I get that on a perfect day they were less efficient but when everyone is tired and its a day with a lot of heavy product being shipped out there is no way it wasnt faster.
You maybe get 2 hours of 100% but by the third with no end in sight of litter and water people slow down to pace themsleves. Just how it is.
It was also nice on really light plans (not that those exist anymore anyway).
You only needed three guys to run depal with the autos and nobody hardly lifted a box.
Getting trained on the autos also incentivized people to go to depal and work hard to be recognized.
For awhile now Depal has just felt like a dumping grounds for whoever the OM doesnt want to deal with.