Order picking is a mundane but necessary part of supply chain operations. A forward-thinking startup robotics company is working to perfect an automated system that could revolutionize fulfillment centers in the near future.

Robots to the Rescue

In early April, Massachusetts-based RightHand Robotics introduced their RightPick platform at a supply chain event. The innovative system is aimed at improving order fulfillment in the pharmaceutical, electronics, grocery and apparel industries.

RightHand is not the first company to envision robotics as a solution for more efficient order fulfillment. The drawback was getting a robot’s mechanical “hand” to make adjustments for different sizes and types of items, but the Harvard-trained team that launched RightHand believe they have found the answer in the cloud.

How Do You “Teach” a Robot?

Current prototypes use a robotic hand with compliant “fingers” and a suction cup at the center. As the robot spends time picking random objects from a conveyor belt, data is transmitted from a camera inside its hand up to the cloud, where the information can be used to “train” other robots.

Professor Ken Goldberg of UC Berkeley, an expert on robot manipulation and learning, expressed admiration for the “clever mechanism” that RightPick has applied to the concept of robotic order-picking. For companies such as Amazon that ship a myriad of products in all shapes and sizes, RightHand could be a game-changer.

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Are your employees whistling while they work — or groaning in dissatisfaction? If the holiday season means longer hours, more overtime, or extra night and weekend shifts, it’s time to focus on ways to increase morale. Staff productivity and supply chain efficiency depend on it.

Warehouse managers need to be aware that increased workloads over the holidays can exacerbate the potential of warehouse labor to experience a loss of morale:

• Long hours make workers feel like the business profits at the expense of their well-being
• Physical exhaustion and short sleep lead to productivity loss, irritability, and general unhappiness
• The potential of flare-ups increases between managers and employees, and among employees
• Busy seasons may prevent managers from finding the time to show appreciation for workers

All of these problems can exist year round, but the holiday season holds its particular challenges. Nobody wants to feel overworked and under-appreciated during this time of year!

Build Morale to Plow Through the Holidays

The flip side, fortunately, is that you can build morale to make the holiday workload feel like a team effort and a team victory.

Invest in snacks and refreshments and ensure that everybody gets an appropriate amount of break time. It’s really true that workers can get more done over the course of a shift with short breaks sprinkled in.

You can also ease the physical burden of strenuous tasks with advanced material handling equipment. Our self-propelled warehouse tugs relieve the back-breaking work of pushing and pulling supply or inventory carts.

To keep your employees happy and working hard, contact us at DJProducts.com to discuss warehouse tugs and industrial cart movers.

The post Long Holiday Hours Mean Managers Need to Build Morale appeared first on DJ Products.