Depot Reopening Checklist

Some facilities remained open – with limited capacity – to cater to the movement of essential goods, while others needed to close temporarily because of the health risk posed by the virus. In effect, members of the supply chain need to work around challenges, such as limited staffing, restricted distribution channels and routes, and limited inventory spaces.

On the other hand, there is an upheaval in consumer buying patterns as people turn to e-commerce to purchase their goods; this has created a need for other depots and warehouses to reopen to accommodate the unprecedented increase in the movement of goods and demand for storage and distribution spaces.

As supply chain facilities such as depots resume operations, there is a constant need to adapt to long-term changes in how companies manage their supply chains in the face of the coronavirus threat. To help plan for a safe and effective depot reopening amid the pandemic, this article tackles the best practices when reopening depots; a digital tool for planning depot reopenings and conducting safety inspections; and free depot reopening checklists that you can download and customize.

In this article

• Best Practices for Reopening Depots
• Prepare for the New Normal in Depot Operations with SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor)
• Featured Depot Reopening Checklist Templates

Best Practices for Reopening Depots

Whether it is resuming operations after a temporary closure or adapting current workflows to the ‘new normal’ in depot operations, the depot operations industry have chosen key strategies to help protect the health and safety of their employees while ensuring the efficient and safe resumption of operations in the supply chain. Here are some of the best practices currently being employed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in depot facilities:

Conducting End-to-End Supply Chain Risk Assessments

Responsiveness is key in getting depot operations up and running after a closure. It is vital to conduct risk assessments across the supply chain ecosystem to be able to immediately plan mitigation actions. According to EY Global, a supply chain consulting services firm, there are three key steps in doing a supply chain risk health check:
Identify changing demand and inventory levels to locate critical gaps in supply, production capacity, warehousing, and transportation
Define common goals and an actionable short-term and outcome-driven resilience strategy with breakdown activities among the supply chain ecosystem, aiming to effectively and efficiently leverage additional networks among various suppliers’ pool, production, and distribution networks.
Deploy—Leading companies build action plans based on scenario analyses to limit the impact of disasters. A fact-based dashboard, including aligned KPIs help to create enterprise-wide and ecosystem visibility. This can help a company dynamically re-prioritize its plans as needed.

Implementing applicable social distancing measures

Social distancing will be the new norm in depots. Some of the measures include:

• Limiting access to the facility. Meet drivers and other non-essential visitors in the yard vs. having them come into the facility, and if required to enter take their temperatures first.
• Limiting daily breaks and lunch to on-site locations so workers are not exposed to infections outside of the workplace. Limit interaction among employees during shift changes. Conduct regular team stand-up meetings in smaller groups of 10 or less.
• Creating ample pick and deposit locations in support of workplace zones and work segmentation and balancing. Create zones to segregate colleagues in order to simplify adherence to social distancing measures (6 feet apart).
• Designating individual work zones for each colleague who can work in a fixed location. Mark the floor where possible to clearly define these zones.

Enforcing strict monitoring/logging procedures

Having a well-documented monitoring process for procedures such as temperature logging or health screenings can help depot operations managers easily identify causes in case of a new COVID-19 case and strengthen compliance with industry reopening guidelines. Some strategies for strict monitoring/logging procedures include:

• Requiring health questionnaires for those drivers who are spending extended time in a facility should be completing the health questionnaire
• Requiring the completion of driver logs for those drivers traveling to multiple/different cities each day.
• Requiring temperature checks for anyone who enters the facility and ensuring that these are documented in a temperature log.

Leveraging technology

Even before the pandemic, technology solutions have been pivotal in helping depot processes improve operational efficiency; with the health risks posed by the current situation; these solutions may be needed more than ever.
Digital technologies, such as Internet-of-things (IoT), artificial intelligence, wearables, and autonomous devices such as drones and robot pickers, can be used to help protect workers from COVID-19. They can help automate functions such as demand forecasting and stock allocations, provide additional help when the depot is operating at a limited manpower capacity, and serve as monitoring tools if social distancing guidelines are being observed.

Improving depot facility cleaning processes and procedures

Increased attention is given to the disinfection of work areas, break rooms, and restroom facilities. Since it’s also been proven that the virus can live on surfaces such as cardboard, plastics, and stainless steel for days, depot workers are also advised to wipe down handrails, desks, lifts, and other similar high-touch contact surfaces.

Monitoring

Routinely check that social distancing and sanitization measures are being adhered to. Use CCTV or real-time location tracking where available. Act quickly to highlight and address any deviation from the standards.