Productivity Through Portability: Mobile Printing Delivers ROI In The Warehouse

The case for using mobile printers becomes stronger with every step users must take to pick up labels. Zebra Technologies conducted a time-motion study of receiving operations, in which the warehouse worker only had to take nine steps to travel from the pallet with items to be labeled to the workstation where labels were printed. Pallets were labeled in 42 percent less time (28.11 seconds compared to 49.74) when belt-worn mobile printers were used to eliminate the short walk to the central printing station. Based on the volume of materials processed at that particular distribution center, managers quickly determined that a mobile printing system would provide significant productivity gains and a rapid return on investment.

Here is the actual worksheet the organization used to measure and compare the labor costs required for labeling with stationary and mobile printers. You can add your own numbers to calculate the potential savings mobile printing could provide your operations.

Eliminating wasteful trips also eliminates a potential source of distractions that can lead to labeling errors. Concentration shifts each time a worker leaves the task at hand. Walking through the aisles creates ample opportunities to become engaged with other work-related tasks or to chat with co-workers. Each delay increases the likelihood that the worker will pick up the wrong batch of labels from the printing station, (or make a data entry error if the worker is printing the labels) and that labels will be applied to the wrong item.

These are simple mistakes that may be regarded as business as usual. Many businesses with bar code control systems boast inventory accuracy of 99 percent or more. Driving inventory accuracy or warehousing efficiency to this level usually provides dramatic improvements over previous procedures, so the one percent error rate is often very acceptable to users.