Day: September 14, 2015

Improve Your Customers’ Experience with Our Shopping Cart Mover

Is there anyone who hasn’t come out from a shopping trip to find those telltale cart dings in their car doors? Using our shopping cart movers is a great way to help your customers avoid that annoyance when patronizing your store.

You undoubtedly have employees assigned to handle cart retrieval, but when it’s done manually it’s a cumbersome task. The associate has to round them all up then attempt to steer them back to the store without any escaping the line. Our motorized cart pusher moves up to 50 carts with less effort.

Once the carts are in line, your employee simply attaches the cart pusher to the back. He then moves to the front and steers with one hand while operating the mover with a convenient remote control. The ease of operation reduces the likelihood of injury and means your employee spends less time outside in bad weather conditions.

Stray carts in the parking lot presents a two-fold inconvenience for your customers. They have to navigate around the obstacles when entering and leaving the lot. It’s also difficult when they attempt to shop and there are no carts available. Our shopping cart mover gives you a solution for both issues.

The shopping cart pusher is only one of the full line of ergonomically designed, battery-powered tugs and tows from DJ Products. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff can recommend the appropriate solution for your application. Please call us at 800.686.2651 for prompt assistance. If you prefer, use our online chat feature.

Body Posture Plays Significant Role in Ergonomic Design

Body posture affects the amount of force that must be exerted to move and maneuver industrial carts and equipment. The human musculoskeletal system functions like a complex system of mechanical levers. Posture determines the positioning of our joints which, in turn, determines the reach of each muscle and the force needed to exercise it. Ergonomic design seeks to produce maximum force from each exertion by optimizing body posture. In creating a more efficient piece of equipment, the goal of ergonomic design is to minimize wear and tear and the threat of injury to the human body.

Optimal body posture generally changes a piece of equipment is moved. The horizontal force necessary to put equipment in motion gives way to a more upright stance as less force is needed to keep it in motion. Handle placement can affect the amount of horizontal push a worker is able to supply. Any angle above or below the horizontal plane will diminish the amount of force a worker can produce. The greater the angle, the less direct force can applied to horizontal movement. Due to variations in worker size, adjustable handles or multiple handholds will allow optimal force production for a greater percentage of your workforce.

Foot positioning can also have a significant impact on the amount of force a worker can produce. The greatest push force is generated when the body is in a lunging posture with feet separated, one foot some distance ahead of the other. Because this position places the rear foot beyond the body’s center of gravity, it unbalances the body, placing workers at increased risk for falls and injury. The risk of serious injury increases if push force must be executed on either an incline or decline.

The use of electronic or motorized carts eliminates the burden of force and the risk of potential injury from your workforce. Equipment rather than the worker’s body provides the push force to necessary initiate and maintain movement. Optimal force can be applied regardless of worker size and strength, maximizing the efficient use of your workforce and optimizing task completion.

Predicted Material Handling Slowdown to Be Short Lived

The predicted slowdown in the material handling industry is expected to be short lived, said Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) executives in a news conference last week. After a strong period of growth, contraction and consolidation are expected for 2008 and 2009 before the industry resumes growth in 2010.

“We have had double-digit growth for the last few years,” said MHIA executive VP of business development Hal Vandiver. “But there is a business cycle.” The slowdown is expected to be felt hardest in logistics sectors of the $156 billion material handling industry.

Overall consumption of material handling equipment is expected to contract by 5% over the next two years with new orders decreasing by 5% to 7% and shipments declining by 2% to 4%. High fuel costs are one factor contributing to declining diesel forklift sales. Industry is switching to more energy-efficient and maneuverable electric and battery-operated motorized carts and tugs.

The poor economy is also having an effect on the material handling industry. Many companies are deferring capital equipment purchases until the economy picks up. Fewer system-wide equipment purchases are expected in the next couple of years in favor of individual item and small order solution-specific purchases.

The graying of the American workforce as Baby Boomers aged, coupled with escalating health and insurance costs focused emphasis on ergonomic design in the material handling industry. As the Boomer generation retires, the importance of ergonomic design is expected to increase as the available workforce shrinks. Equipment that can be used safely and efficiently by workers of varying body type, height and strength will be vital to industry success.

