Short notes from the floor
We asked PineWay File to rebuild our outbound SLA board after a double-shift Christmas peak left the old charts unread. They spent a morning on the packing mezzanine, then delivered a three-panel pack that night shift actually updates. The first draft of the dock clock was a bit busy — we asked them to drop two lines — and the second pass stuck.
Our dock-to-stock clock mixed ASN match with putaway, so every argument ended in finger-pointing. The review day split the stages and gave goods-in a panel they stand under at 06:30. Cartons still stall — that is a labour issue — but at least we argue about the right stage now.
Handover used to be a twenty-column sheet nobody printed. The card pack is blunt: open waves, shorts, trailers waiting, packing backlog. Night supervisors grumbled about writing numbers by hand for the first week, then admitted day shift stopped ringing them at 07:00 with “what does this mean?”
Extended story — apparel DC, East Midlands
A 38,000 sq ft apparel site ran four outbound waves and still posted yesterday’s pick rate on a whiteboard above the canteen, not the pick face. PineWay File spent a full day walking wave release, short-pick desks, and the mezzanine packing line. The constraint was sightline: the only free wall faced away from packers.
The board pack moved two panels onto freestanding frames at the end of aisles B and D, with pick completion and carton accuracy large enough to read from ten metres. Outbound SLA stayed on the mezzanine TV using the same measure definitions. After two weeks, supervisors reported fewer “which number is right?” debates between continuous improvement and shift leads. The site still struggles on peak Saturdays — the boards did not add labour — but the argument now starts from a shared clock.
Extended story — spare-parts store, West Midlands
A smaller industrial store needed warehouse fulfilment KPI visualisation without looking like a parcel DC. Lines were slower, but putaway accuracy and emergency pick response mattered more than units per hour. We built a two-panel pack: reserve location accuracy and same-day emergency picks cleared before 14:00. Print size stayed modest; the win was agreeing definitions with both stores and field engineers.
Commission your own story
If this sounds like your floor, brief the Nottingham desk or start with the fulfilment KPI board pack.