Hello Print Shops: do you want to double your workforce?
…Probably not. Growing your print business is an exciting goal, but let’s face it: doubling your workforce is far less appealing. The challenges of finding, training, managing, and motivating new hires—especially for night shifts—can quickly become a logistical and financial nightmare. And once you have those employees, do you want them spending their time on low-value tasks?
Operators walk away from their press
Operators often leave their presses or finishing equipment to retrieve substrates or transport printed media to the next station. These walks across the shop floor—sometimes taking 10 to 15 minutes per trip—add up fast. The result? Downtime for your machines and inefficiencies that slow down production.
As you plan for growth, now is the time to consider automating your material handling.
The Solution: Mobile Robots
Imagine a more efficient, streamlined production process where mobile robots handle the transportation of pallets and trolleys containing substrates or printed media:
- Perfectly timed movements for the next job.
- No more misplaced pallets.
- No more wasted time looking for materials.
- No more cluttered shop floors filled with unnecessary pallets.
By keeping operators focused on value-adding tasks at the press or finishing stations, you’ll see an immediate boost in operational efficiency. Machines run longer, and your skilled employees are more motivated when they’re not stuck performing manual pallet transport—activities that could consume up to 30% of their time.
A Smarter Way to Scale
Forward-thinking businesses that invest in growth often prioritize automating material handling. Here’s why:
- Improved layout planning: Eliminate the need for excessive buffer space by making pallet movements more efficient and predictable.
- Reliable internal logistics: Mobile robots operate consistently across three shifts, ensuring continuous workflow.
- Higher productivity: Operators spend their time where they’re most effective, not hauling pallets.
The Bottom Line
If you’re serious about doubling your business, don’t let inefficiencies eat into your profits. Automating material handling allows you to scale up without adding unnecessary labor costs. On the other hand, doubling your workforce without addressing these inefficiencies risks cutting your profits in half—or worse.
Now is the moment to automate your material handling.