If you've never had a conveyor system, the prospects of acquiring one and installing it may seem like a daunting and expensive proposition. When in fact, a well designed conveyor system may be one of the best investments your company will ever make.

In my industry, the term "escort labor" refers to the use of man power (labor) to move goods from one place to another. In a typical warehouse or distribution environment, escort labor can actually chew up about 20% - 30% of your direct labor costs...I've actually seem higher percentages !

A well designed conveyor system can actually lower your direct labor costs by the following:

#1 Reducing direct labor costs by utilizing man hours on only revenue producing activities, thus reducing staffing requirements. Remember, getting an item off the shelf and to a customer makes money....walking it from one end of the warehouse to another slowly diminishes the profit of that item. The general idea is to maximize profits.

#2 Conveyors don't call in sick, they don't need to stop and ask questions or chit chat with other conveyors, they don't require benefits and if they do stop working for some reason, you can get them back to work in short order. And speaking of down time, todays conveyors are designed to run 24/7.

#3 Conveyors actually work for a full 8 hour shift because they can work through break times. At a 100% productivity level, your best employee only works 7.5 hours because you pay them for two 15 minute breaks.

Here's a quick exercise you can do to help you determine the value of a conveyor system:

#1 Multiply 30 minutes (break times) by the number of employees you have. Them multiply that number by the number of days in a work week.

#2 Multiply 30 minutes of chit chat time, bathroom time, question asking time by the number of employees you have. Then multiply that number by the number of days in a work week.

#3 Next, do a quick time study of how much time your employees spend walking: to and from breaks or lunches, from one picking location to another....any walking that drags productivity down.

I'd be willing to bet that you come up with a minimum of 2-3 man hours per day of exercise time for your employees THAT YOU PAY FOR !!! And a lot of businesses still want to invest in company fitness centers...I can't figure that one out. Now if you multiply that 2-3 man hours per day by the number of people you have and then multiply that by their fully burdened wage over the course of a year, I think the numbers will start to astonish you.

A good system integrator can help you start a preliminary study and possibly get you on the way to becoming a corporate hero.

Please call if you have any questions....my answers are always free !

Thank you for reading an please check back soon.

If you've never had a conveyor system, the prospects of acquiring one and installing it may seem like a daunting and expensive proposition. When in fact, a well designed conveyor system may be on of the best investments your company will ever make.

In my industry, the term "escort labor" refers to the use of man power (labor) to move goods from one place to another. In a typical warehouse or distribution environment, escort labor can actually chew up about 20% - 30% of your direct labor costs...I've actually seem higher percentages !

A well designed conveyor system can actually lower your direct labor costs by the following:

#1 Reducing direct labor costs by utilizing man hours on only revenue producing activities, thus reducing staffing requirements. Remember, getting an item off the shelf and to a customer makes money....walking it from one end of the warehouse to another slowly diminishes the profit of that item. The general idea is to maximize profits.

#2 Conveyors don't call in sick, they don't need to stop and ask questions or chit chat with other conveyors, they don't require benefits and if they do stop working for some reason, you can get them back to work in short order. And speaking of down time, todays conveyors are designed to run 24/7.

#3 Conveyors actually work for a full 8 hour shift because they can work through break times. At a 100% productivity level, your best employee only works 7.5 hours because you pay them for two 15 minute breaks.

Here's a quick exercise you can do to help you determine the value of a conveyor system:

#1 Multiply 30 minutes (break times) by the number of employees you have. Them multiply that number by the number of days in a work week.

#2 Multiply 30 minutes of chit chat time, bathroom time, question asking time by the number of employees you have. Then multiply that number by the number of days in a work week.

#3 Next, do a quick time study of how much time your employees spend walking: to and from breaks or lunches, from one picking location to another....any walking that drags productivity down.

I'd be willing to bet that you come up with a minimum of 2-3 man hours per day of exercise time for your employees THAT YOU PAY FOR !!! And a lot of businesses still want to invest in company fitness centers...I can't figure that one out. Now if you multiply that 2-3 man hours per day by the number of people you have and then multiply that by their fully burdened wage over the course of a year, I think the numbers will start to astonish you.

