While it might be easy to get carried away with the business results of automation, or the performance of robotic equipment and the precise control of a WMS, we should also take a hard look at the softer issues – the staff who work with automation every day.
I recall a discussion many years ago at the premises of a major warehouse automation provider in Europe. A wise old head at the end of the table listened while engineers eulogised over the exciting new picking station design and WMS consultants waxed lyrical about the unprecedented control and speed. They claimed nothing less than a revolutionised warehouse environment.
Finally, he spoke; “But you're not helping the people who work there.”
A hush descended.
“You're actually making their job harder. You're taking away some of the easier parts of the job, like walking around and talking to people. Now they just stand there shifting boxes all day.”
It was a wake up call that lines on technical drawings, or lines of code, are not enough.
Nowadays, good warehouse automation projects take people into account and even involve them in the development stage, says specialist consultant Scott Kerr of Kerrect Logistics. “You always need internal ownership within warehouse people; they understand where its going. They understand the job at a detailed level and need to be part of commissioning.”
“It's critical to have people's involvement early,” agrees Sean Ryan of Swisslog.
Scott Kerr also says that with good warehouse automation projects the job does change, for the better. “Now people are capable of multi tasking. The time where they were stuck doing one thing has gone. You see people move around.”
More skills, more info
New and more technical skills are required, says Alex van Dijk of packaging automation specialists RML Engineering. “Work was relatively low skilled and paid, but with some automation there's not a lot of manual work. It's more skilled, workers get to be a machine operator and must be able to use the machine, to fault find. You need to have the skills for when things go wrong.”
And working with automation could mean anything from replenishing consumables (such as cases and pallets), through to working touch screens and understanding how to exploit the technology.
It takes more training, for both management and staff. And that can have another benefit if you work in a warehouse; highly trained and mutli skilled staff tend to get paid more.
With all that control at your fingertips, there is a wealth of information available. Management can quickly see what's going right and importantly what’s going wrong. You can manage the exceptions without having to hunt for them.
“It can make some things more demanding. In a manual system you could get away with mediocrity, now there are no more excuses.”
Increased stress and sickness
Jared Abbott, logistics and transport organiser at FIRST Union, sees both the positive and negative in automation. In some locations the daily use of data from the warehouse system can go too far he says. “Workers are being micro managed by machine. It judges performance for each task ... and if you fall behind it tells the boss.
“It has a negative impact on how valued staff are by the company and increases stress levels. There’s an intensification of labour; there’s no room to stop and talk. Staff don’t get a chance to stop and do anything else.”
There is even talk of raised sickness levels if staff need to take a break from constant supervision. The counter argument is that good warehouse systems, from voice picking to automated handling, can be good for the company and their staff don't want to go back.
While articles often focus on the wider business benefits of increased performance, and even an easier working life in good projects, there are other benefits to automation that both affect staff and are increasingly important at Board level.
Safety first
The raising of the stakes on health and safety with the advent of WorkSafe NZ and forthcoming legislation gives an extra motivation for investing in automation that takes away the heavy lifting. “Positives include health and safety for roles that are generally manual and likely to cause degenerative injury, for example automated wrapping machines remove the risk of back injuries,” comments Abbott.
Ryan warns that considering the people who work with automation is an important part of safety and adding the boredom factor can be a risk; “When the mind starts to wander, it can cause issues.”
Added to that, the consequences of getting it wrong can be serious. In manual operations, it was about lifting and trip hazards. Automated materials handling equipment is a lot less forgiving if you get your hands caught or you are run over by a stock picker exiting an aisle. It's a totally different physical environment that staff are not used to.
not every installation ... is a dream come true
Kerr does caution that not every installation of warehouse automation is a dream come true for the staff or the company. He has seen some less that perfect examples from more than one country.
Little involvement from warehouse and operational staff in the design and implementation phases are a warning sign, and there can be issues when multi skilling is not embraced. The early stages of a new automated operation can also have its “moments” while staff and management get up to speed with what they can do. “Some people think it runs beautifully when it is switched on but it does't work like that.”
Alex van Dijk is keen to stress the importance of staff training. They need to really understand the new automation to have it running sweetly day in day out.
Don't forget the 'soft'ware
There is little doubt that well thought out and run warehouse automation brings real and lasting benefits.
The general approach for a successful implementation that will boost the bottom line and keep the workforce happy is; while developing the sophisticated hardware and intelligent IT systems, don't forget the 'soft'ware.
Article first published FTD Oct 2014,
and it could have been written yesterday!
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