Standards provide benchmarks to enable employees to decide “if they are playing well”. If the standards are clear and definitive enough, both employees and managers can understand where motivation, reward or discipline is necessary. They can do this monthly, weekly or even daily.

This module gives an overview of how distribution departments become exposed when there are no Performance Standards in place. This can be applied not only to employees, but to clients in terms of service level agreements.

Communication in a team can influence everything from the interactions of team members to the outcomes of team goals.

Whether you are solving a common problem with co-workers or planning a vacation with your family, communication will significantly impact your experience as a member of your team.Effective communication skills enable groups both to function collectively and to succeed.

Industrial relations has become one of the most delicate and complex problems of modern industrial society. Industrial progress is impossible without cooperation of labourers and harmonious relationships. Therefore, it is in the interest of all to create and maintain good relations between employees (labour) and employers (management).

After this module a team leader will have had exposure to the following aspects of Industrial Relation procedures and legislation bearing on the subject: –

1.  Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
2. Occupational Health and Safety Act.
3. Wage Act(s)
4. Unemployment Insurance Act
5. Labour relations Act
6. Procedures covering
7. Grievances and appeals
8. Disciplinary involving
   • Counselling
   • Verbal Warnings
   • Written Warnings
   • Final Written Warnings
   • Appeal Procedures
   • Dismissal Procedures

Administration is the task of handling everyday issues which must be addressed by the business in order to remain functional (such as billing, security, human resources or just answering the phone), and doing so all at the same time.

These tasks are separate but form part of the actual services the business provides. Effective administration is therefore extremely important for the department to work in an organised cohesive fashion.

After a team leader has had exposure to this module he will:

1. Have an appreciation for distribution unit administration–
   1. Receiving
   2. Storage
   3. Inventory control
   4. Picking
   5. Packing
   6. Despatch
   7. Transport
2. Be aware that meaningful administration records can be of great use in day to day control and be utilised in planning exercises.
3. Appreciate that administration and record making is a teamwork activity.

Reporting structures in an organisation involves the designation of jobs within an organization and the relationships among those jobs. Having effective reporting structures within any organisation allows for effective and clear communication channels within an organisation.

The combination of valuable property and opportunities for theft, particularly during loading and unloading, makes warehouse security a key element to focus on. Warehouses and distribution centres are often the target of organised crime. 

It is crucial that distribution managers incorporate the best of technology as well as security procedures to ensure that their assets are protected.

After completing this training module, a distribution team leader will:- 

1. Be aware of the different types of security systems available.
2. Be aware of the advantages and pitfalls of security systems.
3. Understand how to implement a security system within his operation.
4. Understand the importance of protecting both physical and intellectual assets within his operation.

Housekeeping, like security and safety is a state of mind, to succeed it must be a subconscious action and an awareness. Housekeeping is a major issue when it comes to safety in the workplace. 

Too often hazards are purposely overlooked due to a “that’s not my job” or “I didn’t do it, let someone else fix it” mentality.

After completing this module, a team leader will:-

1. Understand the need to ensure housekeeping becomes part of the teams duties.
2. Emphasise to the team that good housekeeping assists efficiency by reducing disorder that causes mistakes and presents safety issues.
3. Ensure all safety aspects in housekeeping are observed by all players.
4. Seek to improve the environment of the work area.

Material handling equipment is aimed at easing, speeding and reducing nonessential manual intervention. 

There are tremendous differences in the technology and cost of the equipment. Whatever equipment a team leader has at his disposal he should look to employ it to its best possible advantage.

After completing this training module, a team leader will:-

1. Understand the different machinery required to operate in a warehouse environment.
2. Be aware of techniques to maximise storage capacity within a warehouse.
3. Understand how simple techniques in how the storage and materials are handled, can maximise the output of the receiving, storage and despatch units within the distribution environment.

Optimal packaging of a product is a critical factor in logistics. And the reason is clear: without it, many logistics processes could not be performed at all or could be carried out only at great additional cost. The function of the packaging is not just to protect the product. It performs many other jobs as well.

