Amazon warehouse workers complain about being treated like robots.
Photo by Jacques Dillies on Unsplash
You don’t need to treat your employees the same way if you want to increase profits. Instead, start using modern technology to speed things up.
If you’re willing to invest a little money, you’ll have access to equipment your grandparents could only dream about. We’ll look at what’s available right now, so you won’t have any excuses if everything is running slow.
1. Automatic Guided Vehicles
When you walk into some warehouses, you’ll see people driving around on forklift trucks. Even though the machines allow workers to move and lift pallets quicker than ever, you still need someone to drive them.
Use automatic guided vehicles instead because they can drive themselves around. It’s possible because the robots follow wires or marked lines on the floor. Lasers and magnets are sometimes used for navigation too.
2. Install Loading Dock Levelers
Quality mechanical dock levelers can carry up to 1000 pounds, so it’s the perfect tool to move heavy deliveries in and out of your warehouse within minutes. It means drivers don’t need to hang around for long periods.
Vehicles of all sizes could arrive at your loading dock. You’ll be able to adjust the height of dock levelers immediately. Not only will everyone be able to work faster, but it will keep your employees safe when working with heavy loads.
3. Helpful Collaborative Robots
Collaborative robots weren’t designed to steal jobs from humans. The robots will work alongside warehouse workers, which allows people to work much faster. It’s ideal if someone is carrying out physical and repetitive tasks.
Cobots will never get tired when doing the same thing over and over again, plus they won’t get distracted by anything. Machines can also complete dangerous tasks without getting hurt and needing time off work.
4. Use Pick-To-Light Technology
It’s slow working your way down a list when trying to pack orders, plus it’s easy to make mistakes if you’re not careful. Pick-to-light technology will allow you to pack things much quicker without messing up orders.
You put lights on the shelves beside every product, which will switch on when you scan orders. It will even show you how many products are needed. Lights will illuminate a path that guides you to locations in large warehouses.
5. Voice Automated Order Picking
Software can tell you exactly where to go if you’re wearing a headset. It will start giving you locations once you provide the system with a batch number, and you’ll offer a number to let the tech know you’re in the right place.
When you get back to your cart, you’ll be told exactly where to put each product. A voice automated order picking system might be expensive to install, but it will take less than a year to recoup your money.
Investing In Your Future
It’s worth investing some of your profits into speeding up your warehouse because you’ll always make your money back. If you speak to your accountant, you might be able to use tax write-offs to get the tech.