A good system integrator can help you start a preliminary study and possibly get you on the way to becoming a corporate hero.

Please call if you have any questions....my answers are always free !

Thank you for reading an please check back soon.

Money can be saved in a variety of ways. As most business managers know that the ability to save money, and knowing what areas of an operation offer the biggest savings yields, can make or break a business.

In a warehouse or distribution center environment, the ability to increase worker productivity and reduce operating space offer huge opportunities to beef up your company's bottom line. Not to mention possibly enhancing your own compensation package as well.

If you'd like some ideas on how to tackle these issues in a thoughtful manner, please call. My job is helping businesses reduce operating costs. And turning managers into heroes !!!

Thank you for reading and please check back soon !!!

Do you need more space ?

Creating more space by better utilizing your existing space is an extremely cost effective way versus moving to another location...and it's easier than you think. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is through the installation of a well designed mezzanine.

Mezzanines can be used for a variety of purposes. They can be used for dead storage, manufacturing or assembly, picking modules and even office space.

If you're not using your overhead space, then you're not efficiently using space that you're already paying rent on.

Please call or email if you'd like any information on effectively designing and using a mezzanine.

Thank you for reading and please check back soon. 

Reducing operating costs is the primary challenge for most managers in today's competitive business environment. This reduction of costs has the most direct impact on the "bottom line" and profitability. When done successfully and in large enough magnitude...heroes are made, promotions are gained and paychecks or bonuses are increased. When done incorrectly, the consequences could be severe. A reduction may appear in one area or department, however, a surge in costs could appear in another area or department. the ideal situation is to target an area where you believe cost can be reduced and then study the impact both "upstream" and "downstream" or this targeted reduction.

One area that always provides the most significant impact on costs is labor. Through reallocation or reassignment of this asset, costs can be reduced very quickly. Think of it this way, labor is an asset that never depreciates and is never paid off as with most assets. The reassignment of just 4 units of direct full time labor could provide you with more than $100,000 in savings in the first year alone. The idea here is to do the same or more with less. This means possibly providing your staff with better tools, training and or equipment to achieve this end.

Volumes could be written about this topic and I won't take up your time with further elaboration. If you have any questions or need someone to bounce some ideas off of, this is what I do.

Please feel free to call, the question and the answers are always free.

Thank you for reading and please check back soon.

In the last posting, I discussed space utilization and some of the ramifications of using space wisely. In this posting, I'd like to share with you an on-going conversation I'm currently having with a client regarding their space utilization.

One of my clients is out of space in their distribution facility. Or at least they perceive to be. Without any further research, their initial reaction was to start planning and budgeting for a 50,000 square foot addition to their facility. With industrial construction going for about $50 per square foot for starters, they are staring at a minimum $2.5 million dollar project.

I engaged them for a preliminary analysis of their current operation and space usage at no charge to see if there were any alternatives available before they signed a contract and stroked a check for 2.5 million dollars. Please keep in mind that this analysis is still on-going, but my preliminary observations seem to indicate that they can achieve a desired result with an investment of far less than 2.5 million dollars. In fact my preliminary data shows that for an investment of approximately $400,000 (about $4,800.00 per month using simple straight line 84 month depreciation) they can "max out" their current facility and create enough room for anticipated growth for about the next 5-6 years. That means saving that $2.5 million for a few years until they really need it.

$2.5 million dollars or $4,800.00 per month for 84 months...what would you choose ?

As you can see, using space wisely can save you a ton of money.

If you have any questions or need some advice, please don't hesitate to call.

Thank you for taking time to read this posting and please check back soon.

There are no great mysteries or secrets to reducing costs in your warehouse or distribution environment or any other workplace for that matter. It can be as simple as turning off the lights when a room is not in use or recycling commonly disposed waste office products...paper, toner cartridges, etc.

