Solving the Impossible Triangle mystery

The coining of the title ‘The Bermuda Triangle’ in reference to mystifying disappearances of ships and planes in the Atlantic Ocean can be traced back to 1964.

50 years on and interest in the Bermuda Triangle is still strong; so strong in fact that a poll of over 20,000 people in 2010 determined that 41 percent of those polled believe the area is a danger to those that go near it, despite there being no scientific evidence to support the theory that it is any more unsafe than the rest of the Atlantic Ocean.

Just like the Bermuda Triangle, warehouses are also victim to unexplained disappearances – however, most commonly it is time in the form of driver hours that vanish and not physical assets. These mysterious losses of time in warehouse environments that adversely impact on warehouse productivity are attributed to the appropriately named Impossible Triangle.

With a simple sum you can begin to solve the mystery of just how many driver hours are lost to the Impossible Triangle:

1.    Make a note of exactly how many driver hours you are paying for each week. Label this number ‘Figure One’.

2.    Note down how many pallet moves your team performs per week. Label this ‘Figure Two’.

3.    Determine how long it takes to move a pallet on average. Label this ‘Figure Three’.

4.    Multiply the number of pallet moves (Figure Two) by the average time to a move a pallet (Figure Three). The calculated figure should equal the number of driver hours that you pay for (Figure One).

In most cases – much to the surprise of warehouse operators – the estimated figure is often close to only 80 percent of expected total driver hours per week. Is this similar to your calculated figure?

If so, then approximately 20 percent of your driver hours are being lost through warehouse inefficiencies, but where? To answer this question warehouse operators are turning to warehouse and logistics tracking systems, which if specified correctly enable effective warehouse pallet, driver and forklift tracking – helping to reduce and prevent the loss of time and money to the Impossible Triangle.