Our last blog post ‘What are exoskeletons?’ was a big hit. That’s why we test the exoskeleton for you in the first episode of ‘Beri & Jasmine on tour’.

A quick recap: what are exoskeletons again?

Exoskeletons support and empower the movements of the body, reducing the physical toll of the work. For example, an exoskeleton makes it easier for the employees in our depots to lift heavy objects, making the work less physically demanding and helping to avoid back pain. They also stabilise the spine and help maintain an ergonomic posture. Due to the number of heavy tyres at our Wittenwil depot, the exoskeletons are used to make our employees’ day-to-day lives easier there. Our colleagues Beri and Jasmine from the Marketing team tested the exoskeletons.

The results are in

Setting up the exoskeleton properly is no mean feat, but it gets easier with a little help and practice and you can do it faster. The robotic sounds when we walked were quite unusual and funny to begin with, but we quickly tuned them out. Our focus on the work and our curiosity about the exoskeleton certainly helped push them into the background.

During our effective three-hour test, the roughly 8 kg exoskeleton gradually began to feel heavier and heavier – all the more so for us ‘softies’ from the office, because we are not used to being on our feet for so long. A short side note that the time after the test is when we normally enjoy our coffee break in the office. 😊

If you compare those 8 kg against an average relief of one tonne per person per hour, however, the exoskeleton definitely does a lot to protect the back over an entire shift. And we can confirm that this is indeed the case. Our muscles were definitely sore after work. At any rate, we were able to skip the gym and enjoy the nice weather instead.

Additionally, our conversations with our colleagues at the Wittenwil depot showed that you get used to working with the exoskeleton in time. Kemal, for example, feels the greatest relief with the tyres. The automatic generation of the ‘straight bend’, the strength of which could be adjusted to suit our needs, proved extremely helpful and was very noticeable when we lifted parcels and tyres. The analysis was a real eye-opener too:  1.5 tonnes of weight compensated, 18,000 steps taken and 300 lifts (straight bend).

We are excited to see the rest of the feedback at the end of our test phase at DPD (in February 2023). But for now, we say they are a wonderful innovation!

 

What topics are you interested in?

What should Beri and Jasmine test next? Don’t hesitate to send your suggestions to [email protected]

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With warm regards,

 

Beri & Jasmine