But one of the best ways to create a dramatic impact on reducing costs is to re-analyze your space utilization. Knowing that storage space in general is a cost drain to an organization, considerable measures can be taken to reduce storage space and make it more efficient at the same time. This frees up valuable floor space for the activities that really generate income for your organization.

Now there's not enough space in this column to cover all the ways this can be done and of course, every situation is unique. However, if you'd like some free advise or a sounding board to bounce some ideas off, please give me a call. I help my clients reduce operating costs....that's what I do for a living.

Thank you for visiting and please stop back soon

Bill Jacobson

Green is the "buzzword" these days. Everything from conserving natural resources to reducing energy generated by fossil fuel sources. Green is good and when done properly, it can generate not only a positive public view of your organization, but a positive impact to your bottom line as well.

Going green can be done in many ways. From choices in building construction materials to reducing paper that is naturally generated in office and warehouse settings to how we consume energy. And energy is a biggie right now. That shouldn't come as a shocker to anyone who's just gassed up the car for the week.

I've found one "green" area that makes the quickest impact and offers almost rapid rewards is in lighting. Office lighting, warehouse lighting, etc. If you think about it, most of us work in areas where the lights are on all day. Lights on in the offices, lights on in the warehouse. You get the idea. Warehouse lightning is a "Biggie". Most warehouses have metal halide lights. These lights are bright and burn at between 400 - 500 watts each. That's a lot of energy. Also, when you turn them on at the start of the day, they can take anywhere between 5 - 15 minutes to get warmed up and at full strength. And if you any reason you turn them off during the day or if the power goes out, again, it takes between 5 - 15 minutes to get back to full strength. This could mean lost productivity and a spike in errors for your employees.

But there is a solution. Westinghouse Lighting Solutions, yes, the same Westinghouse we've all know for over 100 years offers a lighting solution that will not only create a brighter work environment, but...and here's the biggie, guarantee that you'll reduce the energy consumption of your lighting needs by 50%. We've had case studies as high as 75% reduction in energy consumption. Also, this lighting solution offer another thing that metal halide lights can't do...instant start. That means when you turn the lights on in the morning, the lights are instantly on at full strength. If you lose power during the day or turn the lights off, when the lights come back on, they're instantly on at full power. No more waiting around for the lights to warm up again.

If you'd like to look a little deeper into this, go to: www.westinghouselightingsolutions.com You can see the fixtures and read the case studies.

Also, for all the Controllers and CFOs out there, a 14 month return on investment is not out of the norm. Then we can tack on Federal and possibly some State energy credits and the saving go up from there.

Going "Green" doesn't have to be expensive or painful and it will put more "Green $$$" on the bottom line.

Indoff, Inc. is proud to be a "Preferred Distributor" for Westinghouse Lighting Solution. Visit them at: www.indoff.com

If you have any questions, please give me a call - my number is at the bottom of the page. I've got three simple questions to ask to determine the qualifications of your environment.

Thank you for visiting and please check back soon.

Welcome back !!!

I've recently been asked by a few of my clients, what I know about ergonomics. I guess in my opinion, ergonomics is all about creating a working environment that minimizes the risks of short and long term injuries. This can be accomplished with updated equipment and or updated methodology. Since this topic is too broad to cover here in a few paragraphs, I thought I'd share with you a thing or two I've done over the years to help my clients create more ergonomics workplaces, reduce repetitive motion injuries, conquer worker fatigue and benefit with increased productivity.

Last year, I had a client come to me with a problem. His people were lifting 50 pound cases at floor level up and down a picking line and loading them on pallets that were on pallet jacks. They were processing about 150 - 200 cases a day. Well, over the course of a day, his people were lifting between 7,500 - 10,000 of total weight. Naturally they were tired at the end of the day and their productivity dropped dramatically after about 1:30 in the afternoon. Now if that wasn't enough, at the first of the year, his application was going to change. The weight of the cases was going to jump to 60 pounds per box and the volume was going to increase to between 250 - 300 cases per day. His people were not thrilled. Here's how we conquered this situation.

