Material Handling

Product Damage in the Warehouse
By Vernon Stent

Product damage in a warehouse - or in transit - is almost as common as air and water. It is so common that it has become invisible, covered by budget allowances and insurance. All businesses suffer from this problem - and usually suffer in silence. Why? Companies like the weather treat product damage. For "raining again..." followed by a shoulder shrug, substitute "damaged again..." with equally shrugged shoulders. Rain, heat waves, taxes, parking tickets, product damage - all part of life's rich tapestry, eh? Well let's just stop right there. We may not be able to solve all of our problems, but surely product damage should not be accepted in this casual way any longer?

If you have access to, or work in, a warehouse, just take a walk around, inspecting the boxes of product on pallets. Before soon I guarantee that you will find plenty of boxes with holes in them, made by forklift truck tines. The forklift truck operator simply misses the gaps in the pallet and the forks pierce one or more boxes. It is also a common practice for forklift truck operators to attempt to push or nudge a pallet load by pushing the forks onto the load on the pallet. This often works OK, but sometimes it does not, and once again the forks find themselves inside a carton of milk or toy car or worse still, an expensive item like a new computer.

The cost of damages in warehouses runs into billions of whatever currency you choose. Damaged product is not just about the immediate cost of the lost products. The damaged product, if it is salvageable will need to be assessed and a repair arranged. Quite apart from the cost, there is the moral element of waste. Wasting anything, no matter how affluent the society the waste occurs within, is surely offensive to us all not to mention the fact that extra energy and therefore polluting emissions will need to be produced in order to replace the lost products.

Is it not about time we became less complacent about this problem? Well something has. The new invention - yes it IS a new-patented invention - is a slim padded cover that fits to the end of the forks. The new product is called a Sumo Glove. It is bright yellow and it basically blunts and cushions the forks. It works so well that already several companies have placed multiple orders, even at this early stage.