As with most companies, there is a desire to cut costs without jeopardizing quality. For distribution centers, unloading floor-loaded product faster while minimizing damage is key. The faster product is turned around, the more effective the DC.
Below is a comparison highlighting unload costs using the traditional method (step stool) vs the aid of a Destuff-it™ machine.
Current Unload Costs
| 3 |
x |
4 |
x |
$16 |
= |
$192 |
| # of People |
|
Hours to Unload |
|
Burdened Labor Rate |
|
Cost/Container to Unload |
Unload Costs with Destuff-it™
| 4 |
x |
1.5 |
x |
$16 |
= |
$96 |
| # of People |
|
Hours to Unload |
|
Burdened Labor Rate |
|
Cost/Container to Unload |
It takes 3 dock workers 4 hours to unload a trailer. At a burdened labor rate of $16 per hour, it would cost the organization $192 to unload each trailer received. If the organization unloaded an average of 20 trailers per week, each month it would cost $15,360 to unload the containers ($184,320 per annum).
Because the Destuff-it optimizes the worker’s position to the box wall, operators using the machine can produce higher throughput. By increasing the overall unload pace inside the can, additional workers may be required to palletize product on the dock.
Although the number of workers increased by one in this example, the total number of man hours is significantly reduced. Using the same burdened labor rate, the cost to unload each trailer is reduced by 50%! If an organization unloaded the same number of trailers, the total monthly cost to unload using the Destuff-it would be $7,680.
That is an annual savings of $92,160!
In addition to the reduction in direct labor costs, the Destuff-it can also impact other areas of the warehouse. By increasing the number of turns per door, organizations may reduce other costs including lower demurrage and storage charges and less shunting in the yard. Also, because workers are positioned on the operator platform, they are not tempted to stand on boxes to access the top of the box wall. This reduces the number of boxes which are damaged during the unloading process, and if fewer boxes are damaged to the point of being written off, that directly affects the bottom line.