Multi-skilling ratchets up productivity

RAY SMUTS
PERFORMING ONE task alone is simply not cricket at Fresh Produce Terminals, and forklift drivers at the company’s Durban cooling terminal are among those basking in the benefit of multi-skilled training.
Broadening skills has indeed been high on the agenda of FPT since its inception, and the Durban terminal - largest in southern Africa were one to combine fruit shipped by specialised reefer or containerised mode - prides itself on past and present achievements in this regard.
By furthering skills and employing cutting edge technology including a sophisticated warehouse management system, FPT Durban has notched up an impressive improvement in productivity - around 30% over the past two years.
Located at T-jetty in the port of Durban, FPT provides cold storage and shipping services to mainly the export fruit industry on a common-user basis. It has, in order to cater for handling more than 400 000 pallets of fruit annually, developed IT systems enabling it to remotely direct a fleet of over 120 forklifts to any of the 17 520 storage locations in the complex.
Operated by multi-skilled personnel, the forklifts are directed to the storage and shipping locations by the terminal’s planning department via computer terminals mounted on the vehicles.
The drivers use scanning devices, also affixed to the forklifts, to read barcodes on both products and storage locations.
This scan is transmitted by radio signal to the planning department’s ‘Space and Traffic’ centre which monitors fleet performance on a 24-hour basis to ensure production targets are maintained across all shipping berths.
Says general manager Denny Reddy: “We believe this warehouse management system enables us to consistently locate and ship the correct pallet while maintaining exceptional service levels.”