We were so excited to welcome two brand-new team members to this month’s Huddle, both of whom came to us from Procensis, Barcoding’s latest acquisition.
Thanks to this acquisition, Barcoding now has leading mobility solutions experts, with over 25 years in warehouse, distribution, logistics, and warehouse management system experience, driving positive end-user experiences for our customers. Joining us for the Huddle were:
- Aaron Bolton, Barcoding VP of Customer Enablement, Engineering
- Ed Kennedy, Barcoding VP of Customer Enablement, Sales
Together, we enable warehouse and DC workers to achieve greater efficiency and accuracy, to speed onboarding, to improve processes, and to enhance safety—all by optimizing the user experience.
Let’s hear what Aaron and Ed had to say about all of this, and about leveraging the user experience to both recruit and retain workers.
It’s All About the Experience: Improving Worker Satisfaction and Productivity
“We just can’t find enough people.” This is a universal sentiment today (and, indeed, a fact), across all industry types and sizes. Depending on the study you read, up to 75% of warehouses and distribution centers (DCs) say they’re struggling to recruit and retain workers.
Technology is, in some cases, compounding the staffing problem. When a role could benefit from technology but the technology isn’t being leveraged, or when it’s being leveraged but not optimally, users end up being frustrated and dissatisfied—and the “revolving door” continues to spin.
Today’s workers, both young and not-so-young, are familiar with most forms of technology (having grown up with smartphones, tablets, augmented reality, gaming, etc.), and want tools to be in place that will help them do their jobs. In fact, they expect it. In order to recruit and retain them, warehouses and DCs need to offer it.
Related: 3 Reasons To Listen to Your Mobile Network
How Technology Helps Workers
Imagine a warehouse worker in the beverage industry, where evolving customer needs mean they’re seeing fewer full-pallet picks and more complex picks involving multiple sizes, different environments, etc. Ideally, workers’ hands would be free in order for them to efficiently pick these “non-traditional” orders, and now arm/wrist wearables, visual/voice/scan, and other tools are enabling them to do it faster—and more accurately.
Mobile user interfaces (UI) of the WMS (warehouse management system) give this worker even more flexibility. It’s possible to move away from multiple steps required to complete a task (going from the device to the scanned items and back to the device, for example) by having the needed, and well designed, UI right on the device—everything is done right at the point of scanning.
In the meantime, all the data being collected by the mobile device can be used to enable ongoing process improvements. Barcoding can take user inputs (“Why can’t I have a button here that eliminates the step of going to another spot to confirm?”) and adjust the process and mobile UI to create more efficient ways of doing things.
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What Can Warehouses & DCs Expect?
Let’s go back to the beverage industry example. Compared to the old system that required workers to wear headsets tied to computers on their hips (or required them to carry traditional handhelds, or “bricks on a stick”), warehouses and DCs that take advantage of user-focused technologies are seeing improvements in process efficiencies of between 18-20%.
How does that savings happen? One way is by making scanning completely hands-free—no mobile devices, just wearables. Here’s an example: Occasionally, a worker might need to scan a single bottle rather than a full pallet. In these cases that worker would have to cut open a case, pull out a bottle, scan it, replace the bottle, tape up the case, and move on to repeat the process at the next pallet. To solve this less-than-ideal workflow, Procensis (now Barcoding) developed a way to “double scan” the pallet UPC and automatically be given the single-item UPC, saving up to 3 minutes each time this type of scan has to be done.
There’s also the incentive angle. Mobile devices today can “gamify” workers’ tasks, turning progress into motivation. Users can get real-time updates on how they’re doing, making it fun and gratifying to reach and exceed quotas. The effect is compounded if reaching those quotas is tied to monetary reward.
This real-time feedback can also be used to make improvements in the process—and, as a consequence, further improve worker satisfaction. The devices capture things like how long users spend on distinct tasks, how many steps are being taken, how long it takes to go from step to step, and many others. The data will show where the process is suboptimal and modifications can be made to streamline.
Where Are We Going?
When the topic of the future of warehouse management technology came up near the close of the Huddle, the conversation went far and wide, with comments such as:
- Battery technology is getting better, so wearables are getting better. This is good news for workers and wearables’ capabilities in the future
- There will continue to be a convergence of technologies—applications that blend multiple capabilities to create more powerful tools and even greater efficiencies
- Augmented reality will continue to present opportunities for warehousing and DCs
- Heads up displays are improving in their ability to read as the worker walks, requiring little more than glancing at the item(s) to be scanned
A Holistic Approach to Productivity Improvement
With Barcoding and its new (formerly Procensis) team members and capabilities, customers have one expert source for all their worker productivity strategies and tactics: the hardware, the managed services on that hardware, asset digitization and tracking, RFID traceability tagging mandates, labels and printers, AMRs, AGVs, and so much more—all right here at Barcoding. What does it mean for you? A fully optimized warehouse or DC whose workers are faster and more accurate—and more satisfied with the work they’re doing.
Take a look from a bit higher perspective to learn what it takes to implement an enterprise mobility solution for your organization. Click here or below to download our guide now!
