Author: christopher Harper

MHEDA’s Trends for 2014 – Are You Ready?

The Material Handling Equipment Distributing Association has released its 2014 Critical Impact Factors.

Among MHEDA’s 13 factors are a few that tie into the way you satisfy customers and employees alike:

Critical Impact Factor: To build loyalty and trust, distributors must provide the customer with value-added services.

What you can do now: Talk to the best customers – both yours and those of your competitors. A casual lunch or a golf game can foster open dialog about what they find important. Learn what kind of services are important to them, whether it’s pre-sale consultation  or after-sale training on their motorized carts and powered movers.

Critical Impact Factor: Members need to develop a strategy to utilize, implement and measure the benefits of web technologies, mobile apps, online marketing and social media as business development tools.

What you can do now: Take your marketing online. Today’s inbound marketing harnesses the power of the Internet to help the best prospects find you. Content creation is the key. When you create and publish original, high-value blogs, videos, eBooks and other content, you build credibility and guide casual web visitors into qualified leads.

Critical Impact Factor: Retention of top performers is critical and steps must be in place to motivate and develop existing employees.

What you can do now: Work with your employees to develop career tracks and growth plans that take advantage of each person’s unique strengths. If you haven’t already got one, implement a recognition program. “Acknowledgment is essential,” notes Business Insider, “and even the briefest notice and attention makes a huge difference. It’s about remembering workers are humans, not machines.”

As always DJ Products is at the forefront of providing solutions for all your industrial equipment needs. As you plan ahead to grow your business for 2014 we invite you to check with the staff at DJ Products to see how our customized equipment moving solutions can improve productivity and lower staff injuries.

DJ Products is Team Cart Caddy

DJ Products is one of the top manufacturers of electric and motorized material handling solutions. Our new website demonstrates all the reasons why we’re Team Cart Caddy, and why you should be too.

Our goal is to provide you with material handling options that are safe and ergonomically designed while remaining cost-effective. They’re so easy to use that they can be handled by a single person, leaving your other employees free to work on other duties.

The relatively compact size of our movers along with their generous range of movement allow for more effective maneuverability, even in tight spaces. Your employees will find them to be more convenient and manageable than traditional equipment like fork lifts. As a result, they’ll use them more frequently which results in greater productivity and fewer workplace injuries.

Team Cart Caddy offers a selection of pushers, pullers and tugs to accommodate a wide variety of applications. Simply click on “Industry” on the menu at the top of the page to locate your specific requirement. “Applications” gives you images of our products in actual workplaces. Select “Products” to view a complete listing.

If you can’t find your industry or you’re unsure about the best solution for your application, our friendly, knowledgeable Sales Engineers are ready to assist you. Call 800.686.2651 to speak with them directly or submit a question on our website. For additional convenience we also have a handy online chat feature.

Our team has solved more than 10,000 material handling applications for customers. We welcome the opportunity to help with yours as well. Visit our website and become a member of Team Cart Caddy.

The Rise of Ergonomics in Industrial Design

The staggering cost to American industry (see our previous post), coupled with the movement to make the workplace healthier and safer gave rise to the use of ergonomics in industrial design. Ergonomics is the science of fitting the job to the worker with an emphasis on worker safety and comfort. Its goal is to maximize efficiency and productivity by reducing worker fatigue and discomfort. The implementation of ergonomic principles in America signifies a radical change in the way industry approaches equipment design.

According to Wikipedia, “The term ergonomics is derived from the Greek words ergon (work) and nomos (natural laws)” and was first coined by Wojciech Jastrzebowski in an article written in 1857.  But the idea of ergonomics is not new. In the 5th century BC, the ancient Greeks used ergonomic principles in designing tools and performing certain tasks. Hippocrates’ description of a surgeon’s workplace shows ergonomic principles at work. Frederick Taylor, who pioneered Scientific Management in the late 1800s, sought the optimum method of performing a task. In experiments, he was able to triple the amount of coal workers could shovel by reducing the size and weight of the shovel. In the early 1900s, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth built on his method with their Time and Motion Studies. The Gilbreths worked to increase task efficiency by eliminating unnecessary steps and movements. In application, they reduced the number of motions required to lay bricks from 18 to 4.5, tripling hourly productivity. But it was the industrial demands of World War II that allowed the principles of ergonomics to be applied across a broad range of applications, heralding the modern birth of this new branch of applied science.