While leaving the picking line basically in tact (this 80 pallet area was laid out pretty well) a fairly inexpensive and light duty bridge crane was conceptualized and installed over this area. The crane was segmented into four zones. Then we brought in four Anver vacuum assisted lifting pumps (one for each zone) and installed them on top of the bridge crane. This equipment can be seen at www.anver.com This vacuum equipment allowed the workers to basically lift these 60 pound boxes and place them on a pallets with almost zero effort. These people actually looked forward to coming back to work after lunch. As a result, this company was able to increase productivity by about 15% - 20% over the course of the day, get all the daily orders out the door same day and have a happier, healthier (and more productive) worker at the end of the day. This system paid for itself in less than 8 months because no additional labor was added to the payroll to compensate for the increased volume of business. Also, no work related back injuries have occurred since the system was installed. Since that original system was installed, 3 more vacuum systems have been installed for this same client in other areas of their operation.

Over the years, some of my clients that have work cell assembly type operations that require their people to sit or stand for long periods of time have benefited greatly by installing simple work positioning devices, stools or tables so their workers (however tall or not so tall) can position their work at just the right height that is comfortable to them. And if they get tired of one position, they have the ability to control their environment to make it more comfortable. A good place to see this is at www.southworthproducts.com and www.lyonworkspace.com or you can just click my catalog tab at the top of the page. You can also bookmark http://productivityimprovement.indoff.com/Catalog and come back as often as you like.

Thank you for visiting and please call if you have any questions. The phone number is at the bottom of the page and the answers are always free.

I hope to have another topic posted next week so please check back.

Bill Jacobson

There's no doubt that walking is great exercise, but it can cost a great deal of money in lost productivity time in the warehouse or distribution environment.

I recently read an employment ad in a local newspaper for a company hiring warehouse order pickers. The ad read "must be able to walk 5 miles per day". Considering that the average person comfortably strolls along at about 1.5 - 2 miles per hour, it didn't take long to realize that these employees were spending almost 3 hours of their 7.5 shift just walking around. That's right, 40% of their available productive time was spent just walking. And at $12.75 per hour ! That's what the employees made, not the actual benefit laden charge per hour that it costs the employer. From what I've seen, people that get paid to exercise are usually personal trainers and aerobic instructors. Not distribution center employees.

Increasing productivity can be done easily and economically. One of the ways is to reorganize and consolidate product groupings. Most companies have sales that follow the 80/20 rule, where 20% of the inventory makes up 80% of the sales volume. Inventory can usually be reorganized and consolidated into a relatively small area that requires less travel by the person filling the order. Take a look at www.unex.com

Unex specializes in carton flow and case flow equipment. End users typically see 35%-40% improvements in productivity. Another benefit to this type of equipment is that the end user will usually free up additional floor space, sometimes as much as 50% over traditional shelving style storage arrays. At upwards of 40 cents per square foot, those savings can add up fast.

Another way to boost productivity is the incorporation of power conveyor. Conveyor can serve many purposes, but in this case, we employ it to eliminate what we call "escort labor". Escort labor is when people phyically carry products or push carts full of product to a destination. If you are paying people to fill orders, isn't that what they should be doing ? Filling orders and not walking products around the warehouse. Check out www.roachconveyors.com

Roach has a full line of conveying equipment and you'd be surprised at how affordable it really is. If you consider that the average warehouse employee costs a company between $25,000 - $30,000 per year, the ROI on this type of equipment can be 24 months or less.

A well thought out and properly implemented productivity improvement plan could yield your company a 40% - 50% boost in employee productivity. That's almost the equivalent of 1 person now doing in 1 day what it was taking 2 people to do in one day. As you can see, the numbers start to add up fast.

If you think boosting productivity would make a difference in your workplace or if you have any questions or just don't know where to start, please give me a call. Telephone advice and phone consultations are always free.

Thank you for taking time to read this. My phone number is at the bottom of the page.

Bill Jacobson