Productive and Healthy Work at Fedex

Productive & Healthy Work

Introduction/Context

The job that I will be focusing on is that of a truck loader at FedEx. The job entails loading delivery trucks in the morning with packages that come from an assembly line belt. Each loader is assigned a set of 3-4 trucks to load. The packages are lifted from the belt and moved into the truck. There are several aspects of this job that are challenging with respect to both productivity and health.

With respect to the latter, the job is physically demanding. There are two key elements to the task that pose physical risk. The first is that the boxes are of unknown weight. While abnormally heavy or oversized packages are separated, packages up to 120 lbs can find be placed on the belt. The heaviest will be stickered as such, but the loader may find a box is very heavy, a challenge when lifting off the belt. Another physical challenge is the shelving system on the trucks -- boxes must be lifted and placed onto shelves. The shelves designated for boxes are based on the geographic area, such that like areas are together. This means that some heavy boxes can end up on top shelves, a health risk for the person loading and unloading the boxes. Lastly, the position is physically challenging because the boxes arrive in random order. There can be a run of boxes for a given set of trucks, causing the person loading to rush, increasing the risk of injury.

In terms of productivity, these rushes are the major issue. The loader can become a bottleneck if the number of boxes exceeds the loader's abilities. The result of this is that boxes escape to the end of the belt and a person must at a later point collect the escaped boxes. Escaped boxes that do not make it onto the correct truck will not reach their destination on time, which results in a refund. While the risk of bottleneck can be alleviated by increasing loader capacity, there is equal risk that loaders will not be sufficiently busy, which is another productivity challenge.

There are a number of situational constraints and considerations. The work is monotonous but the shifts are relatively short. The shifts, however, take place early in the morning, which makes them more difficult to staff. However, experience is a factor in efficiency, since the packages need to be placed in the right part of the truck based on the route order. A final consideration is that the company is non-union, so there is flexibility with respect to using human resources to improve both the productivity and healthfulness of this position.

Health

The position is physically strenuous, so the question at hand is not whether to provide physical stimulation. There are a couple of issues, however. One issue is the early morning start times. This presents a challenge in that there is increased risk of injury if workers are groggy or stiff when their shift starts. The company's business model dictates that nothing can be done about the early start times, so the approach to solving this problem is entirely internal.

Another issue is the risk that a run on packages for a given loader's area will result in the worker rushing, increasing risk of back, knee or ankle injury. Common injuries are lower back injuries, a consequence of lifting packages to different heights and twisted knees or ankles, a consequence of turning quickly while carrying heavy weight. Packages are frequently dropped, but the mandatory use of steel-toed boots means that few injuries occur as a result of such incidents. Therefore the health objectives with this strategy will be to reduce the risk of injury in this position.

The first set of solutions is with respect to the early start times. One is that the company should provide easy access to coffee and tea at this hour. While a fairly obvious solution, the use of caffeine is effective and many employees either do not have access to coffeehouses at these overnight and pre-dawn hours or they wake up too late to take advantage.

In addition to providing such stimulants, the company should take a few minutes at the beginning of each shift to engage the workers in stretching exercises. The randomness of the package flow means that heavy packages could occur at any time, so the loaders should be warmed up prior to the belt being activated. Initiating a five-minute stretching program could be accommodated with a slight increase in belt speed, or a five-minute earlier start time. Stretches should be designed by a professional who has studied the types of muscle movements this position entails.

Another initiative will be to minimize the movement of packages between different heights. The belt should be located at a height that allows loaders to remove packages from the belt at waist height. They should have a clear path into the truck, without the use of steps. This means that there should be a platform on which they stand and on which the belt is located. Moreover, the route design inside each truck should focus on the placement of heavy boxes on middle shelves or the floor, with only geographic areas featuring mainly small packages on top.

With respect to unusually heavy packages, the OHSA recommends a tiered system of weight-warning stickers, such that packages of different sizes are easily recognizable. When a heavy package is spotted, help can be sought from another worker, allowing the package to be more easily managed. To assist with potential bottlenecks, it is recommended that one worker be designated as a floater, to assist teammates in the event of overload. This floater can assist half a dozen or more loaders, and double as a helper for newer loaders or those performing vacation replacements.

Productivity

There are a few issues inhibiting productivity at the loader position. One is that the position requires a strong knowledge of the loader's trucks, but the repetitive nature, unusual hours and part-time work result in high turnover. New workers are constantly required, and the resulting lack of productivity results in increased risk of lateness on guaranteed packages. Another contributor to poor productivity is the risk of bottleneck, where packages get past the loader because they are coming to quickly.

Adding capacity in the form of extra loaders can help solve the bottleneck issue, but does not improve productivity. However, if one extra person is added to each side of the belt, a "senior loader," this person can solve multiple problems. The first is that they can alleviate bottleneck issues as they occur. The second is that this extra person can help with the training process. The turnover rate is a difficult challenge to solve, but the creation of one new position can provide the company with a person who can bring new and replacement staff up to speed more quickly. They can provide valuable on-the-job training and a stabilizing influence on the team.

That said, the company would benefit from increasing the stability of the unit. Reducing turnover will require a series of minor policy changes. The first will be the opportunity for workers in this position to fill out their hours elsewhere in the company. Many of the current part-time workers work this job before moving on to other positions, or school. They then leave when they no longer need the money. Instead, FedEx should use this position to identify valuable future staff members. The role can be developed into such by giving established part-time workers the ability to train for duty in other areas of the company, such as on road or in the cal center. This will provide more variety to the work for these individuals as well, reducing the impact of the monotony.

In doing this, the company will be able to get more from its worker pool. The loaders will remain under a part-time classification, but can have the opportunity to work near full-time hours when the different departments are combined. They will take more ownership in their work with FedEx as well, increasing productivity in all respects. Furthermore, the loaders will have a greater sense of career path and belonging. One major drawback to that now is that as part-timers, they are not fully accepted by most of the rest of the workforce, who tend to be long-established full-time employees.

Assessment

In order to assess the effectiveness of these changes, we first need to define the key measures. In terms of health, the key measure will be man-hours lost as a percentage of total man-hours. The company has statistics already on the amount of time that workers are out injured, and this can be reconfigured so that we have strong historical figures with respect to the man-hours lost due to injury on the loading job. It is hoped that over the course of the next year, we will be able to see a reduction in man-hours lost that is greater than the normal standard deviation. By launching this initiative across a range of stations, we can gather a statistically significant sample within the first year.