Automating tasks that otherwise drain time and labor resources optimizes warehouse efficiencies and preserves profitability. However, implementing partial inventory automation only yields partial results — as one airline parts warehouse recently realized.
The 350 feet between an automated parts storage module and the shipping department created a substantial productivity gap for parts that were pulled for orders needed to get to shipping quickly. Ordered parts efficiently pulled from inventory and placed into individual bins required manual transport to the shipping department. In the event a high priority order came in, inventory operators hand-carried the corresponding individual parts to shipping immediately.
The manual process was then repeated in reverse as shipping department operators walked back empty bins to the automated parts module for reuse. This manual pattern was repeated many times each day.
Any efficiencies gained through automated inventory picking were lost to non-value-add activity.
MūL Mobile Autonomous Robotic Carts (MARC®) proved to be the perfect solution. Since MARC® isn’t dependent on elaborate cart tracks or Wi-Fi to learn and move around in environments, the warehouse operation realized immediate cost savings.
Operators were able to essentially use MARC® right out of the box as setup is user-friendly and takes under 10 minutes in any facility. MARC® is truly self-guided and autonomous, so manual shuttling of parts and empty bins between the inventory module and shipping area quickly became a thing of the past.
The time saved by integrating MARC® into operations immediately translated to a 9% increase in operator productivity.
In 8.13 months, the operation achieved full return on its initial $14,995 investment — a statistic made even more impressive by the fact MARC® utilization consistently remained under 20% during that time frame.
| Hours per month saved | 36.00 |
| Hourly rate + overhead | $51.22 |
| Cost of MARC | $14,995.00 |
| ROI (in months) | 8.13 |
| Annual savings | $22,127.04 |
The combination of MARC’s ease of use and operators not being pulled from their stations to move parts or bins resulted in the company recouping 36 hours of “lost” time every month — which was reallocated into productivity, which saw a 22% increase.
Extrapolated over a year, the time and money saved by using MARC® provides the company with recurring annual savings of $22,127.04.
MARC® from MūL Technologies helped substantially reduce non-value-add activities, which increased productivity, profitability, and ROI. Isn’t it time to put MARC® work for you? Reach out to the MūL Technologies team to discuss your needs.