A Very Big Favor
Last night we went out for dinner with an old army buddy who is up from the Natal Midlands on business this week. He is a shareholder in an online service provider company that has seen large growth over the last 5 years.
We meet up a few times a year, but stay in contact over the phone and we bounce ideas of each other. If one of us has a problem we will discuss the problem and find a solution and we know each others business inside out. Over the last 12 months they have added some large clients to their business and have out grown their current warehouse facilities.
What he asked me last night I was not expecting as he has asked me to help over see their move to another warehouse that has inside services that will save him having to invest in trucking, forklifts and whatever else is required. This will allow them to expand knowing they have back up within their new facility.
He knows my history having moved 3 warehouses before and why he has asked me to oversee this. Down time is the big problem and why it has to be done over a weekend so you are up and running ready for business for the Monday morning. I refused payment for my time and he said he will pay me what he thinks is fair as it is an entire weekend I am giving up. I guess that is right even though i could never ask him for payment as this is what we do for each other.
I will be visiting their warehouse either tomorrow or next week depending on my schedules as each day is different from the next and this will take a bit of time to plan. This is a big job and is not like moving house as this is on a much larger scale. All the information I have currently is they have 42 racks which is a number of truck trips just required for this and this to dismantle and reassemble would be a good 6 -8 hours work depending if they are the very tall ones which I have to presume they are.
Roughly 15 years ago I moved stock from one warehouse to another and even though we started at 6pm on Friday evening we were still working at 10pm Sunday night. That was a good lesson as I was one truck too short which cost me around 8 hours of lost time.
This move will be done in the first or second weekend in September so there is time to get prepared. The timing will also start at 6pm on Friday night and this time will try and be completed by Saturday night not leaving anything to chance as who knows what can go wrong. I day saved will be savings in the pocket as we do not want to keep staff working for 48 hours as this is tough going and tests your metal.
I need to count the number of pallets calculating time and distances between the old and new facility which will let me know the transportation required. A team is required to disassemble and assemble the racking on the new site before the palleted stock can move. I will use my guys for this as we have done this before and know what we need to do. This will be organised chaos for the first 12 hours and only then will it look more organised and will become easier the following day.
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Not an easy job for sure, but with some organizing skills, it can go smoothly. You need to plan where you put the products in the new warehouse, move them in that order, have two teams working, one in each warehouse, do inventory as well and it can be done.
Yes it is a process of starting in one first and then moving a team into the new warehouse splitting into 2 teams and then it should go like clock work. I will be in the old warehouse and my friend in the new warehouse and he better stay awake.
What I liked most about your narration is the spirit of cooperation and mutual support between you these relationships built on trust and are what truly make a difference in both professional and personal life.
Yes relationships are great when you can share ideas and value others thoughts and opinions.
Sounds like a big job and your friend is smart to hire you for it even though you refused payment. You have the experience and from your previous posts I know that you are meticulous for every detail and that will come in handy as one little missed thing could cost a pretty penny on a job like that.
Yes he is no dummy and also knew I would refuse payment as how can you charge a friend? All I need to know is how big the crew are going to be to help get this done and I will do this well in advance and make sure we are ready. Weekend pay is expensive and for his staff it will be over time so we need to get this done in the shortest time possible whilst still keeping things safe for everyone as the racks are very high and the crew need to take their time.
That sounds like quite a huge job to get done in the weekend. I understand the necessity, but still quite amazing to accomplish.
Yes it is a big job that once started cannot be stopped until completed.
Sounds like hard work, but great fun and very satisfying on Saturday night when you and your buddy knock off for a late dinner an drinks! 😀