Richard is our shift supervisor in the Warehouse team. He plays a crucial role in organising the day to day activities in the warehouses and ensures the smooth transition of temperature-controlled goods from client to warehouse and vice versa.
When did you start at SUBZERO and how has your role changed over the years?
I started working for SUBZERO as a warehouse operative back in 2019 at their Gillingham warehouse. Since then, I moved to Aylesford in 2022 and was promoted to my current role last year.
Have you always worked in warehouses (if not what were your previous roles)?
Out of school I had a couple of roles working for a sign fitter and as a scaffolder but since then I have worked solely in warehouses.
What does the role of Warehouse Shift Supervisor involve?
The day always starts with a debrief for the night shift, so we know what has occurred overnight. This is shortly followed by a site walk around to ensure; checks have been carried out, there is nothing left within the warehouse that should have been loaded by the night team and that the site in general is clean and tidy.
Then I’ll get the pick sheets printed for the team and allocate any tasks to be carried out during the day before getting stuck in to helping the team complete their daily tasks.
The shift ends with the reverse of the morning activities.
What are the main challenges you typically encounter in your role, and how do you overcome them?
Typically, the most challenging part of the job is investigating mishaps. Picking and loading manually leads to the occasional error, when this happens, we have to conduct an investigation into what went wrong, why and put corrective actions in place. This can be extremely time consuming and at times frustrating when it’s not obvious how/where the error occurred.
What do you know now that you wish you knew earlier in your career?
Patience.
What do you find most rewarding about your job?
Satisfied customer. It’s great to see happy drivers pulling up and this in turn makes a happy workforce which is another rewarding aspect about my job.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of work I’m kept busy by my partner and 5 kids, my family means the world to me. When I do get some downtime though there’s nothing better than escaping to the lakes for a spot of fishing.
Finally, what did you want to do as a child?
Growing up I loved motor vehicles which led me to study Sports Motor Vehicles. Unfortunately, life happened and it just never worked out as a career, but it is still a dream of mine to one day take the family to Japan to experience the rich history of motorsports, and maybe catch a race or two.
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