Jeff Schmitz on Empowering Your Performance Edge
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As the Chief Human Resources and Marketing Officer of a Fortune 1000 technology company, I’m responsible for ensuring we have the right people in the right place at the right time to keep this very complex global operation running flawlessly. If we can’t get orders out the door, then your workers won’t have the technology tools they need to get your customers’ orders out the door. I don’t want people to resign because they feel tired, stressed or not supported – whether they work in an office, from home, or in one of our warehouses or distribution centers.

I believe we – as employers – can do a better job of listening to our employees and acting on their suggestions. If employees are happy and feel supported, they’re going to stick around for a long time, and we could all use stability right now. Plus, happy employees are like magnets for other skilled, talented, passionate professionals.

That’s why I wanted to share some interesting feedback we received recently from hundreds of warehouse associates around the world through Zebra’s Global Warehousing Vision Study. The double-blinded study was conducted by a third party that fully vetted study participants to ensure we would get non-bias responses from people who actually work in warehouses. In fact, you may have been a study respondent or it’s possible that some of the respondents work for you, as we spoke with both associates and decision-makers.

Some of the survey findings provide insights into what you need to know right now from a worker recruitment/retention perspective and overall business planning/budgeting perspective.

  1. Money doesn’t seem to make or break employment decisions among warehouse associates, at least not in the way you think. Eighty-two percent of surveyed associates say they have been positively impacted the past two years – despite what headlines may suggest. And it’s not because they’re being compensated with more money to make up for the heavier lift amid labor shortages. Only 45% of those associates say their employers have increased wages or offered bonuses amid labor constraints. What’s keeping their spirits high and contributing to their positive future outlook despite the pressures being placed on them amid labor and supply shortages, growing customer demands and uncompromising fulfillment timelines? Their employers have improved working conditions and increased spend on technology tools that make their jobs easier and their lives more balanced.

Are you surprised by that? We were too. Then again, we have seen multiple reports during the pandemic indicating that work-life balance, mental and physical health and other non-monetary factors were behind The Great Resignation and The Great Reshuffling. Perhaps this is the latest evidence those other benefits – the non-monetary factors – matter as much to front-line warehouse workers as they do to office workers. Perhaps they mean more. Unlike office-based workers who could have the option to negotiate a remote/work-from-home position, warehouse and distribution center associates must come in every day, rain or shine, including holidays. If they don’t have flexibility in where they work, they at least want flexibility with regards to when and how they work, as well as reduced stress on their bodies which is more than fair.

  1. Robots aren’t so scary anymore. In fact, they’re appreciated by warehouse associates. Well, at least autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are appreciated. Many who responded to our study strongly believe AMRs could make warehouse jobs less stressful, which aligns with the overall sentiment shared by nearly eight in 10 warehouse associates: “walking fewer miles per day would make my job more enjoyable, even if I had to pick or handle more items.”

 

Plus, the majority of those who work alongside AMRs today had glowing reviews. Over eight in 10 associates (83%) claim AMRs have helped increase their productivity and reduce walking/travel time, three-quarters say AMRs have helped reduce errors, and nearly two-thirds (65%) credit AMRs with career advancement opportunities. Additionally, among all associates surveyed, over three-quarters report they would feel safe working alongside AMRs, even though some have not yet worked directly with them.

 

  1. Many of your industry partners, peers and competitors are planning to make big changes in the coming months and years to shore up their technology systems and overall operations. In fact, more than six in 10 warehouse decision-makers say they will invest in technologies that increase inventory and asset visibility within their warehouses and overall visibility throughout supply chains over the next five years. Additionally, nine in 10 warehouse operators expect to use sensor-based technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), computer vision, fixed industrial scanning, and machine vision systems at a growing rate over the next five years. And 90% of warehouse operators expect to deploy AMRs in the same time period. Warehouse operators say they are also going to increase their investments in software that helps automate analytics and decision-making.

