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What does a warehouse assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a warehouse assistant do

Warehouse assistants oversee a warehouse's stocks and products. Their primary responsibilities include receiving and sending products from the warehouse. They move materials and inventory across the facilities. It's their job to sort, organize, and keep stock in the right location. They are also responsible for issuing materials and other supplies for storage in the central warehouse. The skills they must acquire include road transportation, packing, stocking, loading, shipping, and general labor.

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Warehouse assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real warehouse assistant resumes:

  • Assist customers during store pick-up hours and maintain warehouse inventory and cleanliness.
  • Assist clients with their groceries.
  • Used various skills in manual labor, such as operation of handcarts, dollies pallet jacks etc.
  • Enter new MRO parts into ERP, place orders, perform daily receiving, work order kitting.
  • Sort, organize, and prepare groceries and other merchandise to be locate and place on a pallet.
  • Utilize JD Edwards ERP system to effectively track production and inventory levels to ensure on time delivery of shipments.
  • Handle, lift and carry items weighing over 40 pounds and utilize material handling equipment (MHE) when require.
  • Operate material handling equipment (MHE) such as forklifts, high-rise platform lifts, trucks and other general purpose vehicles.
  • Help maintain regular cleanliness of the warehouse
  • Follow meticulous inventory controls to stacking/banding wooden pallets for outgoing orders.
  • Perform analysis of logistics for equipment, personnel, and training on computer spreadsheets/databases, using specialize tracking software.
  • Provide the management necessary to ensure the maximum utilization of storage and warehousing facilities as stated in DOD 4145.19-R-1.
  • Utilize DSS to review and verify material locations, condition code, expiration date, NSN and other information as needed.
  • Identify, examine, classify, accept, reject, and dispose of material per DLA regulations.
  • Scan all packages and stack them in dollies or pack them in containers so they'll be ready for the drivers

Warehouse assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 23% of Warehouse Assistants are proficient in Customer Orders, Pallets, and Industrial Trucks. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Detail oriented.

We break down the percentage of Warehouse Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Customer Orders, 23%

    Managed inventory, picked and packed customer orders, and ensured accurate deliveries

  • Pallets, 16%

    Organize pallets onto rack system in warehouse using Colonial Knife Company custom inventory system.

  • Industrial Trucks, 10%

    Operate powered industrial trucks to load and unload materials and deliveries and transport to and from storage areas and loading docks.

  • Hand Trucks, 8%

    Moved supplies throughout warehouse utilizing a variety of equipment such as forklift, skid movers, hand trucks and motorized trucks.

  • Customer Service, 7%

    Inventory control* Customer service representative* Forklift operator

  • Groceries, 5%

    Bagged groceries and assisted shoppers.

"customer orders," "pallets," and "industrial trucks" are among the most common skills that warehouse assistants use at work. You can find even more warehouse assistant responsibilities below, including:

Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a warehouse assistant to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what warehouse assistants do because "production, planning, and expediting clerks are frequently in contact with suppliers, vendors, and production managers and need to communicate the firm’s scheduling needs effectively." Additionally, a warehouse assistant resume shows how warehouse assistants use communication skills: "ensured communication and computer systems are reliable for equipment users. "

Customer-service skills. Many warehouse assistant duties rely on customer-service skills. "stock clerks sometimes interact with customers in retail stores and may have to get the item the customer is looking for from the storeroom.," so a warehouse assistant will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways warehouse assistant responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "fill customer orders by packaging sold items and documentation for direct shipping or by transferring orders to manufacturers or third-party distributors. "

Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of warehouse assistants is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday warehouse assistant duties, as "material and product inspecting clerks check items for defects, some of which are small and difficult to spot." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "process daily deposit detail, ship orders to customers, receive store inventory, perform inventory control checks. "

Math skills. A big part of what warehouse assistants do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to warehouse assistant responsibilities because "some material recording clerks use math to calculate shipping costs or take measurements." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical warehouse assistant tasks: "produced aromatherapy products such as bath salts, soaps, and massage oils assembled customer orders prepared orders for shipment"

Most common warehouse assistant skills

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Compare different warehouse assistants

Warehouse assistant vs. Customer service, warehouse

A customer service warehouse is primarily in charge of providing customer support, mainly through calls and correspondence. Their responsibilities typically revolve around answering inquiries, addressing and troubleshooting problems, processing refunds, maintaining records of all transactions, and referring them to other services when necessary. There are also instances when they must perform follow-up calls, offer products and services, discuss product specifications and promotions, develop sales strategies, and generate leads through research and analysis. Moreover, they must maintain an active communication line with staff for a smooth and efficient workflow.

