We were called in to work with a large 3PL organisation, whose operatives were spending a lot of time walking to and from the pick face to pick individual items and then return to their packing stations to pack and log the products for dispatch. In addition, they were making data entry errors when logging the product details, having had to manually write down product codes and update picks and then go back to their computer at the pack station to update records.
The solution
The Southgate team recommended trialling our Mobile Power Workstation (MPW). The MPW allows operatives to take their workstation with them as they work — picking, logging, weighing and label printing in batches. With two batteries, which last for up to 16 hours combined, the customer was able to power up their laptop, a set of table top weighing scales and a mini printer which allowed them to trial the effectiveness of the MPW right across their three-shift operation.
The result
After a month, we compared productivity rates before and after the trial. We calculated that the MPW would save our customer more than £4,200 per operative per year. What’s more, data entry errors went down by more than 87% when operatives worked with their MPW to log, pick, or put away. Even auditing improved, with substantial reductions in re-checks and mistakes.
The trial was so successful that the customer ordered over 2,000 units and rolled out the MPW across their European sites which has helped them save over £12m through productivity gains. The results continue to exceed their expectations and we are now in discussions to roll this out to their American sites.
“The Southgate MPWs have had an impact on our productivity from day one. Not only are they saving us time and significant sums of money (we’ve calculated it as over £12 million a year), the operatives also like using them and appreciate the fact that they don’t have to keep walking back and forth all day as they did in the past.”
