how automated distribution centre solutions reduce forklift usage

A distribution centre is a building, space or construction designed to ship and receive different types of goods. Although one of the purposes of a distribution centre is to store the goods between processes, the main purpose of a distribution centre is to streamline and optimise the process in the last mile.

Ultimately, distribution centres are an intermediary in the supply chain and receive and store goods before they go out to wholesalers, retailers, factories or other warehouses.

They’re like warehouses because, as well as storing and receiving goods, they check, verify and retrieve them, but a distribution centre itself is more concerned with processing and fulfilling orders than storing goods. To shorten transport times and lower costs, you’ll normally find distribution centres on the outskirts of cities and major industrial areas and in logistics parks.

Warehouses and distribution centres may seem the same, but they’re not.

Distribution centres function as a link between suppliers and either customers or parts of the supply chain, such as wholesalers or other distribution centres.

Warehouses don’t serve external customers, generally, and businesses tend to use them internally. The greater functionality of distribution centres means you’re likely to see more advanced equipment in them.

Usually, warehouses don’t provide shipping options to customers. To get inventory out of a warehouse, you’re likely to have to organise the freight yourself.

This is unlike distribution centres, who work with major shipping couriers that collect orders every day, which allows orders to be shipped as soon as possible. Tech-enabled 3PLs integrate with eCommerce platforms to send orders to the nearest distribution centre automatically.

In most cases, distribution centres use a warehouse management system (WMS) to assign orders in the same area of the storage facility, which reduces the number of steps pickers must take to pick the orders. This speeds up picking, improves order accuracy and boosts workflow efficiency.

Depending on the size of the distribution centre, the same workers may pick and pack the goods, or the centre will have dedicated picking, packing and shipping teams. The WMS might also determine a specific order strategy, such as batch picking, zone picking or wave picking.

The process generates a picking list which contains the item(s) ordered, quantity and their location in the distribution centre. Each unit collected is scanned from the inventory container or storage space to update the inventory in real time.

A smooth returns management process can increase customer satisfaction and lower your logistics costs. When you leverage a warehouse, you implement your own system and process, and your staff put the items back on the shelves for you.

A distribution centre can team up with a logistics partner that handles the returns on behalf of the business. If the distribution centre processes returned goods in-house, they must communicate with the customer returning them and, once the centre receives the item, restock it or refurbish it if appropriate.

In the scenario that a business produces and ships a high number of pallets each day, we’ve put together an automated loading system typical business case example to help explain the benefits and how an ROI can be achieved with the investment of an automated loading system.

If a business is running a shuttle run from a factory to a warehouse and back again, they’ll benefit from an automated loading system with fewer people, trucks and forklifts.

Forklift usage might seem like an efficient, cost-effective way to support distribution centre operations, but there are several costs to think about. Not all of them are obvious. There are:

• fuel and energy costs;
• forklift usage hours and maintenance;
• downtime and lost productivity if a forklift gets damaged or becomes unable to operate and needs repairs;
• the cost of training drivers;
• insurance costs, including an increase in insurance costs if there’s an accident involving a forklift truck;
• the costs of damage to equipment (and possibly to the goods themselves);
• compensation claims if an employee suffers an accident involving a forklift

Forklifts can damage infrastructure, equipment and products, and forklift accidents can injury workers or even kill them. Pedestrian impacts, rollovers and falling loads are typical accidents involving forklifts. Operators must receive special training and, as must anyone working around forklifts, take special care.

Congestion

Forklifts are large pieces of steel machinery and congest the distribution centre. They have limited manoeuvrability, which makes them less suitable for tight or crowded spaces such as loading docks and transforms them into a real safety hazard.

Our Chief Revenue Officer, Wouter Satijn, discusses upcoming logistics challenges for businesses, and how they can overcome them.

Two constraints are particularly persistent: a shortage of labour and a lack of warehouse space.

The good news is many solutions and strategies now exist to optimise processes and assets. But with more choice comes more complexity. The difficulty is knowing which direction is right to meet the future needs of the business and ensure long-term returns.

It’s becoming ever more challenging for warehouses and distribution centres to keep track of inventory. Excessive stocking and inaccurate forecasting cause space issues. Automated tracking and monitoring systems improve speed and accuracy, and demand forecasting software helps businesses to predict demand and adjust their inventory levels in line with it.

Just-in-time inventory systems

Just-in-time (JIT) inventory systems are an excellent way to control stock levels. They reduce costs and wastage and are particularly beneficial for smaller businesses because the businesses can spend less on inventory.

This style of system isn’t without its disadvantages, however. JIT places operators at the mercy of the supply chain, which must function like clockwork. Errors and delays anywhere in the supply chain can affect any warehouse or distribution centre implementing a JIT system.

Warehouses that don’t implement automated technology will get left behind, if they haven’t already. Warehouse automation brings several core benefits, which we discuss in greater depth in our dedicated article. These are:

• lower labour costs;
• fewer labour restraints;
• increased efficiency and productivity;
• higher levels of safety.

These aren’t the only benefits, however. Other benefits, which we discuss in an additional article, include:

• greater customer satisfaction;
• better space optimisation;
• fewer errors.

Even then, the benefits don’t end there.

The Moving Floor Conveyor system transfers goods smoothly from your loading dock into your trailer and vice versa. This heavy-duty system is specially designed to handle palletised and non-palletised goods, and you can connect it to existing conveyors or place goods onto it using a forklift or AGV. The system can handle pallets of any size, stillages, paper reels and other non-palletised loads.

Spirits logistics specialists McPherson are one company who have implemented the Moving Floor system to good effect. They needed to improve loading safety and efficiency, which is especially a challenge because they’re transporting flammable liquids and wanted the loads to be secured.

The Trailerskate features four skate tracks built into the trailer floor, and long skates take care of all the loading and unloading automatically. The system can load a trailer with 26 block/industrial pallets or 32 euro pallets in under five minutes. The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), food, beverage and packing industries all use the system a lot.

DHL wanted to improve speed and efficiency at their Cannock facility, which supports Persil, PG Tips and other Unilever brands. The distance between the factory and Cannock warehouse is a round trip of 140 miles, and the Cannock site, which has a capacity of 10,000 pallets, needed a quick way to unload trucks.

We fitted 20 trailers with Trailerskate tracks for loading and installed Trailerskates at the Cannock facility to support unloading. The Trailerskate unloads 30 tonnes/26 pallets from the tracked trailers in three minutes 

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