fulfillment Archives - DJ Products

Preparation Can Aid in Overcoming Unforeseen Obstacles

There are a number of things, out of your control, that can hamper your ability to get shipments out to your customers in a timely manner. Any time you are bringing in products from a location that isn’t local, you can become the victim of shipping delays that can affect how quickly you are able to fulfill customer orders; and any time you are in need of an out of stock or made to order item, production delays can most certainly affect the prospected arrival date of materials.

Many of your customers may be understanding and not overly critical of you if the delays don’t impact their business too greatly, but others are only concerned with getting their order as quickly as possibly and don’t want to hear excuses of manufacturer delay.

Though your hands might be tied when it comes to manufacturer delays, you can help to offset these undesirable instances by being as prepared and efficient as possible in your own operations. Properly trained and motivated employees who operate in a safe and organized environment with reliable equipment can turn around freight from receipt to shipment much more quickly and much more accurately than employees who work in a cluttered environment with outdated equipment that could be prone to breakdown.

Lifts and carts from DJ Products can handle a heavy workload for a full eight hour shift on a single charge and they are designed with the employee’s safety in mind. All equipment from DJ Products is ergonomically designed to dramatically cut down on work related injuries and these lifts and carts make it easy for a single person to handle loads of material that would have required two people working with a manual cart.

You can’t control what happens outside of your facility, but by being as efficient and prepared as possible you can minimize the potential damaged caused by delays with quick and accurate actions within your facility.

Ergonomic Solutions for Warehouse Order Fulfillment

If your business relies on a warehouse to ship goods to your customers then you know that getting orders is only half of the battle. Once you have secured a customer’s order, it is then up to you and your team to see to it that the order reaches that customer in good condition as quickly as possible. We have no doubt that you have stressed the importance of filling orders quickly to your employees…but have you given them the right equipment to make this happen? It is important to give your employees the supplies so they can carry out your vision.

When employees are working as quickly as possible but using outdated or inadequate machinery, they are more prone to injury. In addition to this, rickety carts, unstable dollies, and overused scissor lifts can result in spilled or damaged merchandise. Having employees out on leave because of injury and losing merchandise to accidents can eat away at your profits and you do not want that.

DJ Products offers and entire lineup for industrial ergonomic material handling solutions including:

• Carts with casters
• Carts with 4-swivel casters or wagon-wheel style of turning
• Carts in a straight line
• Platform Trucks & Scissor Lifts

Our ergonomic cart pushers, electric cart pullers and other solutions eliminate the strain of manually pulling heavy product, parts carts, or wheeled equipment. Your employees can continue to work efficiently with a reduced chance of injury or product damage.

Our products are not one-size-fits-all. Contact us at 800-686-2651 to discuss exactly what you need and the customization options that will work for your industry.

Improve Warehouse Fulfillment with Powered Tugs

Employees who work in warehouse fulfillment need to locate items and get them ready to ship, loss and unload items, operate material handling solutions, among other duties. You are probably very aware of what these employees do. Much of their work is physical but it also involves the intellect. They need to check inventory to see that it matches up with purchase orders or packing slips, sometimes they need to count inventory and depending on the system at your workplace, they may need to interact with vendors and customers. At the very least, they need to interact with their fellow employees.

Material handling solutions are not just about saving wear and tear on the body; they also prevent the mind from being too worn out. Out-of-date machines that have to be carefully maneuvered to avoid injury or somehow jerry-rigged so they won’t fall apart can cause a lot of anxiety. If your employees work constantly with the nagging fear that the machines they are using are close to the breaking point this may put them on edge. And if they have been injured on the job but don’t want to tell anyone, the aches and pains they feel will compete with the mental processes they need to go through to get orders fulfilled correctly.

DJ Products offers a host of ergonomic material handling solutions, including powered cart pullers and warehouse tugs to protect body, mind, and worker morale. Feel free to contact one of our Sales Engineers at 800-686-2651 to discuss which of our products would be best suited to your warehouse operations.

How to Increase Pick & Pack Efficiency

With costs up and profits down, everyone is scrambling to improve efficiency. No matter what business you’re in, you’re trying to do the job faster and better — often with fewer people. Warehouses, fulfillment houses and distribution centers are particularly challenged, says Bill Hubacek of FKI Logistex North America in a recent article in Manufacturing & Technology eJournal. “Customers demand nearly 100% order accuracy; smaller and more frequent orders cover a greater number of SKUs; and senior management calls for lower costs and increased productivity.”

High volumes from more frequent orders and quick order-to-ship turn-arounds can place a significant strain on your system and your workers. As Hubacek points out, “picking and packing functions remain two of the most labor-intensive and costly jobs in the operation. When performed manually, picking and packing can be a major source of errors, expense and decreased efficiency.”

And a reputation for errors is definitely something you want to avoid. Errors erode consumer confidence and create a negative drain on customer loyalty. When the economy is tight, competition becomes even more fierce than usual. A reputation for order accuracy can ensure a high rate of customer satisfaction and garner valued customer loyalty. Anything you do to improve your workers’ ability to perform accurately while picking, packing and shipping orders is essential.

Hubacek makes a good argument for automating pick and pack operations, but most businesses are putting off that type of major retooling and restructuring effort until the economy improves. However, you don’t have to make a massive investment in automation to significantly improve productivity. Augmenting your workforce with a few ergonomically-designed powered carts or movers can improve the overall efficiency of your pick-pack-ship operation, increasing both speed and accuracy — and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.

