Ferguson Enterprises in Appleton, Wisconsin removed the rolling ladders from its warehouse aisles and replaced them with the Big Joe J1 Joey. Pickers now ride up to the shelf clipped in with a tether instead of climbing a rolling ladder with product in one hand.
Removing the rolling ladders made picking safer and faster. Warehouse Manager Brian Wesoloski says the Joey has cut overtime by two to three hours a week, with no service calls since the trucks arrived.
"Since we've purchased the Joey, I've been able to reduce overtime in our warehouse probably by two to three hours per week," Wesoloski said. "It's almost like an extra person working for you."
Wesoloski has worked at the Appleton branch for nearly 18 years. As warehouse manager he oversees shipping, receiving, scheduling and the drivers who take product out the door.
The warehouse stocks material from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Reaching the upper rows meant a large rolling ladder parked in every aisle.
"We had a ladder in every aisle. They just take up space," Wesoloski said.
Space was only part of the problem. Ladder safety calls for three points of contact, and that is hard to keep when you are carrying product.
"The requirement of three points of contact on a ladder is very, very difficult, carrying material up or down," he said.
Ferguson never had a slip, trip or fall on its rolling ladders. The team chose not to wait for one.
"It literally was based on safety," Wesoloski said.
The branch brought in Big Joe Joey task support vehicles for order picking and restocking shelves. Each operator wears a harness and tethers to the truck before going up.
"I physically can't fall out of these. I have a tether," Wesoloski said. "My guys are all strapped in. This day and age, it costs too much to have a guy get hurt. Plus, we treat our guys like a family. I don't want anybody to get hurt."
With the rolling ladders gone, pickers move up, down and between locations without stopping to reposition a ladder. Wesoloski says the Joey also turns in tight spots, so it can reach product when an aisle is crowded with material waiting to be put away.
"You can sneak that Joey in there and get any material you need from floor to ceiling," he said.
He has seen the difference in his team as well as his numbers.
"I've seen productivity rise by having the Joey here. I've seen morale rise by having the Joey here."
The Joey charges from a standard wall outlet. That means no separate charging area to set up and barricade.
Wesoloski counts that as one of the reasons he would point other Ferguson branches to the Joey. He also counts the uptime. Beyond the quarterly planned maintenance Ferguson already runs on its powered industrial trucks, the Joeys have needed nothing.
"We've had no service calls on any of them," he said. "They're very, very reliable machines."
Contact your local Big Joe dealer to schedule a demo of the J1 Joey and see how it could replace the rolling ladders in your aisles.