 

That means your competitors will be able to better sense, analyze and act on what’s happening in real time, which could give them an advantage when it comes to winning and retaining customers. The increased technology utilization also means they may have a competitive edge when it comes to hiring and employee retention. As we learned in the study, 83% of warehouse associates are now more likely to work for an employer that gives them modern devices to use for tasks versus an employer that provides older or no devices. Even more associates (92%) believe technology advancements will make the warehouse environment more attractive to workers on some level – and I agree.

No matter how much you automate, people will always play a central role in warehouse, distribution and logistics operations, whether from a creative problem solving, customer service or action-oriented fulfillment perspective. If you want to keep workers happy, on your payroll and even increase headcount in the next year – like 61% of the warehouse operators we surveyed – then talk to your employees. Share the full Warehousing Vision Study report with them. You can download it here for no charge. Or at least pass along the stats highlighted in the press release and ask them for their honest reaction.

Use this study as a conversation starter. Find out what you could do as a warehouse operator or decision-maker to better support them. Confirm which technology tools they’d like to see you prioritize as budget allows. Also ask about changes that could be made to the scheduling process, current workflows or even communications structure with supervisors and decision-makers. Do they simply need more flexibility in their schedules to stick it out with you through thick and thin? You won’t know if you don’t ask.

As I’ve learned through this Warehousing Vision Study and with the Zebra employee climate assessments we’ve recently conducted, our employees are willing to answer questions about how they feel, especially if they have the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback. Don’t be afraid of what you might learn. If anything, the truth might be exactly what you need to make the right decisions for your business, your customers and certainly your employees in these tumultuous times.  

Jeff schmitz

Jeff Schmitz is senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Zebra. Mr. Schmitz most recently served as executive vice president for multiple business units and sales at Spirent Communications where he had previously also held several senior leadership roles including chief marketing officer and vice president of networks & applications. Prior to joining Spirent, Mr. Schmitz held senior marketing positions at Rivulet Communications, Visual Networks and Tellabs Inc. Mr. Schmitz holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University and a Master of Science degree in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

These Two Common Warehouse Technologies Could Help Improve Forklift Safety with the Right Software Applications

August 20, 2020
Jeff Schmitz

Recently, there were numerous conversations among warehouse and distribution center operators, heavy equipment manufacturers and labor experts about what more can be done to improve forklift safety as rising fulfillment demands spur an increase in both foot and vehicle traffic. Some recommended improving equipment maintenance practices or implementing a floor marking system while others suggested that it would be more effective to focus on stricter certification requirements or more extensive workforce training.

Though all great suggestions, I believe that forklift safety is also contingent upon workers’ ability to…

  • Sense who and what is around them at all times (even if out of sight).
  • Analyze potential collision hazards and whether or not there are alternative routes or measures that can be taken to mitigate collisions.
  • Act immediately to avert collisions based on the intelligence delivered via alert and/or navigation systems.

Fortunately, the technology tools needed to collect, analyze and distribute the data needed for forklift operators and others on the warehouse floor or shipyard to maintain such situational awareness are already quite prolific in warehousing distribution environments. With some slight feature customizations and the right software applications, mobile computing platforms and track and trace technologies, fleet monitoring, workforce routing and driver behaviors can be improved. These solutions could also help automate key safety measures such as safety checklist completion and proximity alerting.

How Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) Can Be Used to Deliver Real-Time Guidance to Forklift Operators

There are a number of RFID, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Wi-Fi and sensor technologies used in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution environments today to track and trace the location of materials and equipment and locate the presence of people in real time. Why not just tap into these same technologies to track the movements of people who are operating the equipment that’s being used to move those materials and alert them when they’re on a collision path?

The same RTLS algorithms used to analyze professional athletes’ routes on the field could be used to better predict and/or analyze forklift movements to mitigate the risk of impacts with anyone and anything. With some engineering, location engines could be leveraged to create interaction awareness and rules and even create geofences that help restrict forklift movements to dynamic “safe” zones. With proper integration, such solutions could be leveraged to cap vehicle speeds in known congestion areas or dynamically based on real-time foot traffic hot spot data.

