In today’s era of fast-paced fulfillment and scarce labor resources, many companies are outfitting their warehouses with material handling technologies that can speed operations and fill hiring gaps. And such moves aren’t just for the largest and most sophisticated companies: From simple devices to advanced equipment, there is an automated solution that can help just about any warehouse pick up the pace and make the most of their existing staff.
“You have to look at warehouse workers as athletes and arm them to be as effective as possible,” explains Kevin Ledversis, vice president of Newcastle Systems, which makes mobile workstations and carts for industrial environments. “And you’ve got to treat people well, because labor is a commodity that’s getting scarcer. Treat them better, give them better tools—we’ve got to start working together as an industry [on that].”
Ledversis and others say automation can address a range of labor problems in the warehouse, but one issue stands out as low-hanging fruit for almost any company: reducing the amount of time workers spend traveling through the facility to complete tasks. Doing so creates a more efficient workplace that can boost output and free human labor for jobs that require greater skill and judgment.
Here’s a look at simple and advanced solutions that can make a difference.
KEEP IT SIMPLE WITH CARTS
Travel time is wasted time in the warehouse, especially when it comes to essential tasks like picking. In many cases, associates spend more time walking or driving a forklift than they do selecting items for an order, which slows fulfillment. Facility layout and inventory slotting play a role in creating efficient workflows, but layering automation on top of those improvements can bring even greater savings. Ledversis points to autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) as a common solution. AMRs take on the task of traveling through the warehouse to retrieve items, often working alongside human labor by delivering picked items to workstations where humans then pack them to complete an order.
But even semi-automated solutions can help speed workflows and maximize labor resources. Powered mobile carts and workstations are a case in point: These rolling workstations incorporate computer terminals, printers, and other tools associates need to complete tasks anywhere in the warehouse.
“What we’re good at [is making] companies a lot more efficient—similar to picking robots or AMRs,” Ledversis explains. “Carts really keep people from [having to walk] back and forth to computers.”
All that walking not only slows things down but also opens the door to errors that can further drain resources. Ledversis points to labeling as an example. In many warehouses, workers have to walk to a central workstation to print labels for individual orders. To speed the process, workers may print multiple labels at a time, relying on memory to affix the right label to the right case, box, or pallet when they return. The process often results in errors that can result in fines for mis-shipments, not to mention unhappy customers.
“When people have to walk to a label printer, they start to game the system. They say, ‘I’ll just print the next 10 orders.’ And then mistakes happen—the wrong label goes on the product or, worst case, an entire truckload goes to the wrong place,” Ledversis says.
Switching from stationary printers to those that reside on a battery-powered mobile workstation allows workers to bring the printer to the product, reducing travel time and improving accuracy.
ADVANCE WITH AUTOMATED LIFT TRUCKS
Automated lift trucks are an even more advanced way to reduce human travel time and speed warehouse operations—all while freeing up labor for other tasks in the facility. These driverless lift trucks are best applied to repetitive, predictable routes. And horizontal, point-to-point transport is a great place to start, explains Kyle Smart, automation sales manager at Yale Lift Truck Technologies.
“Typically, [automated forklifts work best for] transport that’s going to be upwards of 100 feet. So that could [include] repetitive milk runs, finished goods to dock, and waste or recycling to collection areas,” Smart says, adding that high-frequency or high-volume runs that are on predictable paths as good targets as well. “Those are some of the best tasks to get started with. From there, you can grow in complexity.”
Smart says removing the operator from these tasks can yield up to a 32% labor savings while increasing facility output.
“With [today’s] labor constraints, automated lift trucks are going to give customers the opportunity to really reallocate the labor that they do have and [allow the driverless trucks to] tackle a lot of the repetitive and mundane material flows in their facility,” Smart explains, noting that some companies find that automated lift trucks allow them to boost operating hours or add shifts—helping them increase output and hit operational goals.