The annual salary of customer services, warehouse is $2,553 lower than the average salary of warehouse assistants.Even though warehouse assistants and customer services, warehouse are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require customer orders, hand trucks, and inventory control in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between warehouse assistants and customer service, warehouse. For instance, warehouse assistant responsibilities require skills such as "pallets," "industrial trucks," "customer service," and "groceries." Whereas a customer service, warehouse is skilled in "quality customer service," "strong customer service," "cleanliness," and "customer complaints." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Customer services, warehouse tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $31,263. In contrast, warehouse assistants make the biggest average salary, $36,486, in the transportation industry.customer services, warehouse tend to reach similar levels of education than warehouse assistants. In fact, customer services, warehouse are 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Warehouse assistant vs. Material handler/warehouse

A warehouse material handler is responsible for assisting warehouse operations, moving merchandise from one place to another, labeling products, performing quality check procedures, packaging goods, and loading and unloading items from distribution vehicles. Warehouse material handlers operate warehouse tools and equipment for production, as well as ensuring the adequacy of stock inventory needed for orders and deliveries. A warehouse material handler also updates product information on the database and do administrative tasks, such as writing reports and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns.

A career as a material handler/warehouse brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a warehouse assistant. In fact, material handler/warehouses salary is $969 lower than the salary of warehouse assistants per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Warehouse assistants and material handler/warehouses both require similar skills like "customer orders," "pallets," and "industrial trucks" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that warehouse assistant responsibilities requires skills like "groceries," "rf," "general maintenance," and "branch management." But a material handler/warehouse might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "work ethic," "warehouse environment," "supply support," and "ladders."

Material handler/warehouses earn a lower average salary than warehouse assistants. But material handler/warehouses earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $34,722. Additionally, warehouse assistants earn the highest salaries in the transportation with average pay of $36,486 annually.material handler/warehouses earn similar levels of education than warehouse assistants in general. They're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Warehouse assistant vs. General warehouse worker

A general warehouse worker takes responsibility for doing various duties in warehousing. General warehouse workers receive and process incoming materials and stock, pick and file orders, and pack and ship these orders. The workers manage, organize, and retrieve stocks from the warehouse. They make sure that the orders are picked up and/or delivered on time. It is expected from them to have working experience in the job. They have to be proficient in terms of inventory software, systems, and databases. Among the other necessary skills for this career are time management, analytical, communication, and good organizational skills.

On average, general warehouse workers earn lower salaries than warehouse assistants, with a $1,138 difference per year.By looking over several warehouse assistants and general warehouse workers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "customer orders," "pallets," and "hand trucks." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, warehouse assistants are more likely to have skills like "industrial trucks," "customer service," "groceries," and "shipping receiving." But a general warehouse worker is more likely to have skills like "safety rules," "inbound trucks," "math," and "basic math."

General warehouse workers make a very good living in the manufacturing industry with an average annual salary of $34,273. On the other hand, warehouse assistants are paid the highest salary in the transportation industry, with average annual pay of $36,486.Most general warehouse workers achieve a similar degree level compared to warehouse assistants. For example, they're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Warehouse assistant vs. Warehouse machine operator

Warehouse machine operators perform various tasks for their employers. These include setting up, operating, monitoring, and troubleshooting machinery, inspecting parts for specifications and any potential damage, and reading and interpreting diagrams and blueprints to position and secure the machines. They are expected to communicate with other team members and provide support for continuous production. Most employers are looking to hire someone with knowledge of production and safety procedures, previous experience as a machine operator, and analytical skills.

Warehouse machine operators average a higher salary than the annual salary of warehouse assistants. The difference is about $443 per year.According to resumes from warehouse assistants and warehouse machine operators, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "customer orders," "hand trucks," and "shipping receiving. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between warehouse assistants and warehouse machine operators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a warehouse assistant might have more use for skills like "pallets," "industrial trucks," "customer service," and "groceries." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of warehouse machine operators require skills like "basic math," "rf scanner," "machine operation," and "warehouse environment. "

Warehouse machine operators enjoy the best pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $36,642. For comparison, warehouse assistants earn the highest salary in the transportation industry.In general, warehouse machine operators hold similar degree levels compared to warehouse assistants. Warehouse machine operators are 1.1% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of warehouse assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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