Operators of a Florida food warehouse have found a way to make workers more accountable and significantly reduce operational costs at the same time.
Like many distribution centers, Cheney Brothers uses radio-frequency scanners to track inventory in its Ocala warehouse from the moment it arrived to when it went out the door to be shipped to customers.
The problem was that the company’s employees didn’t take ownership of the costly scanners. So they were frequently lost, damaged, or even thrown into the trash.
Little Accountability
This meant that managers had to devote a significant portion of their time trying to locate these lost scanners. And given that the company’s warehouse covers 525,000 square feet of space, this task could often take up to three days.
“People used a different scanner every day, so they were careless with them,” said Robert Falcioni, the company’s IT manager.”It caused a lot of damage, a lot of repairs, and a lot of finger-pointing.”
The company had to keep extra scanners on hand just to have enough equipment for workers to do their jobs. And an RF technician was required to arrive a half hour before each shift just to conduct an inventory of all the scanners to make sure there would be enough.
Then, when workers arrived, they had to wait a minimum of five minutes just to check out their equipment. And at the end of their shift, everybody had to get in line again to turn in their equipment. This process alone consumed an estimated 15 hours per week in RF tech hours and about 125 hours of productive floor time for warehouse workers.
So the company decided to try something different.
Lockers to the Rescue
First, they replaced the scanners with 100 voice-enabled scanners and headsets — just enough so that there was one per operator per shift.
Then, they installed a locker system purchased from Apex Supply Chain, a technology company based in Mason, Ohio. The lockers allowed the company to store each scanner or radio in a specific compartment that’s assigned to a specific employee, according to a white paper compiled on the system by Apex.
Rather than stand in line and wait for a scanner, employees can now go directly to their assigned locker, enter their credentials and pick up their device. At the end of their shift, they repeat the process in reverse. Each transaction now takes less than 60 seconds per employee.
Tracking Who Has What
The locker system also can track every check-in and check-out automatically, so managers can always see who has what device — and when they are due back. If the equipment isn’t returned on time, a notification is instantly generated and sent to the manager.
Plus, each locker contains a charger so they can be powered up for their next shift.
The result has been a huge increase in both user accountability and productivity. RF technicians can now focus on more important tasks that chasing after scanners. Workers are spending significantly less time waiting for equipment.
And, best of all, not a single scanner has been lost, thrown away or sent out for repair since the new system was implemented. The company now plans on expanding the system to its new distribution center being built in Punta Gorda.
