December 8, 2020

5 + 1 Reasons to Renew the Lighting of Logistic Halls

When discussing lighting renewals of logistic halls, people first tend to think of energy savings.

No wonder: logistic halls are huge and at the same time, the occupancy rates of aisles and spaces vary a lot. With an aged, energy-intensive lighting solution and lack of lighting control, the lights continuously burn at full power in the entire facility and easily count for a major part of the real estate’s maintenance costs.

Energy savings are, without a doubt, an important factor when deciding on lighting renewals of logistic halls. However, we claim there are reasons that are even more important than energy savings. Let’s find out what they are.

1.  Improved workplace safety

In logistic halls, workplace safety plays an important role. The work-pace is often hectic, the halls are high-bay and forklifts with heavy loads operate and move around the aisles.

To work accurately and effectively, the luminance levels need to be high all the way from the floor to the top of the shelves. At the same time, the optics of the luminaires need to be carefully selected to limit glare and to create a uniform lighting result that supports the operations of the logistic hall.

With the right kind of luminaires and optics, glare limitation and uniform lighting can be reached in spite of high luminance levels. This way, lighting can significantly reduce workplace injuries and create a safer workplace for all.

Image: On the left, the lighting of the logistic hall is non-uniform and the upper shelf rows are partly left in the dark. On the right, the lighting of the hall is renewed with Greenled luminaires and carefully selected optics. The lighting result is uniform and the vertical surfaces of the shelves are much brighter while glare is kept at a minimum.

2.  Fewer errors

For any logistics company, minimising errors is an important factor. Regardless of the nature of the error, errors always disturb the core processes and create costs.

As the director of a logistics company, you are probably interested in the following:

• How many errors occur on average per employee in a month/year?
• What is the cost of errors on yearly basis?

Although automation plays an ever-growing role in logistics, the significance of lighting in logistic processes should not be underrated. Studies examining the industrial workplace have shown that an improvement in light levels by 200 lux reduces mistakes by as much as 8 %. The quality of light, including colour temperature and colour rendering abilities, also play an important role. With quality lighting, detecting contrasts and is easier and the shelf signs and texts stand out clearly. Mistakes can therefore be avoided.

With their lighting renewal, our customer Ferrometal was able to reduce picking errors and the feedback from employees was great.

“Right after the lighting renewal, our employees thanked us. The new lighting was perceived brighter and better and the working environment felt more comfortable.”

Jan Seipell, Logistics Manager, Ferrometal

To read Ferrometal’s case study and other related customer stories, visit our references page.

3.  Fewer maintenance needs

When lighting solutions approach the end of their life cycle, maintenance needs increase. The old light sources may have lost a part of their light output or simply broken down; hence luminaire replacements are frequently needed.

In high-bays, the luminaires are difficult to access and the replacements, therefore, take up a lot of time and effort to handle. At the same time, broken luminaires or luminaires with weakened light output create an additional safety risk and should therefore be handled without delay.

Replacing an aged lighting solution with a modern LED lighting solution reduces both maintenance needs and disruptions at the workplace.

The maintenance of the lighting solution can also be purchased as a full service, leaving the lighting solution provider responsible for the solution even after the installation. In the GreenCare service model, Greenled guarantees a functional lighting system throughout the whole contract period. The customer pays a monthly fee for a completely trouble-free lighting solution with a guaranteed service level.

4.  Improved well-being and EFFICIENCY

The effect that light has on our vision is quite easy to understand; with quality lighting and high luminance levels, we see better and therefore perform better and make fewer mistakes.

However, the influence that light has on our bodies reaches far beyond the visual effects. Varying light levels are at the heart of a human’s internal clock, also known as the circadian rhythm. Light and darkness control our hormone production, thus influencing our sleep, alertness, mood, memory and performance.

With lighting renewals, it means that simply settling on standard illuminance levels might not be the best option. Instead, the alertness and efficiency of individuals can be directly affected by designing the light levels, distribution and colour temperature with a human-centric approach. Human centric lighting does more than provides an adequate amount of light, it supports the well-being of employees. This way, the benefits are much greater for individuals, companies and society.

Image: A smart lighting solution represents a small share of the total cost, but its effects are very significant. The key impact of lighting is the effect on people, through which it is up to 100 times more beneficial than energy savings alone.

5.  More flexibility

In logistic halls, the occupancy rates between different aisles vary a lot. With the help of lighting control, light is emitted only where light is needed. This way, more energy is saved and the lifetime of the luminaires is extended.

But lighting control has other benefits, too. A smart lighting control system opens a completely new kind of window to real estate management with accurate and timely reporting on lighting energy consumption and occupancy rates. Along with knowledge, lighting control brings flexibility to real estate management. With the help of lighting control, the light level of luminaire groups and individual luminaires may be flexibly adjusted, altered and repurposed to fit different work tasks or future needs.

The light management system also shows the details of each individual luminaire, so regular maintenance check-ups are no longer needed. Instead, haulage needs may be predicted and any operational anomalies are instantly detected.

To conclude

What about that + 1 reason we promised to introduce in the heading of the article? Obviously, we can’t ignore energy-savings, as it is a very important reason to renew the lighting of logistic halls. In many occasions, the energy savings climb as high as 90 % compared to the previous lighting solution. This is achieved with efficient LED luminaires, thorough lighting design and smart lighting control.

However, we encourage you to take a close look at the other reasons mentioned above: improved workplace safety, fewer errors, fewer maintenance needs, improved well-being and efficiency, more flexibility. Aren’t these exactly the kind of things, that are worth reaching for?