PD Ports has worked with RAWview to implement a new drone stock counting system, the inventAIRy XL, at its Felixstowe warehouse.
Stock counts were identified as a key area to implement technology, because they require staff to work at height on scissor lifts.
The new technology is expected to remove the need to work at height in order to perform important stock counts. It is also designed to increase efficiency, accuracy, and reduce risks and carbon emissions.
PD Ports stock control and systems Manager, Jonathan Borg, said: “Some pallet racking in our Felixstowe warehouse goes up to 8 metres high, which involves an element of risk because it involves our operatives spending a significant amount of time working at height on a scissor lift.
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“We have very high safety standards, but the best-case scenario is always to eliminate the risk wherever possible; the inventAIRy XL solution has enabled us to do just that.
“There’s been a significant reduction in health and safety risks since it’s eliminated the need to use scissor lifts in this warehouse for counting stock – and that was one of the primary drivers for our decision to look into automating our inventory counts.”
According to Borg, the technology has also freed the team up elsewhere, in addition to making the work environment safer.
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Borg explained: “By relieving colleagues of this time-consuming and laborious task, their time is now almost exclusively spent doing productive work, which further enhances the service we are delivering to our customers.
“We’ve also seen an improvement in our order fulfilment time, because we no longer have scenarios where colleagues waste time trying to find misplaced stock.”
Earlier this year, PD Ports secured an additional weekly sailing between Rotterdam, Botlek, and Teesport through a partnership with shipping line A2B-online.
Later that summer, PD Ports confirmed a £23 million ($29 million) investment in a new, state of the art dredging vessel.