California was the first state to adopt an ergonomics standard in 1997, prompting other states to consider similar standards. While there is no overriding federal ergonomic safety standard, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has developed ergonomic standards for specific industries and tasks. Compliance is addressed under OSHA’s General Clause.

Next time: The practical benefits of ergonomics

New Tax Deductions Aid Equipment Purchases

The same Economic Stimulus Act that’s going to be putting cash in your pocket this spring could save your business even more money on capital equipment purchases made before the end of the year. In addition to the much publicized individual tax refunds the government plans to start handing out in May, Congress’ Economic Stimulus Act provides businesses with two significant tax benefits on purchases made in 2008:

  • a 50% depreciation allowance on 2008 purchases, and
  • an increase in the expensing limit for tax years beginning in 2008.

Qualifying specifications may seem a bit complicated (this is the government, after all) and may limit your potential tax benefit, but most companies stand to gain. Click here to read the IRS’ explanation of the tax benefits provided to businesses under the 2008 Economic Stimulus Act.

“If you’re thinking about making a large expenditure, 2008 is a good year to do it,” CPA Michael Cecere of the Massachusetts accounting firm Gray, Gray & Gray told Modern Materials Handling.

The special 2008 tax package is expected to have a greater effect on smaller purchases than on major equipment investments which generally require months of planning. Because there is still ample time to identify solution-specific needs, industry experts expect to see an increase in small scale equipment purchases. The one-time tax incentives may also encourage companies to implement sidelined projects and crunch the timelines on existing projects to complete equipment purchases before the year-end deadline.

Material Handling Headed for a Workforce Crisis

Not a single one of America’s top players in material handling and logistics wanted their sons and daughters to be working in a distribution center as adults. That was the shocking result of a show-of-hands poll Benoit Montreuil, president of the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education, took during a speech at last summer’s Material Handling and Logistics Summit. The straw poll of industry leaders caused Montreuil to take a hard look at the future of material handling and the workforce issues that will help define that future.

Montreuil believes America’s growing workforce crisis, which he said is not industry specific, is rooted in three issues:

  1. As Baby Boomers retire, there are fewer workers to replace them. America’s workforce is shrinking.
  2. America’s next generation of workers prefers white collar jobs to jobs in factories and distribution centers. To cut costs, many businesses are outsourcing labor jobs to foreign countries. Immigrant laborers comprise the largest segment of factory and distribution workers, a trend that is growing.
  3. Material handling and logistics jobs are perceived to be dull, entry-level jobs requiring little skill and garnering bottom-rung pay.

The obvious short-term solutions are to import more foreign workers eager to work in America under current conditions and for present pay levels, undertake a major marketing initiative to change the negative image of material handling and attract a new workforce, and computerize and automate our operations to minimize manpower needs. However, Montreuil warned that long-term solutions will require a change in the material handling industry’s paradigm.

Next time: The future of the material handling industry.

What Is the Future of the Material Handling Industry?

The future of the material handling industry is at a crossroads in America. A declining workforce, decreased interest in blue collar jobs and negative perceptions about pay and job satisfaction threaten the future of material handling. The short-term solution for survival is to hire an increasingly immigrant workforce, mount a PR campaign to revamp our image, and automate to minimize manpower strain, says Benoit Montreuil of the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education (see our April 18 post). “I believe that each of these three solutions has merits in specific settings,” said Montreuil, “but that it will be insufficient for addressing the scale and scope of the emerging crisis.”

