Background
A Third Party Logistics company, (who offers supply chain solutions to various customers), was
seeking to address health and safety concerns associated with manually loading and unloading floor
loaded product from containers. Additionally, they were seeking to increase throughput on both their
inbound and outbound docks.
Their inbound and outbound docks averaged 5-8 containers of various floor loaded product ever
week. The 3PL needed to increase productivity to sustain inbound and outbound demands. Yet,
workers were getting injured due to the constant and repetitive lifting, twisting, carrying and overhead
reaching required to meet these demands.
The Solution
While the 3PL investigated both power and gravity roller conveyors as possible options, they realized
a more comprehensive solution was required. A Restuff-it™ bi-directional portable ergonomic conveyor system was installed in the facility for a trial period. This allowed management to record necessary performance metrics. It became quite clear the Restuff-it was the solution. By using a Restuff-it, the 3PL’s hourly case rate increased and their team was reduced by 1 worker.
ERGONOMIC VALUE:
The Restuff-it operator platform and front pivoting conveyor allow the operator to optimally position
themselves next to the box wall. As workers slide floor loaded product onto the machine’s pivoting
conveyor, the combination of lifting, twisting, carrying and overhead reaching, is minimized. By
optimizing the worker’s positioning to the box wall, operators experience greater handling capacity
with less fatigue and muscle strain.
IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY:
By optimizing a worker’s positioning to the box wall, users experience faster unload times. This
translates into higher throughput. Greater throughput means more trailers can be unloaded each shift.
There are more trailer turns per door, and there may be a reduction in the number of doors required.