Life’s Abundance improves productivity and ergonomics

Problem identification

Executive staff from Life’s Abundance’s headquarters in Florida came to TAWI with a problem.  They needed to load 18+kg bags of dog and cat food from a pallet and into a box on the shipping conveyor more safely and efficiently. Since production began, employees would manually lift these heavy bags and manoeuver them into boxes.

Being a company that cares about their employees, Life’s Abundance wanted to find a back and time-saving alternative! Furthermore, while full time employees are dedicated to their work and the company’s mission, temporary workers would be uncertain about being asked to do this heavy lifting. They’ve even been known to not come back to the shipping line after lunch! The pace of the company’s growth would make keeping up with demand nearly impossible for warehouse staff without some innovation.

“It’s important to communicate to our staff that we care about them.”

-Sasha Stephens, Project Director, Life’s Abundance

The solution

Life’s Abundance had an expert come in to evaluate their workflow and help develop a solution. Having explored other lift assists, including a pallet lifter, nothing seemed to be the right fit. After an in-depth, weeklong analysis, one of the things the workflow consultant recommended was a TAWI vacuum lifter.

Successful implementation

As with any new change, there is always some apprehension. Some employees were concerned about whether the new equipment would slow them down but as we all know, sometimes speed doesn’t always win the race.

After installation, the employees enjoyed learning how to use the vacuum lifter and even referred to it as “fun”. It did not take long for the entire team to become comfortable using it. A couple of months in, the staff could not imagine going a shift without their TAWI multifunctional lifter.  Without question, they were finding it easier to keep up with demand without straining by using the new handheld vacuum lifter.

This was put to the test when Life’s Abundance had to quarantine staff from one of their warehouses over concerns due to COVID-19.  A small but diverse group of administrative managers was able to step in and take over shipping.  This temporary team successfully fulfilled all the day’s orders thanks to help from the TAWI vacuum lifter.

Expectations and gains

Life’s Abundance had high hopes that the TAWI multifunctional lifter would solve their dual problems of efficiency and safety. It has proven to help speed up their daily shipping process and allowed for increased package volume.  And importantly, choosing to integrate the vacuum lifter communicated clearly to employees that the company cares about their comfort, safety and job satisfaction.

The company has six warehouse facilities nationwide and will introduce a TAWI multifunctional lifter into each facility by the end of 2020.