Optimizing Warehouse Efficiency
Tremendous growth in warehousing and related industries in the past decade brings real challenges—inexperienced labor, safety concerns, and squeezing productivity out of limited space. The right strategies and technology can meet these challenges.
1. Consider technology to support safety efforts. Forklift operator training, retraining, and proper operating procedures can reduce accidents by 70%, finds OSHA. Operator assistance solutions can help support best practices, from traditional awareness systems to advanced technologies that can automatically adjust truck performance.
2. Fight operator fatigue. Over the course of a shift, operator productivity can decrease as fatigue mounts. With a large portion of operating costs going to finding and retaining a limited labor pool, it’s crucial to maximize productivity all shift long. Ergonomic equipment can fight operator discomfort and keep them efficient for a full shift.
3. Bridge the gap with robots. Finding and retaining labor is a consistent issue for warehouses. Robotic lift trucks can relieve labor pressures by automating repetitive load transportation, and storage and retrieval workflows, so employees can focus on higher-value tasks.
4. Leverage the golden zone. The 80/20 rule applied to order picking means 80% of high-velocity, fast-paced order picking movement comes from just 20% of SKUs. Organize pick faces so that the most frequently picked items are in the most convenient pick locations, also known as the ergonomic golden zone. This can minimize reaching and straining to access inventory, and boost throughput.
5. Optimize order picking paths. The less time pickers travel between locations, the more time they can spend actually picking. Equipment features such as the option to move a pallet truck between pick locations without having to climb back on, saves steps and seconds between picks.
6. Reclaim indoor space for core functions. Not all warehouse space is used for processes such as receiving, storage, and picking; lead-acid battery charging, maintenance, and storage typically requires dedicated indoor facilities. Newer lift truck power sources, such as lithium-ion batteries, do not require the same dedicated space for charging, storage, and maintenance, so warehouses can reclaim valuable space for core functions.
7. Go up, not out. As warehouse space grows more expensive, many operations maximize their horizontal footprint by building up, rather than out. Very narrow aisle (VNA) lift trucks can take advantage of these higher-level locations by operating in aisles as narrow as 56 inches and accessing storage locations more than 50 feet high.
8. Assist operators working at height. Reach trucks are a common solution for narrow, high warehouse aisles, with operators picking and placing pallet loads from tight storage locations at great heights. Fork-mounted cameras and lights can help operators precisely pick and place pallet loads in elevated storage locations, enabling consistent performance and limiting damage to pallets and product.
9. Go double deep. Another way to boost storage density is to use double deep configurations, in which operations store two pallets in a single location, with one behind the other. Going two pallet loads deep can enable up to 50% more capacity than single selective racking without occupying significantly more floor space.
10. Regularly evaluate warehouse performance. Identify key warehouse performance metrics and evaluate your own performance against historic levels and industry benchmarks for best-in-class performance. The Warehousing Education and Research Council releases a yearly DC Measures report that features a list of industry-wide warehouse performance benchmarks.
SOURCE: Jim Hess, Director of Warehouse Business Development, Yale Lift Truck Technologies