{"id":4082,"date":"2021-08-30T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/?p=4082"},"modified":"2021-12-10T15:39:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T21:39:38","slug":"teleoperations-enabling-remote-options-for-warehouse-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/30\/teleoperations-enabling-remote-options-for-warehouse-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Teleoperations Enabling Remote Options for Warehouse Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If You Have the Right Technology, Working Remotely Is Now an Option for Some Manufacturing and Warehouse Workers<\/div>\n
BY MARY LOU JAY<\/span><\/div>\n
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Link to digital version of article in MHI Solutions.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"teleoperations\"
URFIN\/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM<\/a> CONNECTVECTOR\/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

W<\/span>hen the pandemic hit in March 2020, many companies required their employees to work remotely, or gave them the option to do so. That choice wasn\u2019t possible for many people who work at warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities. The nature of their jobs\u2014operating equipment, moving material or loading trucks\u2014required them to be physically present.<\/p>\n

Some industrial workers were more fortunate, however. Improvements in automation, sensors, software and connectivity enabled them to monitor facility activities, access data and make operational decisions from many miles away.<\/p>\n

New technologies could soon provide even more facility workers in manufacturing and supply chains with the opportunity to take on their job without being on site<\/p>\n

Driving from a distance<\/h2>\n

Manufacturing and distribution center facilities have been having trouble getting enough people to staff their operations for several years. The pandemic worsened the situation, and it hasn\u2019t improved as the economy has opened up. Forklift drivers, for example, are in very short supply.<\/p>\n

Phantom Auto, which specializes in the remote operation of all types of vehicles, has developed what it calls a teleoperation solution. With its technology, a trained operator can drive an autonomous forklift, pallet jack and\/or tugger throughout a warehouse or distribution center while working from a location thousands of miles away.<\/p>\n

The system uses real-time video and audio streams, sent via a network connection to a remote operator, who can see the facility environment and the forklift in real time. The operator uses a console to control the forklift\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

“If you\u2019re a remote operator, we\u2019ve created an experience that simulates exactly the experience you would have in the warehouse,” said Elliot Katz, Phantom Auto\u2019s co-founder and chief business officer.<\/p>\n

There are two ways to use the technology. One approach enables a single remote operator to monitor multiple autonomous vehicles, such as forklifts, across many different locations. When an autonomous forklift comes across an unexpected obstacle or event that causes it to stop (an edge case), the operator can intervene. The remote driver may provide a simple instruction, such as telling the forklift to turn right or left, or might temporarily take control of the vehicle and drive it until the problem is resolved. The forklift could then return to autonomous operations with the remote worker once again monitoring it.<\/p>\n

With Phantom Auto\u2019s other application, the remote worker operates a single forklift at a time, driving it just as they would if actually sitting in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

Safer environment, greater productivity and happier workers<\/h2>\n

Katz said companies that use the teleoperations solution for operating forklifts or other equipment could benefit in three areas: health and safety, labor accessibility and productivity.<\/p>\n

“More than one in 10 forklifts are involved in accidents each year, which can lead to serious bodily injury or even death. With remote operation, companies are moving the forklift operators physically out of the warehouse and out of harm\u2019s way,” he explained.<\/p>\n

“From a health standpoint, remote operation enables companies to reduce the number of people physically inside their facility, which has been critical to our customers starting in March 2020,” he added. With fewer people onsite, there\u2019s less opportunity for COVID-19 and other illnesses to spread.<\/p>\n

Moving forklift operators out of hazardous, in-facility locations can save the employer money as well\u2014as much as a 90% reduction in workers\u2019 compensation premiums, according to Katz.<\/p>\n

Operating forklifts remotely could help alleviate the severe shortage of workers for manufacturing facilities, warehouses and distribution centers, because it expands the labor pool from which companies can draw. Hiring managers aren\u2019t restricted to a pool of people within commuting distance; they can give jobs to people in any location where there\u2019s a reliable network connection. (While the technology is currently set up for use in offices, home-based operations may one day be possible as well.)<\/p>\n

Phantom Auto\u2019s technology also opens up positions for disabled individuals who can\u2019t work in an actual facility but could run a forklift virtually. The option could attract people who don\u2019t usually apply for such jobs.<\/p>\n

Teleoperations could also increase productivity because operators don\u2019t waste time walking from one forklift to another; they can just switch vehicles within the application. Plus, if there\u2019s a sudden surge of product that requires more forklifts at one location, remote operators can quickly “move” to that facility and operate forklifts there. In addition, managers can more easily monitor operators\u2019 activities.<\/p>\n

“With remote operation, we\u2019re increasing the productivity, the flexibility, and the safety and health of companies\u2019 most important resource, their people. It\u2019s a human-centric technology that makes employees\u2019 jobs better,” said Katz.<\/p>\n