Use Ergonomics to Improve Lifting Safety

Lifting and carrying are the two material handling tasks that result in the greatest number of worker injuries each year. (See our May 14 post on tips for ergonomic carrying.) Applying ergonomics to material handling tasks that involve lifting reduces the need for reaching and bending and the injury-producing stress those actions can place on the back and shoulders. Ergonomics also strives to reduce the amount of effort and force necessary to perform lift tasks.

Calculations of lift force involve both the amount of weight to be lifted and the time period over which the average worker can lift that weight without risk of developing lower back pain. Under ideal conditions, the maximum weight a typical healthy worker can lift with two hands over an 8-hour period is 51 pounds, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). However, a number of variables can significantly reduce the maximum lift weight. 

To decrease the potential risk of injury from lift tasks, both overall work flow and individual work tasks should be evaluated to eliminate unnecessary lifting. Where lifting is necessary, ergonomically designed equipment can be used to facilitate many lift tasks. Workers can also be trained to use ergonomic principles in performing lift tasks to minimize potential injury.

To decrease injuries caused by lifting, follow these suggestions:

  • Use ergonomic electric scissor lift tables and power hoists to lift and lower loads where possible to minimize manual lifting.
  • Minimize the distance materials must be lifted or lowered.
  • Use adjustable powered tugs that allow workers to position lift loads at the appropriate height for maximum lifting power.
  • Tag unstable or heavy loads to alert workers. Promote team lifting of such loads to minimize potential worker injury.
  • Test loads for weight and stability before lifting.
  • Reduce load weights and balance loads to facilitate lifting without injury.
  • Rotate workers between lifting and non-lifting tasks or have workers alternate lifting with non-lifting tasks to avoid over-straining muscles. 
  • Reduce the frequency of lifting and amount of time workers perform lifting tasks.
  • Provide clear access to materials to be lifted to prevent awkward reaching, bending and twisting during lifting.
  • Provide secure grips on materials to be lifted.
  • Provide sufficient foot traction with the floor to increase worker stability during lifting.

Shopping Cart Retriever Saves Money, Prevents Injury

You feel sorry for them when you see them in the parking lot struggling with a long line of shopping carts. Cart retrieival has got to be the least-liked job among grocery store, big box and other retail employees. It might not seem like too bad a job on a nice spring day, but cruising the parking lot for carts in the blistering July heat or the pouring rain or driving snow can be brutal.

Have you ever watched a cart retrieval operation? Workers walk hither and yon in a time-consuming search for carts, gathering them into an every increasing line. Often, carts tossed into corrals must be wrenched apart with force so they can be nested together correctly for the push back to the store. Some workers will try to muscle a line of carts half an aisle long, straining to push and pull what has become the equivalent of a fixed-wheel piece of heavy equipment. They use brute force to jerk the line of carts this way and that as they try to maneuver them into the store.

Manual cart retrieval is an open invitation to worker injury. Strained muscles —  particularly back, leg and arm — from muscling carts across the parking lot are common. Wrists can be sprained trying to jerk carts apart or force a line of carts into a curve. Smashed fingers are a daily occurrence. And all those injuries cost an employer money in medical bills, insurance premiums, workmen’s compensation and lost man-hours.

The shopping cart retriever system eliminates the drudgery, hard work and potential health concerns associated with rounding up shopping carts. The shopping cart retriever attaches to the back of a line of carts and can push up to 50 shopping carts, far more than even the strongest employee can attempt. With the cart pusher attached to the back of the cart train, an employee standing at the front of the line can easily steer the line of carts into the store using a remote control device to operate the retriever. Pushing the carts from behind, the retriever does all the heavy work, protecting your employees from possible injury. Click here to find out more about the handy shopping cart retriever.

What to Look for in Ergonomic Design

You can’t squash a square peg into a round hole. In effect, that’s the idea behind ergonomic design. Instead of trying to contort human bodies to work tasks, ergonomic design seeks to fit products, tasks and environments to the people who use them. The result is increased productivity, decreased expense and greater worker safety. Definitely a win-win scenario for business and workers.

