“With more visibility and data, you can improve processes in your warehouse!”
Okay, sure. But how?
Instead of us talking about it, here are 5 real examples from our customers on how they identified something wrong with their existing processes and how they fixed them. All based on the data and visibility they get from the OneTrack system.
While every warehouse has different opportunities, you can use these examples as a framework to improve your warehouse operations.
Unloading rail cars
Sometimes there are everyday processes in your warehouse that have many unknown of risks associated, and you may have no clue about them without seeing it happen.
Spartan Logistics gave a prime example of this: unloading railcars.
After seeing the amount of safety alerts coming through in regard to unloading these railcars, it prompted the team at Spartan to evaluate that process.
Now they’ve invested in railcar door openers, new SOPs, and other resources to help their operators be safer and more efficient.
Forklifts and pedestrians
By far the biggest safety concern we hear from customers is how to mitigate risk when MHE and pedestrians cross paths.
It’s like oil and water. They just don’t mix. And unfortunately many warehouse managers lose sleep worrying about it.
That was the story for David May and Hain Celestial.
Unfortunately, given the space constraints in his warehouse, there’s not an easy fix to keep pedestrians and forklifts from intersecting.
But what he could do was focus on training and accountability.
Making operators more aware of their surroundings
Visibility into when operators aren’t using their horn around turns
Alerts for the leading indicators of incidents and unsafe behavior
Nothing will ever fully de-risk a warehouse, but you’d be surprised how much of a difference it can make when operators are bought into safety and held accountable.
Phone use in the warehouse
A lot of warehouses have a phone policy. A lot of times, it’s a zero tolerance policy.
But let’s face it, that doesn’t stop operators from parking between racks and sneaking some time on FaceBook — or even worse — texting while driving.
For Rinchem, they had a policy that allowed operators to use their phones as RF units. But after seeing a few OneTrack phone alerts, they quickly realized what was really going on.
The result? A much stricter phone policy. Now operators have to completely shut down their lift, and step off it, before they are allowed to use their phone as a scanner.
And with OneTrack’s phone alerts, they can actually enforce that policy 24/7.
Reversing forklifts without looking
One of the leading causes of MHE safety incidents that we’ve seen is incredibly simple but it happens all too often: not looking before reversing.
It sounds like common sense, and that’s why it gets overlooked. Oftentimes the operators don’t realize they’re even doing it until they see the footage for themselves.
For David at Hain Celestial, after seeing the amount of incidents caused by this, he knew they needed to make a change.
Immediately they reworked their onboarding program to emphasize this and did retrainings for their existing operators.
But the biggest unlock was using OneTrack data to help build out their safety ecosystem. He was able to bring in complementary technology, and actually test and validate the results in real time.
Now, they’re deploying backup proximity alarms to help operators be more aware of their surroundings in conjunction with OneTrack AI sensors on all their MHE equipment.
Beanies, PPE, and forklift speed
For this last one, you’ll get 3-in-1 because they all have a common thread: using OneTrack alerts as a critical eye into warehouse operations.
For Melody Moore and the team at Rinchem, they didn’t just stop at getting alerts and coaching on specific events. They used the videos as a window to find other opportunities.
For example, after seeing alerts from impacts come in, they started to notice high speeds and a lack of PPE were common. So they governed their entire fleet's speed and have retrained operators on PPE usage and created stricter processes around the type of PPE needed for certain activities.
However, Melody also found that operators were going against policy by using wireless earbuds during operation — and they were hiding those earbuds using beanies.
One lesser known feature of OneTrack's AI forklift safety system is the ability to get bluetooth alerts. This allows the sensors to pick up on an operator using bluetooth headphones or other devices on or near a lift.
These alerts helped Rinchem identify a gap in their safety policy, and they've since updated their headwear policy to not allow beanies that cover their ears.
A small change, but one that makes their warehouses a whole lot safer.
The bottom line
Coaching operators after incidents or based on leading indicators is an incredibly valuable part of a forklift safety program, especially if you can introduce video into the mix.
But the best way to scale your safety program across your network to multiple warehouses is to change your underlying processes.
Every warehouse has tons of data at their fingertips, it’s just a matter of collecting it, analyzing it, and then operationalizing the insights to make real operational improvements.
That’s exactly what these logistics leaders are doing with OneTrack and AI forklift cameras to help create the safest warehouses on the planet.
Want to talk about what that could look like for you? Book a demo and we’ll walk you through the OneTrack platform and answer any questions you have.