THE CHALLENGE
When faced with the challenge of increasing capacity Porter Pipe had two options, either continuing to replace expensive RF scanners or to invest in a better way of utilizing the existing equipment. Porter Pipe wanted a Smart Locker that could store the expensive RF scanners so that they could easily be accessible to employees even across multiple shifts. With over 100 warehouse employees using 70-75 RF scanners a day Porter Pipe was losing out on productivity due to downtime.
THE SOLUTION
Meridian designed the Asset Management Locker to securely store all the RF Scanners in one convenient location that employees can access at the beginning of their shift. Efficiency and ease-of-use were top priorities for the design. Meridian’s Asset Management Locker takes less than 30 seconds to check-out an item and less than 10 seconds to return it properly. The internal software of the Asset Management Locker shows a real-time log of all scanners that have been checked-out and returned. This has led to increased accountability and traceability, even across multiple shifts. When returning items there is a space to report any damaged devices that automatically notifies the IT department to ensure prompt repairs and maintenance for all equipment.
THE RESULTS
The results have been staggering, saving Porter Pipe $62,500 in replaced equipment costs alone. Additionally, there has been a decrease in the amount of productivity loss caused by lack of RF Scanners. Employees were wasting about 2 hours a day searching for lost scanners or waiting around for one to be available. Costing the company, a shocking estimate of 13 weeks of production a year from lost equipment alone. Now all equipment is conveniently located in a sleek and more visually appealing way compared to the cluttered open shelves previously used.
Furthermore, when implemented Porter Pipe realized that many of their RF scanners were broken and not being reported to IT for repair. Due to this lack of accountability many employees were holding on to their scanners to ensure they did not receive a broken one for their next shift. By implementing the Asset Management Locker any damaged equipment is promptly reported to IT to be fixed immediately, ensuring all equipment is performance ready across all shifts.
