
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Knowledge is an extremely important
competitive advantage in all kinds of business. However, many companies make
the big mistake of concentrating knowledge and competence on a few people at
the top of the organization. This is unfortunately very common in organizations
within warehouse logistics. For example, companies build up the warehouse in a
number of departments and tasks and places staff permanent in a specific
department and a specific task, for example picking, packing or goods receiving,
then you work there year in, year out. In my opinion this is nothing else than
Taylorism. The same philosophy Ford used in the beginning of 20<sup>th</sup> century,
which means specialization of tasks and centralization of knowledge.  ;Either companies underestimate the staff&#8217;s
ability to embrace broad knowledge or they overestimate the complexity of each
specific task</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Many innovations in production and
logistics originates on ideas from employees. In order to encourage innovation
that benefits the company, the staff must have a holistic perspective on the
flow and this you achieve by giving the staff a broad competence regarding
warehouse logistics. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If you have staff with broad competence and
a holistic perspective at all levels of the organization, you drastically
reduce the risk of serious wrong decisions that could damage your company.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Having warehouse staff who have expertise
in the entire flow and many tasks in the warehouse is today a necessity if you
want a cost-effective and competitive warehouse logistics. That is the meaning
of agile and flexible. This is the only way to avoid sub-optimization and
overcapacity in expensive man-hours.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If you are going to invest in a WMS and/or
an automation solution, it is even more important that the company promote
knowledge of the staff. I have seen several examples where you concentrate all
knowledge about the systems to a few persons, the risk is big that you get
unnecessary operational disturbances and that the staff instead become
frustrated and tries to find “workarounds” that they feel is faster or easier. The
systems should help you not hinder you. With knowledge and communication, you
get an understanding and positive discussions how you could adapt the system
for both your company and the staff’s best. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Taylorism is the opposite of Lean, remember
that if your company is thinking about a lean implementation. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Below you find links to some articles I
have written about sub-optimization and good leadership that promote knowledge.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Roberth Karlsson</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://roblogistic.com/2017/11/25/make-sure-you-invest-in-the-right-kind-of-warehouse-leadership/">https://roblogistic.com/2017/11/25/make-sure-you-invest-in-the-right-kind-of-warehouse-leadership/</a> </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://roblogistic.com/2017/11/03/avoid-sub-optimization-in-the-warehouse-not-as-trendy-as-agile-but-just-as-important/">https://roblogistic.com/2017/11/03/avoid-sub-optimization-in-the-warehouse-not-as-trendy-as-agile-but-just-as-important/</a></p>

It is time to clean away Taylorism mentality in warehouse production
