Previous installments of the “Geolean Warehouse Solutions” series have focused on incorporating flow racks into pallet racking and customizing workstations for packaging and simplified order processing. The next logical consideration when looking at ways to improve the efficiency of your warehouse is how you deliver product from point A to point B.
Like the previous installments of the Geolean Warehouse Solutions series, this article will focus on the real, tangible benefits that custom delivery carts can provide to your warehouse and facility. From increasing profitability to improving process efficiency, carts in the warehouse offer you a better way to deliver.
A Better Way to Deliver
Things happen fast in the warehouse and every touch matters. Once you have maximized your available storage space, the next step is to improve how you move that inventory to the next process efficiently.
There is much to consider when planning your cart delivery system:
- How frequently will you deliver with a tug cart system?
- What size and weight will each cart need to support?
- Where are materials being picked from or delivered to?
- What is the most efficient way to present materials at the point of use?
- What are the safety, ergonomic and efficiency benefits that will be required to justify the expense of a new custom delivery cart system?
With so many options available, it is important that you invest in the right cart platform early and present the ability to grow from there. No two plants are the same, and there is no “one cart fits all” in our bag of tricks. Today we will look at a “Mother/Daughter” cart system, then after we can review in person to determine which cart delivery options are best for you!
How Mother/Daughter Cart Systems Boost Productivity In the Warehouse
Mother/Daughter cart systems offer an exceptionally efficient delivery method that boosts productivity. They are available in many standard orientations to suit nearly any product size, and they can be configured to suit your specific warehouse’s needs at any given time. Here are just a few of the ways a Mother/Daughter cart system helps boost warehouse productivity:
- Pick, transport, and deliver material to the point of use all in the same cart. Eliminate repackaging and overhandling of materials.
- Standard order picker attachments are available to help further simplify the order picking process.
- Pick from vertical storage and then ship over the road with racks perfectly configured to your application.
- Send daughter carts directly to the production line and end “reloading”.
- Customize with unlimited “top hat” options. A standard cart size is easily customized to fit your unique product delivery needs with convertible applications that sit on top of the standard cart.
- Reduce the time your Material Handler spends at each stop
- Greatly improve ergonomics and safety over standard tongue and hitch cart delivery
The overarching benefit of a well-engineered cart delivery system is the simplicity in which it allows the operator to perform their work, combined with the customizability to evolve as your process evolves. Geolean understands the process first, so our cart systems are part of a total material flow system. We can introduce kit/pick carts that are offered in unlimited orientations, textile and foam dunnage options to carefully support Class-A materials (without secondary packaging), and our convertible top hat applications ensure there’s a flexible option to deliver virtually any material in your warehouse.
What’s more, we also have modular cart options that are easy to build or modify on-site. That means you don’t have to wait for an expert or purchase a new cart every time you have a new product or you implement new production. Simply reconfigure the carts to suit your new process, at little to no cost.
Understanding the ROI of Mother/Daughter Cart Delivery
There are a number of warehouse delivery systems being used today, from outdated and dangerous forklifts to the more common but still less-efficient shelf-cart tug systems. Only an onsite evaluation can accurately determine which type of delivery is best for your facility, but we think it is important to consider why Geolean promotes Mother/Daughter carts above other options.
Mother/Daughter Cart Systems Are The Most Cost-Effective
In our support across hundreds of plants, we found that Mother/Daughter carts have an average cost per drop of just $2.40. Compared to as high as $9.60 for forklift and $4.10 average cost per drop with shelf-cart tug systems, respectively. That’s a significant saving every time you use a Mother/Daughter cart system.
Have you considered the cost per drop for your Material Handler? This is where the budget for your new cart delivery system is found and how we can help you identify the quickest ROI. Add all this to the fact that a tugger cart system requires lower capital and lower operating costs than a forklift, and it’s clearer to see how a Mother/Daughter cart system can provide significant ROI.
Mother/Daughter Cart Systems Are Efficient
Unlike a shelf-cart tug delivery system, where an operator must remove all material from the shelf-cart before moving onto the next delivery, a Mother/Daughter cart system enables the operator to simply remove the entire daughter cart from the train itself. There’s no lengthy unloading process or re-organizing of material.
The operator simply removes the cart from the train and places it in its proper position. Since materials are already kitted on the daughter cart, the operator who receives the daughter cart wastes no time re-organizing or searching for the right materials on the cart. By exchanging full carts of material, Mother/Daughter carts improve ergonomics and reduce handling time by one-third.
Mother/Daughter Cart Systems Are Safe
Finally, Mother/Daughter cart systems are safe and improve ergonomics for the worker. Forklifts are dangerous to workers and product alike and are one of the number one causes of accidents in the warehouse. Mother/Daughter cart systems reduce both injury and product damage by providing a much safer delivery system.
What’s more, they improve ergonomics for operators. Using the patented CarryMore Mother/Daughter system, daughter carts are easy to release with a foot pedal, and since the carts themselves are on wheels, operators can navigate the carts the short distance to their designated spot without any dangerous heavy lifting. Carts returned to the Mother/Daughter train easily snap in place on the train.
You say your load is too heavy? With cart capacities up to 4,000lbs, we are happy to demonstrate how the push/pull forces can be greatly reduced over your current system, ensuring your operators are working well within the safe ergonomic standards for your plant.
Mother/Daughter cart systems offer your warehouse the efficiency and the customizability you need to improve your facility’s delivery process. When you can move product efficiently from process to process, you save time and increase profitability, getting your product into the customer’s hands in less time.
If this is the first Geolean Warehouse Solutions article you’re reading, be sure to check out other series installments on Flow Racks and Workstations, too. This series is designed to illustrate the ROI and profitability of investing in modular material flow solutions, and all of the articles focus on the ways each solution can provide your warehouse with increased efficiency.
If you have more questions about any type of carts in the warehouse, custom delivery carts, or about implementing any of the solutions highlighted in this series, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Geolean team. As lean integrators, we’re here to help you find the best solutions for your facility.
Geolean Warehouse Solutions Mini-Series
Flow Racks in the Warehouse – Part 1
Efficiency With Custom Workstations – Part 2
Custom Delivery Carts in the Warehouse – Part 3
