Supply chain warehouse operative

Apprenticeship summary

Occupation summary

This occupation is found in the Logistics, Retail, Manufacturing, Automotive, Construction, Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Sectors. It will also be found in all services within the MOD. Warehouse Operatives may work in a number of different industries and in a range of buildings from 5,000 to 1,000,000 square feet. These buildings may be temperature or humidity controlled and equipped with racking or other storage systems along with automatic or robotic handling equipment. Some operations may involve large areas of outside storage. Most warehouses will have different types of Mechanical Handling Equipment to move products into and out of the warehouse and internally into and out of specific storage locations. Most warehouses are likely to have a computerised Warehouse Management System to manage the movements into and out of the warehouse, to maintain stock records and to process customer orders. On board or hand held scanners, linked to the system, may be used to identify products and locations. Warehouses in the Logistics Sector may be dedicated to one customer or may serve a number of different customers possibly from different Sectors. Retailers will have dedicated National or Regional Distribution Centres to serve their outlets. Manufacturers may have warehouses to store both raw materials and finished goods. Automotive manufacturers may have inbound warehouses to store components required for assembly and Aftermarket warehouses to store spare and replacement parts. Organisations may also have warehouses dedicated to the return and subsequent management of products.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to handle goods safely in and out of the storage facility. This will involve the unloading of goods from lorries, trains, ships or planes, the identification and checking of the product and then putting it away in a storage location. Operatives will pick products from storage locations to satisfy customer orders. Some products may require repackaging prior to assembly for despatch. All orders will be checked and loaded on to the relevant form of transport allocated for delivery. Warehouse Operatives will typically work in large buildings and often have a shift working pattern in order to provide a twenty four hour operation. A driving licence is not an absolute necessity but may be preferable for access to Distribution Centres, located on out of town Industrial Estates where public transport may not be available for shift start and finish times.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with team Leaders and Warehouse Supervisors, Stock Control Administrators, Incoming Delivery Drivers, Outgoing Delivery Drivers, Customers making collections, Data Management Assistants, Sales and Marketing representatives, Planners and Project Managers, Buyers and Procurement Managers. A Warehouse Operative will be supervised by a Team Leader, Warehouse Supervisor or Shift Manager.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for the safe handling of goods and the accuracy of putting stock away in the correct locations and the accuracy of picking products in accordance with the orders received. This may include the packing of goods and ensuring product is not damaged. In a small operation they may be responsible for the whole process of incoming goods, storage and outgoing orders. They may be required to operate different forms of mechanical handling equipment such as fork lift trucks, cranes, pallet trucks and reach trucks. They should operate all equipment in a safe manner and be aware of any specific regulations which may apply to the products handled.

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