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UI/UX can play an important role in supply chain improvement | LoadProof

 


This best practice is about the importance of UI (User Interface) in improving the distribution center productivity. In this day and age where Apple and Android have completely changed the user experience that is so easy to understand and use the app. Particularly in the distribution center the time is spent significantly on training the end users. I’ve seen many distribution centers that are literally revolving doors, where personnel come and go. All these personnel go through training for days or weeks to understand and to improve their proficiency in their work.

If 50 percent of the employees leave after getting trained that’s still a lot of time wasted. Then that’s also a lot of dollars spent on the training time. These kind of training scenarios could be significantly reduced if you choose a tool with a very good UI. The mobile technology is evolving and at the same time it is very important to choose the tools with the best UI because that will not only reduce your training time and but can also simplify the processes. For example, I had this customer where they have this laminated card given to every single operator where in all the keys such as the function keys, hotkeys and all the different keystroke sequences that they have to enter is printed. They have to constantly take it out and then refer to execute that function. This could have been simplified in the tool with a very good UI, in the form of macros.

You can execute 10 keystrokes in one button and get to the point where you can start executing the function. The Macro START button that executes the job instead of doing all these 10 steps manually that could be forgotten easily or you could get it wrong. Forgetting is one thing, but also keep in mind that especially when you are using these mobile devices and doing high-speed picking or replenishments or when you’re pulling a product from the reserve location it’s important to keep that function very simple.

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