These include providing information about the contents as well as enabling and facilitating other logistics processes, including transport and handling as well as storage, order processing and warehousing.

After reviewing this module a team leader will be aware of important aspects of packaging which include:-

1. Seeking to receive packaged product that is securely contained, manageable by weight or size and is readily identifiable for in house processing.
2. Consider options of packaging distributed product to obtain, safe, secure, manageable targets that are the most cost effective.
3. Consider and implement recycling of packaging material either from suppliers or reusing in house containers.
4. Being aware that outgoing product must be packed in a secure and safe manner.
5. Actively cooperate with customers to provide packaging identification that conforms to their needs. Such cooperation assists in the unloading and gives distribution vehicles a quicker turnaround cycle.

Incentivising staff is one of the cornerstones of employee motivation and higher performance levels. Incentive schemes that work are a combination of reward, recognition and real time feedback.

After reviewing this module, a team leader will understand how: 

1. Incentive schemes require careful planning and must involve all parties to reach agreement on the nature of rewards paid for higher or improved performance levels.
2. Other incentives such as profit sharing exist.
3. Incentive schemes do not always result in money rewards and that team members’ value recognition that raises their self esteem.
4. A team leader can consider incentive schemes within his own area that with correct approval and agreement can prove of great benefit to his team’s performance.
5. At all times an incentive should not be given for a function agreed to be performed by an existing and agreed to job description. It needs to be a win/win situation with benefits for both the company and staff.

Supplier contract management has become an important component for effective supplier relationship management.

The employment of third party people should be carefully researched for costs and performance improvements and thorough research during the “shopping expedition” amongst such agencies should be carried out.

This module covers a team leaders’ checklist when negotiating a supplier contract. It also covers the parameters that a supplier contract should cover.

When it comes to insuring your fleet of vehicles, the value of service you are getting should come down to more than just rand and cents. More often than not companies are caught out when one of their vehicles are in an accident, or left broken down at the edge of a highway.

Keep in mind it only takes one major accident or incident to put your business assets in jeopardy. This can be a costly exercise, and it’s sometimes only in these circumstances that the finer details of insurance contracts are reviewed.

After going through this module a team leader will:-

1. Will be aware of varying Insurance cover options available to a distribution operation.
2. Will appreciate and understand how insurance cover is necessary to offset risks to an operation’s existence

A distribution team leader has varying in-house operations under his area of responsibility. His major operation is the management and control of his transportation fleet and the efficiency of the driver.

In this module we shall endeavour to indicate steps and procedures, in general, to ensure such efficiency and competence.

After reading this module a distribution team leader will:-

1. Appreciate that in order to obtain maximum control with distribution vehicles, a set of records need to be diligently recorded. (Module will go through what these records are)
2. Appreciate that engendering a spirit of “ownership” from each vehicle driver will improve transport efficiency.
3. Understand that in the spirit of “ownership” drivers must be given responsibility of the vehicle and that they must understand that they have accountabilities for their vehicle and load.
4. Find that records and data kept for each vehicle can help to define the cost effectiveness of the fleet and assist the company in its financial planning.

Major changes can, and do occur in distribution. These changes may occur through heavy peak periods and adaptations to these changes are made by generally throwing more man hours into the work.

A team leader must be prepared to handle changes, and like most people changes are not often well accepted.

After exposure to this module a team leader will:-

1. Understand that distribution operations are not constant and variations do arise and in fact are expected
2. Be equipped to review changes to the operation involving people and processes
3. Discuss intended changes with staff and find agreement
4. Discuss agreed changes with management and obtain buy in to proceed
5. Implement changes and fine tune until satisfactory results are achieved

When comes to distribution and logistics management, companies have turned to technology in order to be more efficient and organised. The more organised they are, the easier it is to refine other processes.

After following this module a team leader will understand:-

1. Smart work can remove a lot of hard work and achieve the same or better results.
2. That a reviewing the distribution from time to time can suggest improvements to increase performance.
3. That using available technology of a physical, mechanical and computerised nature can be highly cost effective.
4. Thoughtful researched recommendations to management pave the way to smart work methods.