Conveyor Belts – a Game-Changer in Ecommerce Fulfilment

During peak MCF have been operating at over quadruple the volume during the Christmas period, due to this, we purchased a conveyor belt in order to improve productivity.  We decided we needed to prioritize team efficiency and lead to us making one of our best upgrades since joining Mintsoft’s software.

Conveyor belts are a very efficient piece of machinery in any warehouse, it’s a sturdy method of moving items and materials down to the outbound team without excessive hauling and prioritizes staff time. In order to keep up with the demand of increased volumes of parcels a conveyor belt system can improve productivity by up to 40%.

Benefits of using Conveyor belts in a fulfilment centre

• Conveyors are a huge enhancement over using human labour to increase productivity for the reasons outlined below.

• Conveyors designed with inclination allow materials, both big and small, to be moved from one place to another. This saves a lot of time and we all know time is money.

• Conveyors offer unlimited opportunities to continuously load and unload items over a long period of time.

• Larger buildings such like MCF’s warehouse has the requirements for materials to be moved between multiple locations, levels or floors. Conveyor is designed to transport materials across different locations. This can be across different levels, with almost no limitation on height. Our warehouse has 10 metre eves so plenty of room where height is concerned.

• Reduced Manual Labour conveyor belts transport of thousands of products per week from one location to another within minutes.

• Increase in Productivity and Efficiency Conveyors have proved to be a great addition when it comes to the growth in productivity and efficiency.
• Lowers the Risks of Accidents It’s not safe to take too much of the workload from humans

As well as being an extremely welcomed addition to the team as with all machinery we have to discuss some of the health and safety steps that need to be made in order to keep the hardworking team members safe.

Most of the accidents that reciprocate from conveyor belts can tend to be severe and lethal. Anything from electrocution, major cuts and getting drawn into the operating machinery.  The more common causes of injuries with this machinery are as follows:

• Conveyor guards installed poorly
• Insufficient training
• Speed setting altered
• No frequent maintenance/checks carried out
• Over encumbering the machine

These issues, though few in number, can loom a dangerous situation for employees without sufficient rules being put in place to protect the operators correctly. In this blog, we’ll be talking about the safety guidelines we follow at Multi Channel fulfilment and informing you of how these protocols should be followed to prevent any incidents.

The belt has helped us move items at a steady pace and has provided a standard that we were unable to achieve beforehand. Frequently keeping co-workers packing without having to handle pallets or moving roll cages and consistently keeping the operators at the end of the belt correctly placing the parcels and consolidating the items before wrapping.

Before using the machinery for the first time, it was necessary to talk our team about how to work around it and use it safely without putting themselves or others at risk:

• An individual should never step on, sit under or walk on the conveyor belt, these are meant to handle parcels ready for transport and were solely designed to move the items with caution, any exceeding weight could cause harm to the people operating around the belt, the person caught in the situation as well as issuing serious damage to the machine. This seems like an obvious rule, however, it is one that needs to be stated regardless of the setting and the people handling the machinery.

• While operating near the belt, hair and jewellery should be kept clear as well as any loose clothing kept to a minimum to avoid any incident, they are likely to catch on the rotating machinery and will cause injury to the individual.

• The guards that are placed on the conveyor belt should never be changed, removed or overlooked, they are there to protect the individuals that work around this machinery and only an expert should handle these during maintenance purposes.

• Always be aware of the pinch points located on the machinery. Once the operators acknowledge the locations this means that when loading and unloading items from the belt, they know to keep their hands are clear from those points and prevent harm.

• Frequent maintenance should be carried out on the conveyor. Switch off and disconnect the conveyor from any of it’s original power sources before any checks and repairs are actioned. Such a rule needs to be actioned by someone who has been trained on the machinery in order to follow the correct protocols.

• Additional to maintenance, only those trained to handle the conveyor belt may alter settings as necessary. Individuals who are not given sufficient training may not change things such as speed or anything that may affect it’s power overtime.

If a team member is unaware of the weight and size restrictions to place onto the conveyor, ask a supervisor for the guidelines or assistance on further awareness necessary. Repeat the training on a scheduled basis, especially during peak seasons where volumes will increase significantly.