Insights: Light-Directed Picking for Manufacturing
American manufacturing boom, Texas CHIPS investments and more
A look at ways to optimize labor in manufacturing and distribution operations, as well as more on the current American manufacturing construction boom and how it is affected by inflationary pressures.
Pick-to-light for manufacturing: assembly, kitting and picking
Light-directed picking systems are relatively common in warehousing and distribution operations (like this one). This technology has been an accepted part of that world for more than 30 years, but is starting to make its mark in manufacturing for many of the same reasons it works for order fulfillment. Pick-to-light delivers simple, visual clues for order picking and can do the same for assembly, kitting and other manufacturing work.
- Error-proofing: visual tools like pick-to-light are ideal for error reduction.
- Sequencing solutions
- Parts batching
- Assembly and sub-assembly operations
Read more: light-directed picking systemsÂ
Taking the Labor out of Labor Management: St. Onge
Because labor is more than half the cost of any given warehouse or order fulfillment operation, managing it in an era of chronic shortages is more important than ever. Meeting your KPIs with the industry’s typical high turnover rates of up to 25% in distribution operations makes finding ways to quantify value even more important, writes St. Onge’s Caroline Sharp.
Key takeaways
- Hourly rates have significantly increased, while productivity has not. This increases the cost per unit of output.
- It’s more important than ever to optimize your labor resources in this environment
- Labor management systems can help you plan for the future. While you’ll be dealing with systemic labor woes, these systems help you understand your situation and find ways to improve it.
How significant is the American manufacturing boom?
Harvard Professor Jason Furman takes a deep dive into the sharp increases in manufacturing construction spending since 2020. He argues that on the surface, the boom is “staggering”, but dives into the numbers for a more nuanced understanding.
Crowdsourcing a data disparity that is puzzling me.
If you look at nominal monthly Census data for total construction spending on manufacturing you see a staggeringly rapid boom.
But… pic.twitter.com/1eM8UI9KpA
— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) June 16, 2023
Furman notes that inflation and other factors make the boom look larger than it is. Even when those things are factored out, the increase is impressive, although not as historic as it appears on the surface. All numbers seem to point to a concerted push to shorten supply lines and manufacture closer to the American consumer base, rather than overseas – particularly in China.
When revisions to the data are taken into account, the construction boom is very real and impactful, to the tune of over $140 billion in 2022 alone.Â
Quick hits
- Texas invests $1.4 billion in hopes of landing microchip fabrication facilities. The stimulus package creates the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund, which will subsidize companies that manufacture in the state. Billions of dollars in new chip fabrication facilities are being constructed as supply chains shorten in the post-pandemic era, a situation the state hopes to capitalize on.
- Visual Capitalist has an interesting infographic: “Visualizing Annual Working Hours in OECD Countries.” This breaks down the working hours for member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The United States weighs in at 1,791 hours. The least worked hours are in Germany, at 1,349 while Mexicans put in 2,128 hours a year. The article points out that automation and robotics have kept countries like Germany highly productive, even with less working hours per year per person.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce is working to make domestic American supply chains more resilient and efficient. This program sends money to every state to help fill gaps in supply chains by connecting OEMs with small and medium sized manufacturers.
Scott Stone is Cisco-Eagle's Vice President of Marketing with more than thirty years of experience in material handling, warehousing and industrial operations. His work is published in multiple industry journals an websites on a variety of warehousing topics. He writes about automation, warehousing, safety, manufacturing and other areas of concern for industrial operations and those who operate them.