Today’s solutions for todays logistics and warehouses: part III
Too many accidents resulting in time lost, inventory wasted and productivity hampered? Trouble tackling the challenges of rapidly transforming market, a new workforce mindset and the keep-up-or-perish pressure of (AI) automatization. And let’s not forget the just-but-restrictive sustainability-demands? And all this while trying to control and preferably reduce operational expenditure?
Chances are you’re running a logistics company. Or a sizeable logistics department.
No need to compromise
Chances are also you’ve been promised the world by tech-companies. Guaranteeing either a one-size-fits-all solution or a suite that will answer your every need … with the withering exception of that OpEx reduction. Oh yes, and you might want to compromise on productivity. Just a little bit.
In short: your trading in parts of your challenge for a semi-different set.
And still, finding the right solutions for present day challenges in logistics needn’t be yet another challenge. Currently a select number of tech innovators, with a practical focus on real-life problems, successfully addresses a broad range of requests. Including lowering your TCO, and quite possibly doing so with some unsuspected added bonuses.
Let’s look at three proven solutions that at this moment show strong growth in popularity and adoption rate.
Solution 1: A safer, smarter and more sustainable internal fleet
Logistics implies a vehicle fleet, internal and/or external. Often it also means vehicles and pedestrians sharing (some of) the workspace. Solutions like Rombit’s Digital Driver Coach assist drivers towards safety and productivity compliance, as well as sustainability. Going beyond classic driver training it provides real-time, unbiased, fact-based and actionable data. Greatly reducing accidents and allowing decisive individual coaching and benefiting all stakeholders (management, HSEQ, HR and driver).
What’s more: safe and disciplined driving strongly correlates with eco-driving and the numbers show this to decidedly lower operational costs due to less energy/fuel consumption.
Solution 2: Damage and OpEx reduction
Accurate and objective impact analytics for your material handling equipment create data and insights that lead to higher productivity and cost reduction. Today solutions like Rombit Impact make collecting this data a definite and indispensable possibility. Regardless of whether this impact is driver-caused or infrastructure-related and even if your vehicle fleet is aging or contains different brands.
Effectively transforming every vehicle into a smart vehicle, this easy retrofit solution also allows data to be collected such as: location, distance traveled, active vs. idle time and driver activity. It also reveals heatmaps showing congested and potentially hazardous areas. All of the above feeds into productivity optimization, savings in maintenance and increasing both the lifespan and residual value of your fleet.
Solution 3: preventing incidents before they happen
Returning to that logistics workfloor being shared by vehicles and on-foot workers, collision avoidance is a solution often applied in conjunction with one aiming at driver compliance. Smart and proven proximity detection warns driver and pedestrian in real-time of imminent collision situations. Especially with forklifts – still a major source of serious and costly accidents – this solution has yielded a significant decrease in accidents as well as near misses.
Added benefit: an indisputable and clearly observed investment in a safety culture, facilitating a nowadays highly valuable workforce retention and providing access to a better recruitment pool.