Thanks for joining us here at WAOC today, I\u2019m Marty and I\u2019d like to talk about Production or the Production Facility for a bit. The Production world offers many warehouse opportunities and unlike in the Distribution arena, well I guess I shouldn\u2019t say unlike really, but it does offer a different kind of productivity metric. Production doesn\u2019t necessarily mean we\u2019re building a complete product or widget from beginning to end but we\u2019ll probably have a hand with a piece of it, or a component to it or something to do with the end product or result.
\nIn my experiences, we may see fewer pieces of material handling equipment or powered industrial equipment on the floor, Docks may not be quite as congested with product as our Inbound and Shipping operations kind of take a back seat to the building of or packaging & producing if you will.
\nOne of my first experiences in warehousing, and I really enjoyed this job, I was hired on with a Meter Company, we were stocking all kinds of parts for Gas Meters and Water Meters. I believe we were a 3rd party company that worked closely with the municipal gas and water companies. We had two different divisions, one area that repaired broken units and on the other side of the building we\u2019d store or stock all the different parts that would be in the many different types of meters & we had a assembly area where meters would be put together and built. Somewhere in the facility I believe we had a testing room where the final products were ran through the necessary pressure checks and safety routines but I don\u2019t remember actually seeing it, in any event I never got to work to that task. I really enjoyed my tenure with them and liked the production work though.
\n I kind of got off track again, ok so in the production environments productivity is just as important as it is to the distribution facilities and we\u2019ll be held to some type of standard or percentages & it\u2019s possible we\u2019ll be paid on some sort of activity based plan or a piece pay or a component system - although, at most of the facilities I\u2019m familiar with hourly pay programs are much more the norm or being practiced.
\nProduction means just that, and usually several different stations or tasks are involved. Like the meter company I spoke of, the building was laid out in such a manner as to accommodate the many different tasks that would be needed to actually make a meter. As an example, I\u2019d come in each morning and start my day in the parts area, we were dealing with several hundred different small parts, springs, little screws and bolts and nuts, really things I can\u2019t even describe to you, just a lot of small things it would take to make a meter. We\u2019d have a pick sheet which would tell me how many meters\u2019 casings or housings I\u2019d need and how many of each part to pull. I\u2019d put like items in a small bag, much like those plastic bags you\u2019ll find in furniture boxes or swing sets, you know with each bolt or screw you\u2019ll need to put the thing together, then I\u2019d place all the selected parts in a tote box, it\u2019d then be placed on a pallet which was taken to the next station where a technician would start putting it together. Once the meters were assembled they\u2019d be placed on a pallet and head off to the testing rooms. Meters that passed were sent to packaging areas, properly boxed or crated up, once that was completed they were sent to the shipping department where they would be invoiced, the BOL or Bill of Laden created and the shipping company or common carrier would be assigned and the pickup scheduled. The meters that did not work or did not pass would be taken to a dismantle desk, actually torn back down, every part reviewed, either put back in stock or discarded. Another order would be created. A failed meter couldn\u2019t be repaired back then, it would simply be dismantled.
\nTake a look around you right now, practically everything item you see has gone through or came from a production facility,