Recently, a friend from my undergraduate days complained that he was written up at work for low productivity. He operates a forklift in a warehouse and was informed that he only reached 97 percent of the previous week’s productivity.

I asked for details, but there was not a lot he could tell me; he was working when he was asked to sign a document warning him about his low productivity. He asked to read the document on his next break, but by then it had been turned in, and he was not permitted to see it.

That alone sounds like a management problem.

My friend explained that there are different types of “pick paths” he could be assigned to. Some involve single-item orders, and these are easy to “make rate” with. Pick paths with multi-item orders are almost impossible to make rate with. Each day the forklift operators receive their assignments from a manager, and my friend spent two weeks only doing multi-item pick paths.

Generally, a forklift operator works both types of pick paths during a normal week so the results average out. Of course, a forklift operator being assigned only to the more difficult pick paths will fail to make rate.

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