Ergonomics In Action: Portable Ergonomic Conveyor Case Studies From The EASE Council
With the continued growth of e-commerce, operations are increasingly loading and unloading trailers and containers with individual cartons. Although this method maximizes cubic shipping volumes, associates must handle these floor-stacked boxes manually as their transport does not utilize pallets. This manual task requires personnel to stretch, bend, reach, lift, push, and pull to stack and unstack cartons of different weights and dimensions. That makes it one of the most ergonomically challenging and risky jobs in a distribution center. Such physical exertion can increase a worker’s risk of sustaining a musculoskeletal injury. To reduce the chance of a worker injury resulting from performing this task, a portable ergonomic conveyor can make the job easier.
How Portable Ergonomic Conveyors Work
A relatively new concept, portable ergonomic conveyors are beginning to make inroads in a range of operations. Powered and self-contained, they include motorized drive wheels, powered conveyor belt, an operator platform, and mechanical height adjustment.
For unloading, an associate drives the portable ergonomic conveyor into a trailer or container, aligns it with stacked cartons, and guides each box onto the belt. The operator adjusts the height of the conveyor to match the height of the cartons. The conveyor belt automatically transports each one out of the container and onto the dock. After removing each successive pile of cartons, the operator advances the system further into the trailer. For loading, the process reverses.
With experts predicting the global e-commerce market to grow to more than $7.9 trillion by 2027, unloading and loading of cases and cartons by hand will likewise increase. Forward-thinking operations have already begun implementing portable ergonomic conveyors in their operations — including three featured on the Ergonomic Assist Systems & Equipment (EASE) Council website. The site’s Case Studies section includes numerous examples of ergonomic solutions in action. Below is an overview of each operation’s use of portable ergonomic conveyors to improve both ergonomics and productivity.
Case Study # 1: Discounter Cuts Unloading Time, Injuries with Portable Ergonomic Conveyor
At its central distribution center, a discount retailer receives multiple containers filled with floor stacked product daily. Packed with cartons of mixed inventory, each container’s boxes needed to be unloaded, sorted, and palletized for routing to one of more than 1,000 stores. An exhausting and overwhelming task, the operation already struggled to maintain adequate headcount. It routinely took six associates more than 27 hours to manually unload and sort 1,750 cases per hour.
After adding a portable ergonomic conveyor, the operation revised its process. Now, just one associate transfers cases to the conveyor. Seven more fan out across the dock floor to sort and palletize the boxes for routing to their next destination. As a result, unloading time per container dropped by 9 hours, while the total number of cases handled per hour increased by 1,850 units.
Case Study # 2: Distributor Reduces Injuries When Unloading Cases of Wine
In an attempt to minimize the risk of product damage, a liquor distributor assigned two associates to manually unload international shipments of wine. Annually, the distributor received 1,920 containers of wines, each containing 1,148 cases. With the average case of wine weighing 30 to 40 pounds, multiple associates experienced musculoskeletal injuries from the repetitive lifting, twisting, and reaching required. Further, each associate spent two hours on the task at an unload rate of 575 cases per hour.
Concerned that a fully automated solution might result in damaged wine, the company opted to install portable ergonomic conveyors. Now, a single employee can unload the entire container in 1.77 hours. Not only did this increase productivity and reduce unloading time, but it also cut the risk of injury. After installing the same ergonomic solution in all of their distribution centers, the company projected annual savings of $121,000.
Case Study # 3: Retailer Cuts Fatigue, Increases Unloading Rates Nearly 4-Fold
Prior to deploying a portable ergonomic conveyor, it took two associates at a general merchandise retailer approximately 17 hours apiece to manually unload a single container at a rate of 142 cases per hour. Additionally, the repetitive lifting of heavy cases resulted in numerous musculoskeletal injuries, impacting the operation’s productivity.
With the portable ergonomic conveyor in place, the company added a third person to help unload. The three spent five hours each unloading at a rate of 480 cases per hour and reported significantly less fatigue. In addition to reducing unloading time by 12 hours, the operation calculated an expected savings of $403 per container, plus significantly fewer injuries.
Discover Other Companies’ Successful Use of Ergonomic Solutions
A variety of other case studies are shared by the members of the Ergonomic Assist Systems & Equipment (EASE) Council. These documents explore a variety of ergonomic solutions and the benefits they’ve delivered to companies across a range of industries. Also, the EASE Council offers multiple videos, educational resources, guidelines for manual material handling, and other publications on their website at www.mhi.org/ease.