Everyone in our industry seems to be experiencing a labor shortage, whether it’s for driving deliveries from stores to homes or transporting inventory from a supplier to distribution points, or picking orders in the warehouse. As e-commerce sales growth continues to outpace brick-and-mortar stores, experts say retailers are having trouble filling positions in the heart of their digital operations—their warehouses. With nearly 17,000 warehouses and distribution centers in the US, there are a lot of positions to fill. With labor costing between 50 and 70 percent of the average company’s warehousing budget, improving productivity and efficiencies can help keep costs in check.
You can solve your labor gap by simply being better at what you do. UNEX can help clients tackle their warehouse labor shortage by focusing on efficiency. If your order picking or packing and shipping process is optimized to eliminate waste and maximize productivity, you can reduce your labor requirements around those processes. When touches and travel time are minimized, the quicker an order can be filled- the quicker an order can be filled, the quicker that worker can move to the next task. Thermo Fisher used Span-Track wheel bed in their cold box area to reduce the number of pickers required to get the job done right.
Additionally, optimizing processes will make your workers happier- after all, they're walking, bending, and reaching a lot less than they were previously. Optimization will help reduce your turnover and reduce risks of injury. With more workers staying with your company for longer periods and with less need to cover workers suffering from repetitive strain injuries, your need for new warehouse talent will decrease.