If we are to survive as an industry, material handling must change its basic paradigm, warns Montreuil. He believes that by automating many of the steps in warehousing and logistics, we have stripped workers of the opportunity to think, make decisions and have input into their jobs, the very things that provide job satisfaction. When workers are merely required to follow a pre-determined pattern, as in pick-to-light solutions, they become little better than robots, says Montreuil. By removing the challenge from the job, he believes, we are losing our most important resource — the intelligent, innovative worker.

The alternative paradigm that Montreuil envisions is a material handling industry that relies on highly-skilled, certified logistics professionals operating in self-sufficient teams in distribution centers, factories and logistics applications around the world. These professionals would be “trained to exploit all the physical handling and transport technologies,” says Montreuil, combining automation with manual operations to achieve maximum efficiency. In his utopia, Montreuil sees a material handling industry that offers “career paths for their talented workforce.”

Ergonomic Wheel Design Improves Productivity

In our last post we talked about the importance of wheel design in reducing friction. But why is that important? The answer is that any design element that decreases the force that must be exerted by the operator to manipulate a piece of equipment increases efficiency and decreases the risk of potential injury. The result is greater productivity. This is the goal of ergonomic design both in the design of equipment and the environment in which it will be used.

When a wheeled piece of equipment is used, the operator must first overcome inertia and friction. The initial force necessary to start an object in motion is far greater than the sustained force necessary to keep it moving. Once in motion, optimum sustained, or rolling, force is achieved when a steady, constant velocity is achieved. Any need to decrease or increase velocity requires increased force to combat inertia. This is particularly noticeable during turning and maneuvering when significant force must be applied to change direction. Stopping a piece of wheeled equipment requires the same high level of force as starting it. As when accelerating, the operator must overcome high levels of inertia and friction to decelerate.

The four physical elements required to move a piece of wheeled equipment — starting, rolling, turning and stopping — can place tremendous stress on the operator’s musculoskeletal system. If performing these tasks manually, workers frequently overexert and strain muscles while applying the necessary force to start or stop a piece of equipment. Turning and positioning equipment can cause operators to assume asymmetric body postures during exertion which can cause musculoskeletal injury.

Ergonomically designed carts and tugs seek to achieve the optimal wheel size, type, placement and composition to decrease the force an operator must exert to move a piece of equipment.

The Art of Solving Material Handling Problems

How do you solve material handling problems in your business? Often the people charged with solving a problem on the floor or in the plant have no experience actually performing the tasks that are involved. The biggest hindrance to problem solving in business or industry can be management’s tendency to rely strictly on reports and charts. Sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty. 

As they say, there’s no substitute for experience. For instance, say you want to improve order picking productivity. In most operations, pickers spend 60% of their time walking. Obviously, measures that will reduce walking time will increase productivity. On paper transport routes can be planned, inventory placement can be allocated, cart loads can be configured and assembly points can be designated to presumably increase worker efficiency. On paper everything can look great, but on the floor reality can sabotage the best laid plans.

We’re not saying planning isn’t important. Of course it is. But it should be considered a starting point, not an end product. Before final implementation, you should take your plans for a test drive. Give ideology and reality a chance to meet. You’ll usually find that when put into practice paper plans need some serious tweaking to ensure that they achieve the desired results.

In our order picking example, picking items may not actually be located where expected due to warehouse concerns or overstock issues. In the picking area, items may not be optimally located. Picking bins may require workers to reach or stretch unnaturally, risking potential injury and decreasing productivity. Individual productivity can vary greatly between workers, particularly between seasoned and new employees. Picking items may not be transported to pick areas at an optimal rate. Transport surfaces can present their own challenges. Rough or sloped surfaces can decrease efficient transport. Batch sizes may not be optimally configured. Large batches or items may require transport on multiple carts. Reconfiguration to optimize cart loads can increase efficiency and productivity. While these issues may not be obvious on paper, they are obvious in practice and present considerable obstacles to efficiency and productivity.