Smart adds: “They can use the opportunity to run on specific parts of the day that they aren’t running on now because they are labor constrained.”
Those benefits come with demands, however—including site readiness and a company culture that is committed to working alongside automated equipment.
“If you run multiple shifts, the chances are that introducing automated lift trucks—again, connecting them to an applicable task—is going to be a very viable and right solution for you,” Smart says. “[You also need] site readiness and a willingness to make the changes that are necessary to have an automated forklift solution do what you expect it to do and is meant to do.”
Facility cleanliness, a reliable Wi-Fi network, and a commitment to making technology updates when needed are vital parts of that equation. So is preparing workers to focus on higher-value tasks, such as conducting quality checks throughout the facility and performing value-added assembly work. Human labor can also be upskilled to work alongside the automated equipment, performing regular preventive maintenance checks and other related tasks—in many cases, becoming the workers with the most intimate knowledge of your automated fleet.
“I think that’s first and foremost: You can allocate your human labor, which is committed to you and your operation, to tasks that require a higher level of human judgment,” Smart says. “There’s a great opportunity to redeploy some of your labor and create ‘automation champions.’”
And there are often surprising results: Smart says some of the more skeptical employees in a warehouse can end up being the greatest automation advocates when they see how the technology helps improve their job and create new opportunities.
Ledversis agrees, and adds that technology can also turn into an effective recruitment tool—especially for the younger demographic many warehouses are looking to attract.
“You can give a 25-year-old kid a piece of paper and say, ‘Go take inventory’—but that kid’s not coming back tomorrow,” Ledversis says. “Add technology, and they think it’s a cool job and that they are valued.
“There are great companies that do this already, and there are others that don’t—and [the latter] have a hard time keeping people and [then] wonder why.”
Packaging supplier weighs in on automation
Robotics and automation can yield labor savings in many parts of the warehouse, encompassing a wide range of systems and equipment—from autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to advanced automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS). Packaging also plays an important role in making those systems run smoothly. Whether you are implementing robotic pick-and-place technology, a shuttle system, or palletizing equipment, the containers and packaging involved must integrate seamlessly in order to get the best return on your investment. That puts many packaging suppliers on the front lines of automation.
We asked Andrea Nottestad, senior product manager at reusable packaging manufacturer Orbis Corp., for her thoughts on how automation is advancing in the warehouse and where companies can get the most out of their investments. Here are some excerpts from our conversation:
Q: Where can warehouses get the most from their investment in labor-saving technology?
A: Storage and retrieval is a large target for savings, as it reduces associate travel time, significantly increasing pick throughput and accuracy. Once implemented, it starts to move labor more to inbound and outbound activities. Over time, this will create an opportunity to engage suppliers for “inbound conversion.”
Q: What do you mean by that, specifically?
A: Once automation and its associated packaging is implemented, it allows companies to reallocate labor to other value-add activities. It also creates new opportunities to work with suppliers on converting inbound supply into returnable packaging that can go direct into automated systems.
Q: Are there any simple or small steps you could recommend for companies looking to get started on their warehouse automation journey?
A: Companies are all at different points in their automation journey. We always work with customers on scalable solutions, so they can start getting the benefits right away and then grow into future, more robust automation solutions. This helps them reduce costs associated with manual labor, and they can often reallocate labor to more technical roles. As such, we recommend engaging their packaging suppliers early in the process to understand features, tolerances, [and so forth], as they start their automation journey to set them up for implementation success.
Q: Orbis recently opened a manufacturing facility in Texas that features cutting-edge robotics and automation. As a user of the technology we’ve been discussing, where has automation helped you the most in terms of easing labor constraints?
A: Automation is useful to minimize safety risks to our employees where repetitive motion or higher-weight loads can create risk. An example is heavy parts, such as pallets and bulk bins, where utilizing automation allows us to mitigate risks with our employees. It is also useful for quality consistency in things like barcode or RFID [radio-frequency identification] application and commissioning.
