Real-time tracking of forklift drivers’ activity allows you to achieve greater efficiency, safety, and profitability in your logistics operations. It can help you use your fleet better, minimize time wastage, and prevent accidents in forklift operations.
You can equip every forklift that you need to track with a tag that transmits signals to connected devices, whether smart phones or computers, in real-time. The tag can be powered from the forklift’s battery enabling full-time visibility of the drivers’ activities. Here are some tips for effectively tracking forklift activity.
Segment your warehouse
You can segment your warehouse into different geographical or functional areas. The reason for doing this is that you want to effectively track your drivers’ forklift activities in different working areas of your warehouse. Although it depends on your warehouse layout, creating geographical functional areas is essential.
Suppose you own a single-story warehouse with several bays for different departments; in that case, you can specialize each bay as a geographical functional area. In contrast, if you have a multiple-storeyed warehouse with various operating departments, each floor can be a separate geographical functional area.
Regardless of the layout of your warehouse, the most important thing is to create geographical functional areas to simplify forklift tracking activity.
Invest in a high-quality software system
If you want to monitor your forklifts driver’s activities, you should be willing to invest in a high-quality tracking software. For instance, team management software can allow you to create job descriptions for different employees, specify goals, and actively monitor their progress in achieving those goals. Accurate reporting can motivate them to stay productive throughout the day, significantly improving performance in your workplace.
The software system you invest in should be able to convert forklifts drivers’ data into useful information about how well they are performing. You can also integrate more technology, such as a warehouse management system, to simplify things and improve efficiency. If you have a scheduling system in place, in that case, all you need to do is incorporate the warehouse management system so that all the data about your forklifts drivers are in one place for easier monitoring.
Connect the software to all the other devices
Thankfully, many warehouse management solutions make it possible to connect forklifts and other warehouse equipment into a central system for easier monitoring. By tracking all the devices in your warehouse from a single system, you can easily monitor the activities of the forklifts accessories drivers and address problems that arise.
The system can help you see the speed it takes for a forklift driver to move one load from one point to another, how many loads they move per day, and their challenges. You can also see how much time forklifts drivers spend idling and doing productive work, giving you an idea of their performance.
You can also integrate a forklift GPS tracking system that helps you see how far every driver travels during their shift making it easier to reward top performers.
Add tracking devices in the whole facility.
The next thing is to install tracking devices or tags on all forklifts in your warehouse to make it efficient to track the activities of the drivers. Easy to use smart devices such as a forklift proximity sensor allows you to pinpoint a forklift’s location at any given moment. You can also get valuable data about your forklift drivers’ working hours and speed.
For instance, implementing an RFID (radio frequency identification) system can help with the real-time tracking of forklifts within your warehouse or the parking lot. The best thing about such a tracking system is that it transmits data from one system to another, allowing you to monitor forklift drivers’ activities efficiently. RFID technology combined with ultra-wideband (UWB) is valuable for asset tracking and proximity between two items in motion.
Establish a real-time notification system
A real-time notification system can help you monitor your forklifts drivers’ activities by automatically alerting you of any forklift-related accidents or dangers. A lot of forklift mishaps occur during loading and unloading; therefore, it is vital to incorporate an automatic notification system that alerts you whenever accidents happen so that you mitigate the effects.
Most importantly, you should set the system to alert you before accidents happen. For instance, a collision warning system can signal an imminent collision allowing a forklift driver to act promptly to prevent an accident.
Bring everyone on board on the tracking policy.
When you implement a tracking system, ensure you bring the forklifts drivers on board and help them understand the system’s benefits. They should be well trained to read the tracking system’s information and collect data about speed, routes, breaks, and idling time to act promptly.
Final words
Forklift operations are delicate and require a high level of safety; therefore, monitoring your drivers’ activities can help you boost efficiency in your warehouse.