Material handling efficiency improves customer satisfaction, lowers overhead expenses, and increases revenue. Read to learn effective ways to improve your material handling efficiency.
Minimize and Improve Manual Handling
Manual handling is when workers move and handle products by lifting, holding, carrying, pulling, and pushing. Risk factors of manual material handling include forceful exertion, high repetition, and sustained awkward postures that put stress on joints and muscles. When possible, handle materials with machines rather than manually to reduce worker risk.
Give workers adequate breaks throughout the day to reduce fatigue. Workers should use the right form when lifting and moving packages and avoid bending and twisting when they lift.
Improve the Warehouse Layout
Improving the warehouse layout will help optimize workflow. The better organized your warehouse, the more efficiently workers can move.
You will need to use different techniques to optimize individual areas of your warehouse. For example, you should maximize your use of vertical space for storage. But you can improve the use of the staging area by receiving goods during one shift and shipping them during another.
Maintain Equipment
Another effective way to improve material handling efficiency is to maintain equipment. Schedule maintenance to minimize disruptions to your routine. A maintenance schedule will ensure you promptly inspect, adjust, and repair equipment.
Docking, storing, lifting, and packing equipment make it safer and easier to handle materials. Maintaining equipment throughout your facility extends your machines’ life spans and helps prevent the need for expensive repairs.
Optimize Workflows
Assess workflows throughout your facility to find opportunities to optimize workflows. You might discover simple changes make a big difference. For example, opportunity charging forklift batteries during natural breaks in the operator’s shift can save time on charging and changing out the battery.
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