Plant & Works Engineering November 2022

T he new global economic reality, combined with an unprecedented labour shortage, is encouraging companies to reconsider sustainability strategies. Until recently, sustainability has been synonymous with environmental goals for many businesses and, as a result, treated as an add on to corporate strategy. Sustainability can no longer be considered in isolation. Sustainability in its true sense has always encompassed three core strands: social (people), environment and economic. Failure to consider the broader implications of business decisions is compromising long-term success. Why is one part of the business evaluating the environmental benefits of moving to battery-powered forklift trucks, when HR is finding it impossible to recruit forklift drivers? That, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to access the required power in an overstretched grid. Why is the power of automation being explored, without considering how it can drastically reduce employee risk and improve retention? Redirecting sustainable goals The legislative push for a more sustainable economy is affecting business decisions globally. In Holland, new build warehouses and distribution centres must be energy self-supporting to receive planning permission. In Mexico, a ban on driving lorries through built-up areas during certain times of day is improving the lives of locals and inspiring new logistics planning. In the UK, by 2023 large businesses will be compelled to outline in detail how they intend to hit climate change targets under proposed Treasury rules. This increased focus on sustainability is being felt by the materials handling and intralogistics industry. According to research undertaken by Joloda Hydraroll, 88% of companies confirm they are feeling pressure from environmental sustainability issues, with almost half (46%) believing the pressure to make environmental changes comes from the government / net zero strategy. These legislative demands come at a time, however, when companies in every sector are facing up to a new reality: the days of cheap, inexhaustible labour are over. From driver shortage to a lack of warehouse operatives, employee shortfalls are devastating performance and damaging reputations. The short-term response is to offer higher pay. In an era of raging inflation, this approach is not only dangerous it is doomed to fail: worker expectations have changed fundamentally. Prioritising employee experience Worker safety and wellbeing is a challenge for logistics and transport companies. Fewer people want to undertake strenuous, sometimes dangerous or unpleasant jobs. But manual loading and unloading can be a high-risk process. Forklift truck accidents are increasing, with 1300 UK employees hospitalised each year with serious injuries, and jobs can be both tedious and stressful on occasion. HGV drivers often spend hours waiting for trucks to be unloaded or loaded and then face huge pressure to reach the next destination within allotted hours. It’s in this context that companies are pushing forward with initiatives to meet environmental targets. Over a third (37%) have already made 30 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk November 2022 Handling & Safety Matters Focus on: Moving, Lifting & FLT Wouter Satijn, Sales Director, Joloda Hydraroll, explains how companies that operate in the (intra)logistics sector need to create joined-up sustainability strategies that encompass people, cost reduction and improving environmental standing for a sustainable future. Automating for a sustainable future