The average U.S. warehouse wastes 6.9 weeks a year on unnecessary motion—costing the industry $4.3 billion, or 265 million hours of labor annually, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Unnecessary motion is often difficult to comprehend and recognize. It’s ingrained in our habits, and many times it’s hard to understand how it indicates a larger problem on the floor. For example, walking to a fixed computer or printer is an activity warehouse staff have been doing for years. For many, it may not be viewed as waste of time, just simply a part of the job.
It doesn’t happen all at once either. It’s 20 seconds here, or 10 seconds there. It may not seem like much, but even a few extra steps add up.
Recently Kevin Ledversis, Sales Director of Newcastle Systems, was interview by Russell Goodman, the Editor-in-Chief at SupplyChainBrain. The topic was “Combating Wasted Motion in the Warehouse” and Kevin shared his insights in this video interview:
Regardless of the method, it’s important to continually study warehouse processes and work to find the most efficient way of completing necessary tasks. Small efficiencies can make or break a business as they add up to high costs and wasted time.
This infographic shows by the numbers the importance and impact of wasted motion:
"What is Wasted Motion Costing Your Warehouse?"
To accommodate a wide variety of uses, MotionMeter includes several personalization features including names of processes and tasks, labor rate and number of employees.
Free to download, MotionMeter is currently available for Android and iOS mobile devices and can be found on the App Store and GooglePlay.
For more information, visit http://www.newcastlesys.com/motionmeter.
