Search Results
December 03, 2008
By: CartPro
Category: Material Handling, Productivity Tips, Warehousing, fulfillment, logistics
Continuing our Monday post, today we provide more tips to ramp up warehouse efficiency by improving material handling processes in distribution centers. In a recent Supply Demand Chain article, TriFactor systems engineer Greg Tuohy offered these suggestions:
- Re-evaluate pick tech. Eliminate paper-based picking in favor of auto-enhanced technology. Implementing radio frequency (RF), pick-to-voice or pick-to-light technology can make your operation more efficient. Evaluate the density of SKU locations, throughput, product characteristics and specialized procedures such as serial number tracking to determine the pick technology best suited to your operation, Tuohy advises.
- Evaluate pick method. Decide which picking method is most cost effective for your operation. Piece picking where the picker walks the aisles picking and completing one order at a time is the most time-consuming and, therefore, most costly. Small, maneuverable powered tugs can facilitate far more efficient batch picking where all orders are picked simultaneously in a single pass. Dolly pullers and electric tugs can also be used to streamline operations that use assembly-line style zone and wave picking. Powered carts and tugs help streamline your operation by increasing the speed and volume of work that can be accomplished by each worker.
- Multi-task. Practice task interleaving which combines picking with the put-away process, Tuohy suggests. Interleaving ensures that operators and equipment are always tasked, that time and energy are not wasted on empty loads. The idea is to create a continuous loop where equipment is always loaded, bringing materials to pick locations and returning empty pallets or delivering picked product to shipping locations.
- Minimize downtime. Equipment requires planned maintenance. A proactive maintenance plan will minimize downtime and save time and money. Planned maintenance should be conducted on equipment and automated systems on a regular schedule. Correct small problems immediately and keep frequently needed spare parts on hand.
- Protect power supply. Assess the vulnerability of your power supply. Lightning strikes, power outages and power spikes can wreak havoc with distribution systems, says Tuohy. Work with your local electric company to install surge protectors and other recommended protections. Battery-powered carts and tugs with enough juice to work through an entire shift can be the lifeline that keeps your operations moving when Mother Nature throws a fit.
No Comments →
November 21, 2008
By: CartPro
Category: Food industry, Manufacturing Industry, Material Handling, Nursing Homes, Pharmaceutical industry, Products, Safety and Ergonomics, Warehousing, fulfillment, hospitals, logistics, retail industry
Responding to customer need, DJ Products announces the addition of a new dumpster mover to its world-recognized line of ergonomically-designed, battery-powered cart pushers. The DJ Products dumpster mover easily pulls heavy trash and recycling dumpsters and containers to the curb or a designated location for pick up. The new dumpster mover provides an excellent solution for retailers, office buildings, apartment and condominium complexes, hospitals and nursing homes, hotels, shopping centers, manufacturers, distribution centers, and any business that has to haul heavy containers for trash or recycling pick up.Â
Trash and recycling containers and dumpsters are typically located near trash compactors and bailers deep inside underground parking garages or in designated areas on the plant floor. These heavy containers must be maneuvered around equipment or vehicles across crowded floors or parking garages to designated collection sites or to the outside curb for access by waste haulers. Due to the heavy, unbalanced loads they contain, trash and recycling containers and dumpsters can be extremely awkward and difficult to move and maneuver, particularly around obstacles. When performed manually, the task of pushing and pulling these containers across long distances and up underground slopes to street level puts workers at high risk for expensive and debilitating musculoskeletal injuries.
DJ Products’ ergonomically designed dumpster mover eliminates the pains and strains associated with manually pushing heavy carts and wheeled equipment. Its compact design allows this dynamic cart mover to maneuver easily through tight spaces such as hallways, aisles, doors and crowded parking garages. A powerful 36-volt motor makes this heavy-duty tug capable of muscling dumpsters and containers weighing 500 to 10,000 pounds. The new DJ Products dumpster mover turns a three or four-person job into a quick and easy one-person operation. This powerful battery-operated waste mover can easily push or pull heavy dumpsters or trash/recycling containers up sharp inclines, over asphalt and even through snow and ice.
Visit the DJ Products website for more information on our new battery-powered dumpster mover and to see this amazing ergonomic tug in action. Call 1-800-686-2651 or contact us online to talk to one of our engineering specialists about arranging a free demo trial of our new dumpster mover. Â
No Comments →
October 22, 2008
By: CartPro
Category: Material Handling, Nursing Homes, Safety and Ergonomics, hospitals
In a cost-benefit analysis of ergonomics in hospital laundries, musculoskeletal injuries decreased and “88% of the workers felt the changes made their work better,” according to the report conducted by the School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. When you’re watching every dollar in a tight economy, cutting workplace injury and it associated hefty healthcare and insurance costs can give your bottom line a real boost.
Implementing ergonomic solutions to workplace problems provides the added advantage of increasing employee morale. When employees are happy, productivity, efficiency, quality and customer service improve right along with employee satisfaction. You benefit, and equally important, your customers benefit. It’s the ultimate win-win scenario.
In the two-year Canadian study of three laundries, both laundries that implemented ergonomic improvements and trained employees in ergonomic practices enjoyed a marked decrease in worker injury and unexpected escalation in employee job satisfaction. No changes in injury rate or employee psychosocial factors were noted in the control laundry which made no changes. The benefit-to-cost ratios for the two test laundries were 0.97 and 1.5, “demonstrating a one-year or less payback on ergonomic improvements,” the study reported.
In addition to medical/insurance savings, the greatest returns on investment were reported “in productivity and savings in overtime, turnover and return-to-work costs,” study authors noted. The incidence of medical costs and lost man-hours dropped from 48.8% to just 18.6% over the two-year study. The boon to workers was even more extraordinary. Questionnaires asked employees to assess how implemented ergonomic improvements had impacted their jobs:
- 70% reported that ergonomic improvements made their jobs less physically demanding
- 69% said they were less tired
- 75% noted less muscle soreness
- 75% said their job was now more interesting and more varied
- 93% said they felt happier and more satisfied about their job
DJ Products’ highly maneuverable motorized cart pushers and cart pullers are specifically designed to meet the needs of hospitals and healthcare facilities. The CartCaddyShorty electric cart pusher can maneuver heavy laundry carts, food trays or diagnostic equipment from 3,000 to 20,000 pounds. Our flatbed powered cart allows easy movement of materials, parts or machinery by a single operator.
Our smallest caddies are designed for lighter loads and exceptional maneuverability in challenging settings. The CartCaddyLite electric cart puller can manage loads up to 1,000 pounds and is easy to manipulate when maneuvering in constrained spaces like equipment-filled hospital rooms. Excellent response from easy to handle ergonomic controls also assures instant response when negotiating heavily-trafficked hospital corridors.
For complete information about DJ Products’ ergonomically designed cart pullers and pusher for hospitals and the healthcare industry, visit our website.
No Comments →
Welcome to DJ products, Inc. blog. 