Ergonomics factors the human element into work tasks by taking into consideration physical capabilities such as force, posture and repetition. The psychological aspects of a task may also be considered, including mental loading and decision making. Ergonomic design may call upon the expertise of engineers, safety professionals, industrial hygienists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, physicians and the workers themselves.

In creating ergonomically designed equipment, both typical tasks and work sites are evaluated. By identifying potential risk factors and conditions, equipment can be engineered to reduce those risks. Ergonomic design must account not only for a range of work site conditions, but also for an even broader range of potential workers. After all, workers come in all body types. Height, weight, physical condition, physical and mental ability, age and sex must all be considered in designing ergonomic equipment. Ergonomic design generally allows equipment to be adjusted to allow for individual differences. 

DJ Products manufactures quality ergonomically designed electric and motorized carts. On our website, you’ll find a handy Ergonomic Load Calculator you can use to estimate the amount of horizontal force necessary to move loads in your particular business environment. The experienced staff at DJ Products can assist you in selecting ergonomically designed equipment that meets the needs of your business. Contact a DJ Products ergonomic design specialist today.

Part 6: Why Businesses Fail, the Conclusion

Today we conclude our six-part series on Why Businesses Fail (see our posts starting July 14). One of the primary reasons businesses fail is:

  • Faulty attitudes and objectives. Businesses fail when personal or company desires are placed ahead of customers’ wants and desires. You don’t run your business; your customers run your business. Customer satisfaction is the single-most important factor in driving business and repeat business to your door. Businessmen who forget that don’t remain in business long.

    Employee satisfaction goes hand-in-hand with customer satisfaction. When businesses fail to value their employees, employee satisfaction plummets, taking with it production quality and efficiency and customer satisfaction. It’s a downward spiral from which businesses don’t recover without an attitude adjustment. The bottom line is that it’s the human element that guarantees business success.

DJ Products understands the value and importance of customer and employee satisfaction — both ours and yours. That’s why we manufacture and use ergonomically designed electric carts and motorized cart pushers and equipment movers. Our equipment is smaller, more maneuverable and less costly to purchase and operate than traditional powered equipment like fork trucks, walkies and riding tugs. And our equipment is designed to eliminate the pain and strain of manually moving heavy carts and wheeled equipment. We value the health and safety of our workers — and yours.

DJ Products’ expert sales staff can assist you in assessing your material handling needs. On our website you’ll find a handy Ergonomic Load Calculator designed by experts to estimate the amount of horizontal force needed to move wheeled loads. Our sales staff can help you calculate load factors and recommend material handling products designed to protect the health and safety of your workers. Visit the DJ Products’ website for detailed specs on our complete line of products. If you have a material handling problem, DJ Products can provide the solution.

Ergonomics Can Help Decrease OSHA Reporting

One way to keep your company out of OSHA’s crosshairs (see our previous post) is to embrace ergonomics. Using ergonomic principles to design equipment, plan workstations and structure task performance has been proven to significantly decrease worker injuries and fatalities. Businesses reap additional benefits in decreased medical, insurance, disability and worker’s compensation costs. Fewer man-hours are lost to injury where ergonomics are practiced.

Lifting, repetitive motion, overextension and overexertion are common injuries in material handling, warehousing and logistics environments.  Injuries to the back, neck, shoulders, hands and wrists can result in serious, long-term disabilities — and the hefty medical and insurance expenses that go with them. Back injury is the most cited injury in worker’s compensation claims. Many of these injuries are preventable when ergonomic equipment and strategies are employed.

Making an investment in ergonomics is making an investment in your workforce. Demonstrating concern in your employees’ health and welfare has a direct and highly positive effect on worker morale and productivity. DJ Products can help you determine your ergonomic needs. Use our handy Ergonomic Load Calculator to estimate the force needed to move loaded carts, castered equipment and wheeled machinery. Our experienced staff can help evaluate your ergonomic needs and recommend ergonomically designed carts and tugs geared to improve the safety of your facility and protect the health of your employees. Your initial investment in ergonomics will be quickly balanced by savings in medical, insurance and disability expenses. Visit our website today for complete information.

