the benefits of automated loading systems

Without an automated loading system, loading operations are labour intensive and require teams of employees working around the clock to perform effectively to ensure the factory’s output operation goes to plan. With teams of staff operating forklifts or other pallet loading equipment working in both the factory and the warehouse, in addition to the team of truck drivers shuttling pallets back and forth. Staffing, management, training costs are all reduced with a smaller, yet more productive workforce with our automated loading systems.

In addition, with more variables, there’s more reason for possibilities for certain processes in the operation to go wrong and bottlenecks can quickly occur. This can result in labour in other areas of the logistics operation.

Automating your loading system saves your business money. It requires less manpower involved in the storage and handling process and fewer people means less money spent on labour costs. 

An automated loading system can also help to reduce damage to pieces of machinery, such as forklifts or trailers during the loading and unloading processes that are derived from human error. A common issue where damage is often caused is when forklifts drive back and forth into the trailer and align pallets on either side and either the forklift’s forks, the curtain-sided or box trailer, the pallets or even the load are damaged.

With an automated loading system, independence between internal operations and the loading logistical operations is gained. This means that the business can effectively run the two operations independent of one another, making each process more efficient and productive.

Working in a warehouse requires exact precision and ‘just-in-time’ processing. PepsiCo, a global distributor of food products, utilised our fully-automated loading system in their Netherlands office. Our automated palletiser systems allowed their shipments to be perfectly aligned on the pallets, and each pallet is taken to the automatic dock.

Because our systems provide exact numbers regarding distance measurement, the warehouse team was able to decide at the last moment whether the trailers nearby could collect loads from PepsiCo. Utilising the systems makes it easier and more efficient for PepsiCo to get the job done.

Not only managing, training, and overseeing staff to competently load and unload a trailer, but the added risk of if there is an accident, the added costs (including negligence costs) of investigations to ascertain exactly what happened and rectify processes to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Forklifts are dangerous, especially when their loads are not well-balanced or when they travel with the forks too high. In the UK alone, around 1,300 labourers are hospitalised each year due to severe injuries following forklift accidents.

In contrast, an automated loading system eliminates the need for a forklift fleet, exponentially increasing workplace safety. These machines can be fitted to a number of safety devices, which work to reduce collisions and warehouse accidents.

Did you know that 25% of factory and warehouse accidents happen in or around the loading bay? It’s a worrying statistic that demonstrates a huge under-appreciation of the risks involved in the movement of goods ready for transport or storage.  It’s clear it’s having a significant impact on the industry as a whole despite a focus on the prevention of injuries.

Loading bays are thriving hubs of activity during operational hours, with goods packaged ready for loading being moved by forklift trucks (commonly referred to as FLT) to a variety of transport vehicles, from HGVs and articulated lorries through to trailers and vans. The loading approach can change from load to load, with the method of packing, the type of vehicle, and the loading space all creating their risks and hazards. Find out what are our Top 3 Loading Dock Safety Tips are, here.

In the scenario that a business produces and ships a high number of pallets each day, we’ve put together an automated loading system typical business case example to help explain the benefits and how an ROI can be achieved with the investment of an automated loading system.

If a business is running a shuttle run from a factory to a warehouse and back again, they’ll benefit from an automated loading system with fewer people, trucks and forklifts.

The Slipchain system is designed for all customers that have high volume logistics shuttle cases with a small fleet of dedicated trailers. 

We're the global leaders for loading and unloading solutions for transport companies, system integrators and large blue-chip organisations who need to find efficiencies in moving products from production and manufacturing onto transportation.