A comfortable, ergonomic, and efficient workspace is one of the best ways to improve employee productivity in your warehouse. Providing employees with set locations to work and store their materials immediately expedites multiple processes and produces greater results. There are plenty of different options for you to explore, but how do you know which workstation is best tailored to your needs? Here’s everything you need to know about warehouse workstations.
Even the most basic, generic industrial workstations can be customized as needed to fit your warehouse’s needs and provide a comfortable space for employees to work. Employees who have comfortable, ergonomic spaces to work have been shown to exhibit greater productivity and display increased employee happiness. On the other hand, if you don’t customize these workbenches, the basic design may not be conducive to the work your employees need to do, constraining how comfortably and efficiently employees can complete their work.
These workbenches are designed to be modular in the interest of easy customization. This modularity makes workstations incredibly easy to construct and configure, making it possible for anyone to modify their workstation to fit their personal preferences. Consider basic workstations as a jack-of-all-trades, thanks to their incredible versatility and ability to change as needed.
Shipping and packing workstations are opposites. They’re designed with a set role in mind, and they perform it admirably, keeping the logistics and processes of shipping organized and efficient. With these workstations, tasks like referring to shipping schedules, preparing manifests, and weighing packages can all be done in one area. Having a single location where employees complete all shipping-related tasks cuts down on the amount of time employees spend having to chase down individual materials and equipment.
These workstations are also a good place to set up equipment like computers, printers, and scanners for easy use and protection against damages they may incur if they were to sit in the open. With this particular design, your warehouse will streamline the shipping process so that it’s easier and quicker than ever before.
Cantilever workstations are another type of workstation that is highly versatile and greatly suited to the more vital areas of your warehouse, such as assembly, picking, and receiving. A cantilever workstation can be configured to fit whatever form and function you need for the job. Furthermore, with additions like shelving, dividers, drawers, lights, power strips, whiteboards, and more, these workbenches can provide a wide variety of benefits, amenities, and conveniences.
Work with your warehouse employees to determine what their needs are so that you can tailor these workstations to their exact desires. Even if an addition isn’t strictly necessary for any processes in the warehouse, features that make work more comfortable and convenient for your employees are well worth the investment. Making additions that improve working conditions will improve employee morale and, in turn, increase productivity.
A great feature of a workstation is the ability to make it mobile. By placing some workstations on wheels, you enable employees to bring all their equipment and materials wherever needed to help them complete their tasks with ease. This is a great way to improve efficiency, as it allows warehouse employees to cut down on how much time they have to travel between areas of the warehouse.
This also helps prevent workstations from getting in the way of work when they’re not needed. The flexibility to move locations is invaluable, especially if you’re not able to provide workstations for every area or employee in the warehouse.
Though these structures are smaller and designed with a specific role in mind, they are meant to display information that can be easily referenced while employees work, such as work instructions or KPI information. Being able to keep information readily available cuts down on the amount of time employees waste finding and referring to documents and instructions as necessary.
Keeping at least one of these structures near your operation will make it easier for everyone to refer to necessary information without important documents going missing or being misplaced. This will also help keep everyone on the same page as to what processes they should be using.
One important thing you need to know about warehouse workstations is that they’re typically made with aluminum extrusions. This is significant because aluminum is not only a strong and durable material, but it’s also incredibly lightweight. This is great for making workstations mobile without compromising the workstation’s integrity. You’ll also be able to add more features to an aluminum mobile workstation without it becoming overly heavy and unwieldy.
Aluminum is also incredibly sustainable. Should your workstation ever become damaged, the aluminum can be recycled and remade into new extrusions again and again without ever weakening. This makes it easy to replace workstations for an affordable price and ensures nothing goes to waste. Naturally, this will also help your warehouse shrink its carbon footprint by reducing the amount of waste it creates.
Finally, workstations will be incredibly easy to maintain and clean because they’re naturally corrosion-resistant. With basic care, your workstations will last you for years without issue. Additionally, the ease of maintenance will reduce the time and resources you’ll need to commit to upkeeping your equipment, allowing employees to focus on managing the warehouse instead.
Workstations are a boon to any workplace, and the incredible versatility and various designs of workbenches mean there’s always a workstation suitable for any task. These invaluable additions not only improve your warehouse from an ergonomic standpoint but also improve worker safety by giving everyone a safe location to complete their work. Warehouse workstations also ensure everyone has enough space to work safely, making it less likely that anyone will accidentally injure themselves with the various equipment and tools needed to complete their jobs.
For high-quality workstations, get in contact with A-Line Automation! As aluminum extruders, we can help you select the right workstations and customize them to your needs. Get in contact with us today; our experts will be able to recommend the options that may be best for you.
