Part 3: Prepare to accept deliveries (and prepare to return some)

Managing FF&E deliveries worth $6 million for The University of Nebraska Health Center and UNMC College of Nursing

This blog is part of summer 2018 coursework requirement for Digital  Insights and Analytics taught by Prof. Brandon Nutting at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

This blog is the third of the five in the series. 
Part 1: Getting a clear understanding of what you are expected to do.
Part 2: Organize, Consult, Discuss and then Instruct.

In this blog post we will be discussing
Part 3: Prepare to accept deliveries (and prepare to return some)

After a couple of runs on site to accept deliveries, I realized that I need to be better prepared! I then started to make full use of all the pockets on my safety vest. I had to keep my hands free. Thus each required item I carried got assigned to a specific pocket.  

 Here is a list of items that made my job easy on this project - 
(Depending on project needs, this list could vary.)

1) Measuring tape - A measuring tape helped measure the box when it got unloaded from the truck to make sure it will fit inside the elevator and pass through the corridor. 
2) A cutter or a knife - I carried a cutter to tear off the stretch wraps around boxes. These wraps are meant to protect the box. Although they look flimsy they do not tear easily. Many times the packing slips are inside a wrap or within a box. A cutter helps open boxes quickly so you can determine what is inside and sign the receipt.
3) Packing tape with dispenser - Once you open a box, you will need to seal it back to store all items safely. A packing tape dispenser does not easily fit inside any on the safety vest pockets. Although it is a hassle, carrying a packing tape is necessary.
4) Pen and permanent marker - Make sure to have a pen to sign receipts upon accepting delivery. A blue pen to sign and red pen to take notes. I also carried a permanent marker to write on the boxes delivered. I knew there would be hundreds of boxes and feared that some could get displaced. Thus labeling them with room numbers in large letters  was a good idea. It worked great! 
5) A printed copy of the spreadsheet (that we created in Step 2) - Construction sites can be dusty, crowded and without a good WiFi connection. It was difficult to use a heavy laptop or surface pro which needs to be carried around. A simple printout with information on all equipment that has not yet arrived on site was very useful. 
The printout I carried around had the following information - vendor information, item description, item quantity, whether or not manuals and warranties were received in digital format, and what room the item goes into. It also had a blank column for delivery date. As I was not printing or updating spreadsheet on a daily basis, the 'latest' print out served as a record of equipment that arrived in the period between the last update on the spreadsheet and current date. 
6) A copy of floor plans - When managing inside deliveries or white glove deliveries, you need to keep in mind that the delivery crew does not know your building floor plan. They definitely do not know what construction activities are in process around their time of arrival. Although I always managed to walk them to the final room location, many delivery personnel liked to get an idea of the path before entering the building.  Having a set of printed plans available helped them understand where they need to go. Another situation where plans came handy was when we had 3 to 4 semi-trucks lined up to deliver equipment. In this situation, I was able to hand over the floor plans with a clear path marked to one crew while I worked with the other crew to get to their location.

Apart from the list of items mentioned above, some key points to keep in mind would be - 
Be prepared to haul boxes of all sizes. 
Dress appropriately. I personally did not mind if my white shirt got dirty or if I had to use a pallet jack while wearing a formal dress. But if you do have some favorite clothing or delicate shoes, you do not want to wear those while accepting deliveries. You can always have someone assigned to help you. But, the more you yourself label and store boxes, the more exact details you have when answering questions related to a particular delivery.

Keep a flat bed cart and hand trolley available for your use.
It is recommended to have one flat bed cart (of a suitable size that you can turn easily in and out of an elevator and in the corridors) and one hand trolley available for your use. Make sure these have pneumatic wheels and check them regularly for any nails or metal scraps - especially if you plan to move these on a new terrazzo floor. 😊

Get trained to operate a forklift.
Not being licensed to operate a forklift was one big drawback for me on this project. The building does not have a loading dock. Thus every time an unscheduled or untimely delivery showed up that required a forklift to help unload boxes, I had to run to find the general contractor. Truck deliveries usually show up around noon which makes it even more difficult to find help. Fortunately, I was working with a good crew that showed up within minutes and this did not become a big problem.

Be prepared to return deliveries.
If something needs to be returned, be prepared. Take several pictures of the damaged box and make a note of the exact time of delivery. If you have accepted the delivery and found a fault after the delivery person left site, email the vendor representative immediately. Request information for return documentation. Many times the sales representatives do not have all the information and are not completely familiar with the return process. They have to direct you to another department. If the damage is minor and requires only a certain part to be replaced, the sales representative may direct you to the technical department. Be patient throughout the process because sometimes you will get directed to customer care and technical support which are 'departments' and not a particular person so every time you give them a call the person (hopefully not the robot) may or may not know the background of your concern. Luckily, a lot of our vendors had helpful sales representatives that made sure all concerns were addressed. 

Get cell phone numbers for key personnel.
No matter how much you organize, there will be boxes that show up without prior notification and with little to no information about the items inside them. I experienced this more than once and fortunately had a wonderful group who helped me out. I did not have everybody's cell phone number but since this group responded quickly to all emails, it all worked out well. 
If I suspected the items may belong to the college of nursing - Tom and Tia were my primary contact. If it was something to do with reagents, Karen would be the person to call. Kelly was our point of contact for all dental equipment. Office supplies and custodial equipment was mostly what Sara Bindrum would know about (although Sara and team has helped with almost every delivery that showed up). If the boxes had electronics, wall mounts or some computer related stuff, Ed or Dustin would have the information. 
And if I could not get hold off anyone mentioned above OR if I had a question or concern about anything, one of our troubleshooters was Jeanine. 

It was amazing to work with this huge group who always had a smile on their face and spoke about solutions. This whole task turned out to be a fantastic learning experience and something I have enjoyed talking about in this whole blog!



I hope you found this blog helpful. The next blog posts in this series are as follows:

Part 4: Command Center for the project.

Part 5: A quick chat with Project Manager - Joe Goodwater and Construction Manager - Grant Watson.