How Mobile Computing Technologies Can Keep Forklift Operators Moving Around Safely

Many people might say that vehicle-mounted mobile computers and tablets would distract forklift operators, diverting their attention down to the screen for dispatch and navigation guidance. Yet, mobile computers can be quite an effective “heads up” mechanism.

For example, embedded Bluetooth, GPS and sensing technologies can be used to identify potential obstacles in a forklift’s proximity and prompt an audible alert via the mobile computer. Mobile computers that run applications synced with RTLS could operate similarly, leveraging the data collected via RFID, UWB or Bluetooth Low Energy and analyzed by a location engine to “see” and alert forklift operators to people, pallets or equipment in their current path.

Workflow software could then trigger a collision warning on the mounted mobile computer and even help divert or delay forklifts via on-screen, real-time guidance. Depending on the situation, forklifts could either be re-routed or simply instructed to wait while the obstacle is cleared. If the “obstacle” is another worker moving around on foot, that person could also potentially be alerted that a forklift is approaching to increase situational awareness and prompt fast action.

Remember, communication is key to forklift safety – and workplace safety overall – and mobile computers are the ideal communication platform for all workers.

Along those lines, mobile computers can also be used to automate safety checklist processes and communicate compliance back to supervisors. Forklift operators can simply login with a scan of their badge to confirm that safety-related inspections and actions have been taken before, during and after their shifts via configurable device dashboards. When the checklist is marked as complete, workflow software essentially creates a record that can easily be retrieved for safety reporting and auditing purposes.

Additionally, vehicle-mounted mobile computers and tablets can serve as impact detection tools. With the right feature set and proper integration with the on-board vehicle system, a mobile computing solution could monitor driver behavior and report collisions to help inform training, automate components of incident investigations and reports and ultimately reducing truck, facility and product damage.

Of course, extensive measures must be taken to prevent unauthorized parties from being able to inadvertently operate material handling equipment and other heavy machinery as well as keep tabs on who operates them and when, should an incident later be reported. Plugging a mounted tablet or handheld mobile computer into a forklift’s ignition system can help give insight into and control over vehicle access. A PIN code input or simple scan of a proxy badge, key fob or barcoded ID card can ensure that only assigned and certified/authorized employees are operating the vehicle. Positive operator identification can also help create an accurate usage log, which has multiple benefits.

Understanding run time versus idle time or when items were loaded on and off the truck can help with workflow (and worker) efficiency analysis and improvement. If they were moving too fast or moving around too long, that could inherently increase safety risks depending on the environment. Forklift utilization data also helps inform vehicle maintenance actions to ensure systems are running optimally, which reduces potential safety risks for the operator due to mechanical failures.

The Takeaway

The actionable intelligence needed to reduce forklift-related incidents to “zero” will be more attainable using the same technologies your workers are already using today to guide their other actions. However, the key to expanding a hardware platform’s applicability to forklift safety lies heavily in the software. The real-time location systems and mobile computers you are utilizing across your operations today are likely equipped with the right functional features to support the uses cases described, such as built-in barcode scanners, RFID tag readers, GPS, near-field communication (NFC) and BLE.

But without the right software, these devices won’t know what to do with the data they are sensing and collecting. It’s the software that enables you to dictate how that data should be analyzed and how the actionable insights derived from that data should be distributed back across your operation. The software is also what will ultimately tell workers what to do, when to do it and in the right order to do it to protect their safety as well as the people and assets around them.

So, as you’re considering ways in which technology can help facilitate new safety measures, monitor forklift operations, reduce accidents and improve reporting accuracy, be sure you are assessing the applicability and efficacy of the hardware and software holistically.

If you’re interested in learning more about what it would take to implement some of these technology-based forklift safety tools, the Zebra warehousing/DC team would be happy to review your current technology architecture and recommend new applications that could meet your needs.

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