Aging Material Handling Equipment: Are There Risks for Your Company?

We have suspected that the average age of material handling equipment was creeping upward based on our observations in the large number of DC’s we visit.  What we needed were some facts.  To validate our suspicions we produced a survey on the topic of aging material handling equipment and got feedback from a large number of retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and 3PL’s.  We wanted to understand if our observations were right and also ask other questions about company’s views on their material handling equipment. A few of the highlights of the report are: The average age of material handling equipment in companies’ DC’s is 15.3 years. Approximately 35% of survey respondents have at least one system that is older than 20 years. Companies had on average 2.7 DC’s with material handling equipment older than 15 years. The top 3 ways companies identify equipment that was beyond its useful life was by the extent of lost employee productivity, considerable amount of downtime and excessive maintenance costs. A majority (83%) of company leaders are aware of the status of their aging equipment and the impact it has on operations. Company leaders strongly consider technological advancements, when considering replacing or upgrading material handling equipment. Increased demand on service levels and speed, operational flexibility, cost competitiveness issues and combining DCs/fulfillment centers (FCs) are the primary justifications for replacement of material handling equipment.