A New Parcel-Cage Size and Tracking System: Effects on Transportation and Handling in a Logistics Company
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Widroth, Linnéa
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
When transporting parcels via trucks, optimizing the loading capacity (load factor)
is important for economic and environmental reasons. Accessibility to parcel-cages
in the parcel process is important for the delivery to run as efficiently as possible.
The load factor of the truck is underutilized with the current parcel-cage, thus there
is potential to increase the load factor with a different solution. One track in this
master’s thesis is to investigate how a new size of parcel-cage affects transport efficiency,
ergonomics and time of handling cages. Another problem is the occurrence of
long- and short-term shortages of cages in the process. A second track will therefore
be to propose a new tracking system for the cages.
A triangulation of methods: literature studies, quantitative studies and qualitative
studies; was used in this project. Interviews, observations and statistical data
gathering and analysis were used to define the current state of transportation and
handling of the parcel-cages. For the new solution, a literature study and quantitative
study were carried out for the two tracks, defining and evaluating the optimal
cage size and proposing a new tracking system. A comparison between the current
state and the new solutions was conducted.
The optimal cage size was defined so that two cages could be stacked on top of
each other, using bars inside the trucks. The new cage can potentially transport 39
% more parcels per pallet place than the current one, with regard to the average
number of parcels transported in the different cages. The load factor in the truck
increases by 44 % with the new cage. Packing parcels into cages was identified as
the riskiest work task regarding physical ergonomics. The cages were divided into
three zones depending on the lifting heights. The medium zone (from knee-level to
shoulder height) is considered an acceptable lifting zone. The low and high zones
are considered more ergonomically risky lifting heights. The study indicates that
the new cage dimensions increase the number of acceptable lifts by 44 %, thanks to
the difference in lifting heights. An evaluation of the physical loading for situations
with different weight of parcel, posture and time was conducted. The combination
of high-weight of parcels (>15 kg) with unsuitable lifting heights resulted in the
riskiest situations. Since more cages are needed to transport the same volume of
parcels, the time for handling the cages may increase by around 44 % for some work
tasks.
Cage shortages can be reduced by providing knowledge of how the cages are transported
and the inventory levels at the terminals, to facilitate empty cage transportation.
The study suggests that the cages can become more available with a passive UHF (Ultra high frequency) RFID (Radio-frequency identification) tracking system
at cage-level.
The findings indicate that transport efficiency and physical ergonomics can be improved
with the new cage size, while the time required for handling cages may
increase. The new tracking system could reduce the handling time with a more
automatic system and reduction of work tasks in production.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Parcel handling, Cage handling, Parcel-cage, Transport efficiency , Physical ergonomics, Tracking system.