Gilmore Says.... |
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Hopper said this: why don’t you try tactics that cost little or nothing first before making those hefty investments?
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Around 2018, my sense was WERC was struggling financially. Conference attendance and I assume memberships were trending down, the main drivers of WERC’s revenue.
Then came the pandemic and the need to cancel the 2020 conference, undoubtedly delivering a substantially blow to WERC’s finances. So I was not surprised when it was announced in August of that year that MHI was acquiring WERC.
This was an interesting move. For example, MHI membership is at a company level. Although there are, I believe, some corporate options, WERC membership is at an individual level.
I think MHI has done a good job of adding support for WERC but leaving it mostly alone, maintaining its Chicago headquarters (MHI is in Charlotte), and keeping WERC CEO Mike Mikitka on board to run the organization.
For awhile, MHI tried to run the WERC conference in parallel with its ProMat (odd years) and MODEX (even years) major trade show events, but that didn’t work, and it was moved back to a standalone May event.
WERC remains a boutique conference – I am going to estimate there were about 400 attendees – and it maintains a relaxed feel, but with solid content. There with often 5-6 breakout sessions for most time slots, with generally attractive choices.
I attended quite a few, and most were very good, with three main themes: labor management, AI and warehouse robotics.
MHI added resources to support the conference, including CEO John Paxton and other executives, plus general support staff as well. It was a well-run event, held at the Sheraton New Orleans on Canal Street in the heart of the city.
Here is an example of one of the better sessions, on “Seven Proven Ways to Increase Warehouse Labor Productivity,” delivered by my friend Steve Hopper of Inviscid Consulting.’’
Most everyone is suffering from significant warehouse labor shortages and rising costs. That of course leads many companies to invest in expensive automation using advanced hardware and/or software.
But Hopper said this: why don’t you try tactics that cost little or nothing first before making those hefty investments?
He offered this way to look at warehouse productivity. It is a function of three variables:
1. The % of time a worker uses the right method
2. The average pace of the worker
3. Utilization: the percent of time the worker is actually working
So, a worker using the correct method 80% of the time, with a pace of 90% of a fair and safe level, and who is doing work 80% of the time would have a productivity rate of .8 x .9 x .8 = 57.%.
Interesting. See the simple form from Hopper below:
Source: Steve Hopper
The seven ways included steps such as turning supervisors into true coaches, recognizing and rewarding performance, effective use of huddles, encouraging employee suggestions, doing frequent “gemba” walks and a few others.
I had a good time and learned a few things in New Orleans. I will be back to WERC in 2026.
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