‘Touch less – pick more efficiently’

With looming carbon taxes
and increased pressure to
reduce carbon footprint,
the greenest thing to do in a
warehouse is to implement
systems that ensure goods
are touched less.
Not only will this ensure
greener operations – it will
also dramatically increase
efficiency.
Gary Benatar, an
executive director at
Industrial Logistic
Systems (ILS), told FTW
that reducing the number
of times a product was
handled from manufacture
to final destination
significantly increased
efficiency. “But it is also
the greenest thing anyone
can do. Just do not touch
products hundreds of
times.”
According to Benatar,
to achieve this requires
more integration and
optimisation across
warehouse operations.
He said across the world
there was a move towards
reducing handling and
product touches which
ultimately lowered costs
across the supply chain.
From high-tech automation
solutions to the use of
drones and radio-frequency
identification (RFID) for
faster picking, it is all aimed
at not wasting time while
achieving perfect processes.
“There are some very
exciting technologies being
developed and implemented
around the world,” said
Benatar, such as the new
logistics centre opened in
Ebergassing in Austria last
year.
Considered
to be one
of the most
modern
logistics
centres in
the world,
it represents
an investment
of around ¤85
million.
“This facility employs
just over 100 people and
is fully automated. A
completely new picking
method has been
developed,” he said. “A
conventional
warehouse
facility would
have had to
employ over
1500 people
to handle the
same volumes.”
He said the
biggest cost in
any distribution
centre was picking labour.
Touching a product less
and picking it more
efficiently immediately
addressed cost.