10 December 2024 - OfficeMax has equipped 40 of its Auckland distribution centre (DC) workers with the latest high-tech, wearable scanning technology to increase productivity in time for the company’s busiest period.
As New Zealand’s leading workplace solutions provider, close to half a million items* leave OfficeMax’s two DCs every week in January and February, as businesses, schools, and government departments re-stock critical workplace supplies.
This seasonal peak has prompted a $750,000 investment that supports the new glove technology to meet the demand, and follows a trial completed in late 2023 which resulted in a 20 per cent increase in individual productivity.
Before the investment, pickers would scan each box as it comes into their zone with a separate, handheld product scanner – an action done about 200,000 times per week.
“We recognised that our team were losing about five seconds every time they pick up, scan, and set down a handheld scanner – it was very cumbersome. It doesn’t sound like much, but the cumulative impact was significant across the workforce and especially during peak season,” says OfficeMax Managing Director, Kevin Obern.
With the new technology, pickers simply press their thumb down on the glove, which reads the barcode and transmits instructions to the picker’s headset about what to pick and from where.
“This blend of human capability and modern technology has streamlined a major part of the job for our team by freeing up their hands. It’s really exciting to see this adopted by our workforce.”
The roll out of the glove technology coincides with a $200,000 upgrade of its Talkman headset kits, as well as a $450,000 investment to rebuild its total network including high-speed, reliable WiFi in the DC to ensure faster, more reliable connectivity and remove coverage blackspots.
Lorraine Watson, who has worked in OfficeMax’s Auckland DC since early 2018 says the technology upgrades have made a meaningful difference.
“The new glove has been fantastic because now I can just press the button on my thumb and keep going – it’s less fidgety and we get more done,” she says.
The ongoing investment into new technology supports OfficeMax’s commitment to improving the efficiency of its DCs and future-proofing its operational capability.
More than $5 million has been invested in recent years, including installing automated box-making and lid applicator machines specifically designed to minimise packaging waste, adding solar panels to its Auckland DC and fully electrifying its mechanical handling fleet.
*The annualised quantity of products leaving OfficeMax DCs is approximately 100,000 p/w. During peak periods (January and February), this increases to approximately 465,000 p/w, across about 60,000 boxes.