Vehicle Pushers Reduce Injury Risk

DJ Products’ ergonomically designed vehicle pushers, movers and tugs can significantly decrease the risk of injury in the plant, out on the lot and on the assembly line. These products provide the perfect solution for vehicles or equipment that have straight wheels or are moved on a rail. They can be used in any application where no turning is involved or where an operator will turn the wheels.

Why risk costly injury to workers or damage to vehicles? Our vehicle movers push vehicles safely from behind, preventing workers from straining or over-extending muscles. The push pad on our vehicle movers is made of a soft, durable, padded material designed to prevent scratching or damage to the vehicle.

We produce several vehicle pushers to meet a variety of material handling needs:

CarCaddy. The battery-powered CarCaddy car and vehicle pusher is perfect for moving stopped or stalled vehicles that do not need to be steered and have pneumatic tires, including cars, trucks, campers, buses and machinery. The CarCaddy is the perfect solution for moving vehicles at dealerships and service centers and along highways. It excels in moving vehicles or equipment from station to station down a production line.

TrailerCaddy. The heavy-duty electric TrailerCaddy can be used to push and pull equipment trailers, RVs, campers and boats. It’s designed to move vehicles that must be lifted at one end before maneuvering that are usually pulled down the highway by a car or truck. The Trailer Caddy is the ideal solution for moving vehicles around a show room or trade show floor. It’s also ideally suited for moving trailers down an assembly line. A trailer lift kit is available.

DealerCaddy. The ideal vehicle mover for car and truck dealerships, this multi-purpose, battery-powered car, truck and trailer pusher can move vehicles up to 10,000 pounds. The adjustable-height push pad was created to contour to the rear bumper of any vehicle. Flip it back to expose a ball hitch for pulling cargo or trailers. With a heavy duty flat bed for hauling heavy tool boxes, equipment and supplies, the DealerCaddy does it all.

CartCaddyLH. A battery-powered electric tug, the CartCaddyLH has enough juice to manage your heaviest equipment loads. Designed to push and pull 10,000 to 50,000 pounds, the heavy-duty CartCaddyLH can push or pull just about anything on wheels. Compact and maneuverable, the CartCaddyLH has a 5th wheel option and customized attachment to provide multiple solutions.

How to Assess Your Ergonomic Material Handling Needs

Poorly designed workstations and task habits can result in serious health and injury problems for your employees. Back injuries, followed by neck and shoulder injuries are the most commonly experienced injuries in material handling settings. Proper ergonomic equipment design and tasking protocols can prevent potential injury.

Ergonomics is the science of fitting the task to the worker, instead of the other way around. Musculoskeletal injuries can result when workers have to pull, push, lift or stretch in the performance of their tasks. Assessing your ergonomic needs can be as simple as having a conversation with your employees.

Begin by closely examining the workplace and tasks. Review error and accident reports to identify potential problems. Observe how employees actually perform their tasks. Talk to the people who actually do the work. They have the best insights into what is and isn’t working effectively. Ask the following questions:

  • Are you in a comfortable position throughout the performance of your job tasks?
  • Do you experience discomfort, aches, pain, fatigue or stress? At what point in your tasks? Specifically what are you doing when you experience discomfort?
  • Is the equipment appropriate, easy to use and well maintained?
  • Are you satisfied with your workspace and tasks?
  • Are there frequent errors? What are you doing when these occur?
  • Do you have any suggestions for improving your workspace or tasks?

Analyze the responses you receive. Small solutions such as repositioning of task elements can often make a significant difference in worker comfort. Even when large-scale solutions are required, such as equipment purchase, the cost will be quickly defrayed in decreased medical, insurance, workers’ compensation, disability and lost man-hour costs.

On our website, DJ Products provides a useful Ergonomic Load Calculator you can use to help determine your ergonomic equipment needs. Our expert staff can recommend ergonomic product solutions for your most difficult material handling tasks. Visit the DJ Products website to view our complete line of electric and battery-powered ergonomic carts and tugs.