We all have been familiar with the adage, ‘Time is Money’. Because the less time we waste doing a certain task, the more time we will be saving to do next. More productivity or efficiency at your distribution center means more output or money. But are you able to improve production without sacrificing quality over quantity? If not, then we are here to help you with the ways to boost material handling productivity at your work.
The material handling industry has undergone considerable change since practitioners realized they can always keep on improving productivity. For this, we now rely upon the automotive industry for the control & management of poor material handling. Below we have mentioned different ways to increase productivity at your manufacturing facility.
1. Know your current state of distribution center or existing workflow
It all works fine until you dig deeper and get to know existing underneath flaws. You must measure and capture data relevant to your facility’s productivity. This might include the inspection of the following areas:
- Operation process
- Technology being used
- Labor
Take a follow-up and examine the changes required to improve overall material handling productivity.
2. Optimize facility layout
This will help you get a rough estimate on how much your operators spend just driving idle. You can take preventive measures as well if this is taking place on a large scale. You can set up telematics on your forklifts. Also, you can try reorganizing operations at your facility. This will definitely help you get some productivity gains.
You can simply optimize your facility by keeping the most usable items a little closer to wherever they are required. This would reduce travel time and eventually save a few bucks per day.
If you optimize your facility on a regular basis, you will be able to identify areas of congestion. And work upon preventing delays in material handling caused by congestion in driveways.
3. Investment in Equipment, Technology, and Accessory.
You can work upon implementing telematics devices to track idle time spent by operators during material handling. It will also track the driver’s behavior, such as the number of sharp brakes taken by the driver, acceleration, etc. You can have operator’s seat changes once in three years, camera installation, etc. also, fork tip lasers, height indicators, auto-tilt leveling can assist in the easy execution of material handling tasks.
Also, you can ask your forklift operators for ideas that incorporate the best solutions for material handling. You can give suggestions on why efficiency is important for business. Improved productivity will result in good business and eventually salary hikes.
Also, OSHA states that it is mandatory to evaluate and assess your workplace environment to determine whether your forklift is well equipped with desired accessories. Wisdom Forklift Training offers a wide variety of forklift training courses along with forklift certification in Mississauga, and job assistance.
