Everything is taking longer and many factors are out of our control. Anyone you speak to will have a story to share. Of how they’re still waiting on the uniforms for their kid’s soccer team even though they were ordered months ago. Or of how the new computer they wanted for Christmas didn’t arrive in time. Because we’d all gotten pretty used to having our orders fulfilled really quickly.
And the average Joe or Jill wasn’t thinking too much about the cogs in the wheel needed to make it happen. Supply chain reliability is the new economic pandemic. And even with the introduction of automation, supply chains need people.
Without people power, everything grinds to a halt. So, how can we keep our people happy? We know industrial disputes are increasing, and people are pushing for wage increases. Lower paid positions are becoming harder to fill. But for real wage increases to be sustainable, they need to be paired with increased productivity.
We need our people working harder AND smarter. But most importantly, we need to keep our people safe. If we can provide a good working environment for our teams, they’re more likely to be productive and stay in the job.
Obviously overheating and heat stress are major workplace safety concerns, but a study by Helsinki University of Technology in Finland found that even at temperatures of 25 degrees celsius, worker performance starts to decrease.
Productivity losses vary by climate zone, with warmer zones seeing larger losses, but on average, annual productivity losses decreased by 17% with the addition of elevated air speed (at 160 fpm (0.81 m/s). So we know fans can directly impact productivity. For every additional 1 degree celsius increase in temperature, you’ll lose another 2% in worker’s performance. Anything above 32 degrees celsius and heat-related illness risk increases and safety concerns increase.
And heat stress becomes a very real risk.
OK so we want our people to be working in a safe environment, and we know we’re likely to have a more productive team if we can keep temperatures lower.
So it’s a safety concern, but it also makes good business sense.
Because if temperatures are high, unions will also expect an increase in breaks for workers - the higher the temperature, the longer the downtime. Improving the work environment can also improve employee morale. And we know workers are more productive in lower temperatures.
For example we recently worked with ASICS Oceania to install fans for temperature regulation in their warehouse.
After one of the hottest summers on record in NSW, ASICS was really concerned about low productivity and employee retention. The heat in the warehouse was causing people to leave. But they wanted to be sure the downtime in installing the fans would be worth it, which is where our Computer Fluid Modeling Tool SpecLab came in.
We were able to model the impact of fans on their 25,000square metre distribution centre, accounting for their equipment, walls, forklifts and racking. So we knew before installation that the right fans would allow the workers to feel as though the temperature has dropped from 28 degrees to 25 degrees, increasing productivity by 8%.
After going ahead with the fan installation, ASICS has now seen an increase in pick rates of 5 units per hour during hotter months, equating to roughly $2000 per week of additional revenue. So they’ve paid off the fan installation costs in just 6 months.
Before the fans were installed most of our work was completed on motorised equipment so the staff were constantly moving and getting some type of airflow. When we installed our automation where staff would be in fixed positions we knew that we had to get something else to create that airflow, so due to getting the fans installed we never had any problems evolve due to the heat. - Andrew Carruthers, ASICS Oceania
In short, fans make our natural cooling mechanisms more efficient. So air movement reduces the likelihood of heat-related illnesses and accidents by making employees feel cooler and more comfortable. When workers feel cooler in a warehouse, they’re better able to focus on their jobs and not become easily fatigued. An investment in large, industrial fans for warehouses, can be an investment in future-proofing a facility against unpredictable weather patterns, and lead to better employee retention through improving worker comfort and conditions.
Put your employees' safety first. Find out how your business can utilise the use of Big Ass Fans
Article Credit: Smart Dail