FEATURE u Warehousing & Materials Handling
Lightening the load to improve employee experience
T
he logistics industry is facing unprecedented challenges. From staff shortages to escalating stakeholder environmental demands, businesses must innovate to bounce back from the pandemic. The working experience has to improve – and that can only be achieved
by using automation to minimise both delays and danger. Automated loading can eradicate driver delay and maximise drive time. It can minimise warehouse operatives’ manual activity and reliance on forklift trucks, radically improving safety. The process is faster and more efficient, allowing warehouse operatives to be relocated to safer, more enjoyable and potentially better-paid areas of the operation. As Wouter Satijn, Sales Director at Joloda Hydraroll, explains, automating the loading process delivers a rapid Return on Investment and future-proofs the business against continuing staff shortages and rising environmental expectations.
VALUE PEOPLE Around 90 per cent of UK logistics companies have been affected by the HGV driver crisis, according to recent research undertaken on behalf of Joloda Hydraroll. As the industry moves at pace towards the warehouse or factory of the future, companies need to innovate and make more effective use of scarce resources, including both people and space. The bonus is that better utilisation of resources will improve efficiency and productivity – meeting increased demands, while also reducing the carbon footprint.
MAXIMISE RESOURCES Improving the day-to-day effectiveness of lorry drivers must be a priority for any logistics business. There is no justification for leaving this scarce resource twiddling their thumbs for hours outside depots and warehouses waiting for unloading or loading slots. Yet for the vast majority of drivers, this is the routine experience. In addition to the 35 and 45 minutes it takes on average to load or unload a trailer, drivers often have to wait significantly longer for their turn at the loading bay. For warehouse operatives, the experience is a little better. Manually unloading and loading lorries is extremely physically demanding, in many cases relying on winches and ropes to move heavy and dangerous items on and off trucks. There is a huge reliance on stackers and forklift trucks – another area of expertise suffering significant shortage. In addition, 1,300 UK employees are hospitalised each year with serious injuries following forklift accidents, and that number is rising. Forklifts also add considerably to warehouse noise as trucks criss-cross the space, from inbound to outbound bays, with reversing alarms adding to the overall hubbub already created by conveyors and production lines. Yet one simple change – automating the loading and unloading process – completely transforms the experience for all employees, in trucks, forklifts and on the warehouse floor.
IMPROVE EFFICIENCY Automated loading systems are faster and more efficient – achieving in two or three minutes what typically takes over 30 minutes manually. They also require far fewer people, including forklift and truck drivers, as well as warehouse staff. Automating this part of the logistics process minimises the risk of both accident and product damage, which makes it far safer for employees to unload heavy and dangerous loads – such as lithium-ion batteries and nuclear waste. Plus, with an automated loading system, fewer forklift trucks are required,
26 October 2022 Irish Manufacturing
reducing costs, minimising the risk of accidents and cutting noise levels. In turn, businesses can increase output by reducing the storage space in the loading dock area. Staff can also be reallocated to other areas of the business – such as picking and packing – where the job is both better paid and more enjoyable, while also adding business value. For lorry drivers, automated loading completely transforms the experience.
Waiting is eradicated – with driver wait time reduced by 85 per cent. For drivers, it ensures more time on the road and reduces the uncertainty and stress associated with meeting delivery deadlines within restricted hours.
ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE Improving the efficiency of loading and unloading delivers the certainty required to drive forward additional improvements. These are efficiencies that will not only reduce costs but also support companies’ sustainability goals. With trusted time slots for drivers, there is no need to build in contingency and no need for extra trailers to cover idle time. This enables further optimisation of the logistics process, building on the progress already made through scheduling and routing systems to maximise delivery performance. With confidence in the speed of loading and unloading turnaround, businesses can embrace new models. Achieving this incremental improvement in logistics efficiency on top of the reduction in forklifts – both in and out of use – as well as cutting the emissions generated by drivers waiting in their trucks will provide a significant boost to any company’s environmental performance.
Joloda Hydraroll
www.joloda.com
www.irish-manufacturing.com
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