What is a Warehouse Assistant?

A warehouse assistant provides assistance with the everyday operations of a warehouse. The assistant may perform various activities to ensure that the warehouse runs efficiently. In most cases, a high school diploma will be the standard amount of education required to work in this position. A warehouse assistant may have just one main job or may do many. In many cases, his or her main duty may be to drive a forklift, while other assistants may do a variety of administrative tasks instead of a singular job.

Sometimes, a warehouse assistant will spend his or her entire day doing just one thing. Many assistants' main duty is to load and unload products coming in and going out of the warehouse. Individuals in this position typically drive a machine such as a forklift. When assigned to this particular warehouse duty, an individual may need to undergo more extensive training. He or she will need to be taught how to operate the machinery and may spend some time in practice before assuming the role.

Often, a warehouse assistant will do a variety of administrative tasks. Record keeping can be an essential aspect of this job. Warehouses typically store a wide variety of products and goods. An assistant will generally help ensure that these materials are kept at a certain quality and quantity. In order to do this job efficiently, he or she will typically keep records of products and goods using stock reports.

When new shipments arrive at the warehouse, the assistant may be in charge of receiving the merchandise. He or she may need to sign off on shipments and retain a proof of delivery to pass on to his or her boss. After receiving an item, this individual may also be responsible for storing products in the warehouse. For this reason, a great part of being a warehouse assistant can be having the huge task of deciding where to put the various products. He or she may spend an ample amount of time strategizing ways to store what can be an ever evolving quantity of goods.

The responsibility of issuing materials once they arrive may also be assigned to the warehouse assistant. When working in the warehouse of a very large company, the assistant will generally have to pay very close attention to detail to ensure that the correct materials arrive at the correct departments. Any error in delivery may fall upon his or her shoulders. The duties of warehouse assistants can be vast, while some may generalize in one area, most spend their working days doing many different tasks throughout the day.