Pennsylvania-based distribution centre technology provider Lucas Systems is rolling out technologies to improve productivity, comfort and ease of use for warehouse workers.

The technologies aim to reduce worker stress, provide a less physically-taxing work experience, and help on-floor supervisors with tools to be more agile.

A supervisor management consoleprovides flexibility and agility to customise data, dashboards and analytics specific to the operation and needs. Supervisors and managers can get actionable information in a way that’s easy to understand and use through customisable consoles.

Algorithms and machine learning help workers take up to 50% less steps inside the warehouse by showing them the optimal path to navigate. This is relief to physically-stressed on-floor workers as they can often walk 8 to 16km in one day.

On-floor workers can use small wearables for scanning.Lucas Systems certified its voice-enabled optimisation suite, Jennifer, to run on a Zebra WS50, a small all-in-one Android enterprise-class wearable mobile computer.

These products and other insights around technology training, warehouse environments and methods for division of labour resulted from Lucas Systems’ in-depth interviews with warehouse workers as well as a commissioned study, polling 500 US warehouse workers nationwide. The research examined workers’ relationships with technology as well as their fears, expectations and perceptions about their daily jobs.

Additional insights were released in the “Competing for the Warehouse Workforce of the Future” guide along with recommendations for attracting and retaining a future workforce with attitudes around loyalty, work-life balance and workplace satisfaction. One insight is that a majority of Gen Z workers (73%) say robots will help them achieve greater accuracy and speed in their jobs.

“These are all signs that tomorrow’s warehouses will need to operate differently than they do today,” said Lucas Systems CMO Ken Ramoutar. “Gen Z workers expect to use modern technologies like they use at home. Handheld and personalised, tech must be easy to use and must help them save time and mitigate exertion.”

He said the firm’s recent tech advancements and its research insights offered a warning shot to warehouse operators who weren’t willing to adapt and change.

Lucas Systems helps companies transform their distribution centre by increasing worker productivity, operational agility, and customer and worker satisfaction using voice and AI optimisation technologies.