Industrial order picking: proven efficiency gains with Esense Impact Analysis

Cause: heavy order picking trolley limits productivity

In an industrial warehouse environment, order picking trolleys are used intensively throughout the day. Fully loaded, these trolleys weigh up to 300 kg and are pushed and pulled over long routes. Operators regularly indicated that moving the trolley required significant effort, especially during peak operations.

While physical strain complaints did occur, the company’s primary challenge was operational efficiency. Long driving times, limited loading capacity per trip, and physically demanding handling were restricting productivity. To gain clear insight into the potential efficiency improvements and the return on investment, the company chose to perform the Esense Impact Analysis.

Health Analysis: insight into physical load

As part of the Esense Impact Analysis, push and pull forces were measured to understand the physical load during daily operations. The following parameters were taken into account:

• Trolley weight: 300 kg
• Route length: 100 meters
• Frequency: at least 10 routes per day

Based on ISO 11228-2 ergonomic guidelines, the maximum allowed peak force for this task is 13 kg.

Measurement results, manual vs. electric drive

• Manual driving:
  • 10x exceedance of the peak force limit during manual driving
  • Peak forces up to 23 kg measured (limit: 13 kg)
  • Sustained force limits were also exceeded
• Esense drive wheel:
  • Peak forces stayed within ergonomic guidelines
  • Pushing and pulling required significantly less effort
  • Driving became more consistent and faster

While these findings clearly demonstrate reduced physical strain, they mainly served as supporting evidence for smoother, faster, and more efficient operation.

ROI Analysis: efficiency gains drive the business case

The ROI Analysis focused on the efficiency impact of equipping five order picking trolleys with esense electric drive support:

Efficiency gain through higher driving speed

With electric assistance, operators move trolleys faster and with less effort. Based on 160 minutes of driving per day, the analysis calculated a substantial reduction in total driving time, resulting in immediate productivity gains and cost savings. In reality, daily driving time may be even higher, further increasing the benefit.

Efficiency gain through higher maximum load per trip

Electric drive support allows each trolley to carry an additional 100 kg per route. This reduces the number of routes required and increases throughput without adding extra equipment or personnel.

Over the product lifetime, the combined efficiency improvements result in more than €100,000 in savings for these five trolleys alone. The investment in esense drive systems pays for itself quickly.

Result: higher productivity, strong ROI & reduced physical strain as a bonus

For this industrial company, the Esense Impact Analysis clearly demonstrated that esense electric drive support is a powerful efficiency and productivity tool with an excellent return on investment.

The added benefit is that operators experience significantly less physical strain, which helps prevent fatigue and absenteeism, further strengthening the business case.

“We mainly wanted to improve efficiency, and the numbers speak for themselves. The fact that the work also became much lighter for our operators is a very welcome extra.”
Operations Manager

Facts & figures

• 1,2 year payback time (based on product lifetime of 10 years)
• 5.840 hours saved (based on product lifetime of 10 years)
• 614% ROI