To ensure that your forklift drivers meet safety guidelines and hit their productivity targets, you need to know how to track their activity, including speed, idle time, number of loads per day, travel distance, etc. Use this guide to learn how to track the forklift drivers’ activity in your warehouse. You’ll discover how to get an overview of their performance with real-time analytics and how to set up alerts so you can take action before things get out of hand.
1. Separate Your Warehouse into Geographical, Functional Areas
There are two main ways to organize your warehouse: function or geography. Although either method can work well, if you want a detailed look at how your forklift drivers operate, you’ll want a way of tracking forklift activity in each working area. At this point, creating geographical functional areas (GFAs) comes into play. How do you make these? It all depends on your warehouse layout.
For example, if you have a single-level warehouse with multiple bays for different departments, each bay could be its geographical functional area (GFA). If you have multiple floors and various departments operating within them, each floor could be its GFA. You get the idea—it’s up to you how granular or broad you want to make things.
2. Installing Tracking Devices Across Entire Facility
If you want to keep track of forklift drivers, installing tags or tracking devices on all forklifts and your warehouse facility is good. These easy-to-install devices will allow you and your employees (or an outside company) to pinpoint a forklift’s location at any given time. In addition, they’ll allow you to capture valuable data like work hours and speed.
Integrating radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with Ultra-wideband (UWB) can help real-time monitoring and locating mobile assets, such as forklifts within a warehouse or parking lot. The system transmits radio signals from one device to another to help accurately track the forklift drivers. When combined with RFID sensors that are on forklifts, UWB can be helpful for asset tracking as well as proximity detection between two objects in motion.
3. Invest in A Good Software System
If you want to be able to track your forklift drivers’ activity and performance, you need a specialized software system. A team management software system can help you with that. It will allow you to create job descriptions for each of your employees, set goals for them, monitor their progress towards achieving those goals, and provide regular feedback on how they are doing. Accurate monitoring will help them stay motivated throughout their workday and help them improve their performance over time.
As a bonus, such a system is easy to use so that it won’t take too much time or energy! The software system should be able to convert forklift drivers’ data into meaningful information about how well they are performing. You may also integrate other systems into your warehouse management system (WMS) if you feel necessary.
For example, suppose you already have a scheduling system in place. In that case, you might consider integrating it into your WMS so that all of your scheduling information is in one place for easier tracking.
Figure 1https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-forklift-1267338/
4. Configure The Software to Connect All the Devices
Many fleet management solutions on the market today allow you to connect forklifts and loaders into one system and monitor their activity over time. It can help you track all of your forklift drivers’ activity, allowing you to identify any issues or problem areas that need addressing. The system lets yousee how long it takes each driver to move a load from one point to another, how many packs per day they can complete,and their weak points.
Figure 2https://www.pexels.com/photo/employees-standing-beside-forklift-4487449/
You will be able to see how much time forklift drivers spend idling versus moving goods, which will give you an idea of productivity. Also, by integrating forklift GPS tracking into your fleet management solution, you will be able to monitor how far each driver travels during their shift, which can be helpful as a part of a commission structure for rewarding top performers.
5. Set-Up Automatic Notification System
An automatic notification system will inform you of any forklift-related accidents and allow you to keep track of drivers’ activity throughout your warehouse. Many forklift crashes happen as a result of loading and unloading, so it’s crucial to invest in automatic notification systems that alert whenever an accident occurs and be able to mitigate the effects. It’s also essential to set up these notifications before something happens.
For example, collision warning systems warn forklift drivers about an imminent collision. Otherwise, you might miss valuable information about how or why something went wrong. For example: did someone forget how to use a forklift? Was there a language barrier? An automatic notification system will also monitor driver who leaves or enters their building.
6. Train Your Forklift Drivers to Get Them On Board
All stakeholders need to understand the tracking policy and how it can benefit them. The goal is to get everyone on board with what they need to do and why it is necessary. Your forklift drivers should know how to operate a forklift safely, how much weight is safe to lift, how fast they should go when lifting heavy loads etc. Provide regular training sessions for all staff members who use equipment so that everyone stays up-to-date on new policies and procedures.
The forklift operators should know the tracking system’s information, like recording driver activities and collecting data about speed, breaks, idling time, and routes. Consequently, they’ll be able to monitor their work habits knowing that there’s an invisible GPS tracking system watching them.
Conclusion
Operations involving forklifts are delicate and require orderliness and constant monitoring. But how do you track their activity, keep your warehouse safe andensure that all forklift drivers are working at their maximum potential? The answer is by tracking them. With a little bit of preparation, it’s easy to put together a system that will allow you to monitor your workers’ activity. Working with reliable and experienced fleet management experts can help you set up a comprehensive solution designed for your needs. You can contact a warehouse fleet management expert to learn more about tracking forklift drivers’ activity in your warehouse.