Next time you work to solve a material handling problem in your business, spend some time walking in the shoes of your workers before you implement a final solution. It’s a sure way to guarantee success.

Six Sigma + Ergonomics = Productivity Gains

Implementation of a comprehensive ergonomics program is often initiated by a business for the obvious safety and financial benefits realized in reduced workplace injuries and their attendant costs. What many business owners fail to realize are the significant productivity gains possible when ergonomic practices and ergonomically-designed equipment are adopted. Businesses that practice Six Sigma have been quick to see the potential for sustained productivity gains when ergonomics are integrated into workplace practices.

Utilization of the 5-step Six Sigma process can help a business build a successful and sustainable ergonomics program that will not only produce impressive immediate production gains, but sustain and continue to improve those results over the long-term. Six Sigma practitioners have found that adoption of ergonomic practices and use of ergonomic equipment optimizes worker performance, reduces production cycle time, increases cost competitiveness, and empowers workers. The end result is increased production, improved product quality, a happier workforce committed to improvement, and a satisfyingly positive impact on your bottom line.

Six Sigma’s disciplined, process-oriented approach to problem solving involves five steps that are easily applied to development of a comprehensive ergonomics program:

Define. It’s important to know what you’re working toward, so the Six Sigma process begins by establishing the goals to be achieved. Clearly define the problems to be addressed by reviewing injury, illness and workers’ compensation claim data for commonalities. Production bottlenecks, quality issues, rework costs, and warranty costs are other problem indicators. Don’t neglect the important area of staff morale. High absenteeism is indicative of low morale. After defining problem areas, establish specific goals for improvement in each area. You’ll also need to determine tracking metrics and establish support and educational resources.

Measure. In order to correctly measure improvement, you need to pinpoint your starting point. Collect information about your workers and their abilities. Define the parameters and potential risk of each task, paying particular attention to potential stressors, including site lines, posture, reach required, force expended, repetition, vibration, noise levels, work environment temperature, etc. Collect data about the individual steps required to perform each task.

Analyze. Analyze the data collected to discover the root cause of each problem. Evaluate and identify risks associated with each task. Don’t neglect to talk to the workers who actually perform each task. They can provide astute insight into what works, what doesn’t and how to improve the situation. Before implementation, carefully evaluate potential process improvements, equipment and tools for their ability to solve the problem as well as risk potential. Determine and prioritize improvements to be introduced into the workplace.

To be continued Friday

Boat and Camper Maintenance Made Easy with a Trailer Pusher

The end of the Summer is upon us and for many people that means officially having to close up shop at the campground or marina.  Boats and small campers have been utilized to their fullest for the last few months and may need either minor or major repairs prior to being stored away until next year’s vacation season.In dealerships or facilities that repair, restore, distribute or even manufacture boats, campers and trailers there is nothing that makes the job easier than a trailer pusher.  In environments where a trailer pusher isn’t available, employees might be required to move a heavy trailer manually, which could potentially result in serious injury.  A trailer pusher quickly and easily hooks up to standard ball coupler, gooseneck or kingpin trailers and allows a single person to safely move even a heavy camper or boat from one location to another, with minimal chances of personal injury or damage to the unit or surrounding property.Trailer pushers are compact in design and operate on battery power, which means that they are quieter while in use and quite a bit easier to store than a bulky, propane operated forklift.  A trailer pusher has a much tighter turning radius than a full size forklift so employees will have a much easier time maneuvering boats and campers around in small repair bays or crowded parking lots, resulting in less of a chance of bumps, scrapes and scratches that would make for unnecessary additional work.Boats, campers and trailers are just too large and cumbersome for employees to try and move around manually and using improperly designed equipment will often result in accidental minor damage.  Using a trailer pusher to get a boat or camper from point A to point B on the assembly line or in the repair shop is the best way to keep both your employees and the units themselves as safe as possible when a move needs to be made.