the last one from the showcase, as in many competitors' stores
the risk of damage to the goods packed in the original packaging is less than that packed in film.

Increase in store turnover

no overstocking of warehouses
the ability to free up storage space for goods that cannot be sold from the warehouse according to samples
preservation of the full range
the possibility of selling goods in large quantities
the possibility of selling a set "main product + gift" in the absence of a gift or main product in the store
the ability to sell goods that are not in the store's assortment
the possibility of selling an expensive segment through brand catalogs.

The store performs the sales figures from the warehouse.

Each such unit needs its own database for accounting purposes, and full or partial data exchange with the central database is desirable. As practice shows, such a simple situation is often resolved by enterprises not only "unsuccessfully", but completely unacceptable. We will not consider illustrative examples of unsuccessful implementations in this article, on the contrary, we will sequentially consider the simplest and most effective method. So, the situation: In the center of the city there is an office of the enterprise, accounting is kept in a typical 1C Trade. The occupation does not matter for us, well, for example, furniture. The enterprise has a geographically remote warehouse on the outskirts. A task:

The warehouse requires a database for the quantitative accounting of materials and components. Data on the receipt of goods and materials is received and loaded automatically from the office database (Database).
The reference book "Nomenclature" in the warehouse and office bases must be the same.
Primary documents (receipt of goods and materials, etc.) are entered in the office database. Their subsequent transfer to the warehouse DB (Database) is required. In the warehouse database on the basis of the receipt, picking documents and invoices are entered. After their creation, they are transferred to the office database.

Thus, in the office and in the warehouse there is a real picture of the movement of goods and materials. The question immediately arises. How to transfer data from database to database? It is clear that not every enterprise has its own programmer. But you don't need it here. Both of these configurations are the same. Therefore, data transfer can be carried out using standard reports from 1C, supplied with the program or with the ITS (Information and Technical Support) disk. Here is a small recommended description of such a system:

Key points:

The Warehouse database is an exact copy of the Office database, geographically located at a remote warehouse and exchanging with the Office database documents of receipt and consumption of goods and materials, as well as relevant reference books.
Data exchange is performed using standard processing "Universal data upload" and "Universal data download" (You can find them in the Service / Additional features section).

Work algorithm:

In the DB Office entered (manually or automatically) documents of receipt of goods and materials (materials). In the process of entering documents, new nomenclature items are entered.
At the end of the working day (or, if necessary), the entered documents are uploaded to a file using the standard processing "Universal data upload" via the Service / Additional options menu. This is done simply. Processing is started, the unloading period is selected in it, and the documents that need to be unloaded are ticked off. Then the report automatically generates a file. This is convenient in that there is an opportunity for the user to select not only the types of documents for uploading, but also individual documents of each type. The whole procedure takes 1-2 minutes.
The data file is sent to a remote warehouse. Upon receipt, the data is loaded into the Warehouse database using the standard processing "Universal data loading" (Menu Service / Additional options). Loading is carried out completely automatically, during the loading process, new nomenclature items are created (if necessary) with the preservation of the "directory tree" (hierarchy).
If necessary, a special document "Completion" is made in the Warehouse database. The purpose of the document is to write off the components that are part of the equipment set being sold and register the receipt of this type of equipment at the warehouse. You can set the composition of the kit in the "Nomenclature" Directory / Directories / Accessories. Picking documents are located in the Documents / Kits / Picking Document Journal menu.
At the time of shipment of goods and materials at a remote warehouse (DB Warehouse) on the basis of the document "Picking" (or, if there was no picking, then on the basis) the document "Implementation" is made. The buying firm is selected as the counterparty. Documents Implementation and bundling are uploaded to a file according to the algorithm described above and then sent to the Office database. Prices for equipment can be omitted, since only quantitative records are kept in the Warehouse database.
In the Office DB, the Sales and Procurement documents received from the remote warehouse are loaded in a standard way. Then the document Completion is carried out (at the moment, the components included in the selected equipment are written off and the equipment itself is registered). The required retail prices are set in the Sales document and the document is also posted.

General remarks:

The organization of work at this stage assumes the presence of a qualified user in both information bases.
In case of such specific situations as equipment dismantling, return from the buyer, etc. the corresponding documents must be transferred from the Office DB to the Warehouse DB to match the quantitative accounting in both configurations. Data exchange is performed according to the algorithm described above.
Any documents contained in the databases can be transferred.

Kolyasnikov Sergey Anatolievich, LLC VK "Ural-Soft"

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