Worker productivity in the U.S. accelerated ahead of forecast in the second quarter of 2007. Productivity, a measure of employee efficiency, rose an annual rate of 2.6%, the highest increase in almost two years and up from a previous estimate of 1.8%, the Labor Department said in September, 2007.
Organizations accelerated their use of simple automated systems within their operations over the last several years. These simple automated systems provide substantial increases in floor space usage and decreases the labor required for their daily productivity.
"By optimizing their labor efficiencies, operations are hitting new levels of productivity which translate into higher national levels of profitability and shareholder return on investment," says Ed Romaine, Chairman of the Order Fulfillment Council of MHIA (Material Handling Institute of America. "We've been watching a dramatic increase of carousel and VLM usage within many applications and this past quarter the benefits helped translate into the highest quarterly productivity levels in two years."
"Utilizing simple automated systems such as carousels and VLMs in all parts of daily operations is often accompanied with such a high Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and fast Return On Investment (ROI) that I'm not surprised by the record setting increase in productivity," Romaine stated.