DJ Products makes a full line of extremely versatile, highly maneuverable electric battery-powered movers designed to perform pushing, pulling and lifting tasks. Ergonomically designed to eliminate musculoskeletal injuries, DJ Products’ carts, tugs and movers take the physical burden of many pick-pack-ship tasks off your workers, allowing them to perform more efficiently. When not physically stressed, workers are able to perform tasks more quickly, concentrating on accuracy rather than the physical discomfort of the task. DJ Products’ powered movers allow you to add “mini-automation zones” to your warehousing, distribution or fulfillment process. And due to their versatility, DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed carts and movers can move with workers from one task to another or can be tasked to different key areas as needed.

Talk to one of our industry specialists to find out how DJ Products’ movers can improve your company’s efficiency — at a price you can afford.

Ergonomic Material Handling Equipment Meets Needs of Multi-Generational Workforce

Finding, training and keeping qualified workers is slated for discussion at the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) annual conference NA 2010 scheduled for April 26-29 (see our January 4 post). The conference will devote two educational sessions to managing the supply chain workforce:

How Industry is Changing Material Handling Training and Education will focus on the demanding skill sets now necessary to perform even entry-level jobs in highly sophisticated, automated warehouses, distribution centers and fulfillment houses.
Building the Workforce of Tomorrow will focus on the challenge of integrating multi-generational workforces successfully as baby boomers and the knowledge they harbor leave the industry.

The move toward more automated supply chain operations and the increasing sophistication of the technology that drives them presents a considerable workforce challenge for supply chain managers. Technology is necessitating a more highly skilled supply chain worker making it difficult to find suitable workforce candidates among the industry’s traditional unskilled labor pool. Exacerbating the problem is the coming retirement of skilled baby boomers who have been the backbone of the supply chain industry for decades. Supply chain managers worry that there simply won’t be enough new workers coming into the system to replace those who are leaving it. The poor economic climate has actually alleviated that part of the problem somewhat. Lost savings and pinched budgets have forced many baby boomers to return to the workforce or push retirement back a few more years.

While their expertise is welcome, the distinct physical needs of an aging workforce have thrown another wrench into the supply chain machinery. Ergonomic material handling equipment that removes the physical burden from the worker could be the key to accommodating senior workers. Adjustability allows ergonomically designed carts and tugs to accommodate workers of every shape, size, sex and physical ability, providing supply chain managers with maximum use of their workforce.

Automation Is Changing Warehousing

Warehousing and distribution centers are being forced to perform more quickly than ever before and meet a growing list of unique customer requirements. Automation is the key to success.

“To get more throughput while decreasing cycle times, more facilities are turning to the strategic use of automation for picking, conveying, storage and sortation,” wrote Modern Materials Handling editor Bob Trebilcock in a May 2006 Modern Materials Handling article on warehousing systems.

Over the past decade, automated systems have moved from simple stock locator systems to islands of single-task automation to the unified, integrated systems being installed today. Automation is speeding up every aspect of warehousing, including inventory control, receiving, material movement, picking, packing and shipping. Automation allows greater volumes to be handled in shorter timeframes. Today, automation allows customization of an end-user’s needs to be accomplished with amazing speed, accuracy and efficiency.

Engineering a customer’s requirements “into the workflow” and performing them as a matter of course, is the most efficient and cost-effective way to meet specific customer requirements, Trebilcock writes in a July 2008 Modern Materials Handling article. Some examples of using automation to meet unique customer requirements:

Pick-to-light solutions ensure order-picking accuracy and maintain throughput.
Synchronizing material delivery to the production line in the same sequence as component assembly and packing saves time on the order assembly line.
Automatic print and apply processes save labor in applying shipping labels and guarantee accurate shipments.

Anything you can do to automate your warehousing or distribution operation will improve speed and accuracy for your customers and allow you to handle a higher volume while still meeting unique customer requirements.

Using CartCaddy Products to Meet Customer Requirements

In our last post we talked about automation and how it is changing the face of the warehousing and distribution industries (see our Aug. 4 post). Automation allows businesses to handle greater volumes in shorter time periods. However, a major challenge in automating operations is the accommodation of unique customer requirements. Obtaining a customer’s business can depend upon your ability to meet their unique requirements. Doing so while maintaining a cost-effective operation can require both ingenuity and skillful management of material handling resources.

Tom Kozenski, VP of product strategy for optimization firm RedPrairie, suggested in a July 2008 Modern Materials Handling article that there are two ways to handle customer requirements: increase labor or engineer them into the normal workflow. “The first brings your operations to a grinding halt,” Kozenski said, citing the extreme cost. “The second allows you to differentiate your business from the competition.”

One way of engineering customer requirements into the workflow is to coordinate the delivery of components or raw materials to the production or assembly line with their use, Kozenski noted. Delivering materials to the assembly line in the same sequence that they will be used increases efficiency and production and, thereby, cost effectiveness. A combination of powered CartCaddies and pushers allows for maximum customization of this process.

On an assembly or production line, electric CartCaddy power tugs can be used to push or pull carts loaded with customer’s specific components or raw materials. Carts can be preloaded and delivered to the line in sequence. In a vehicle assembly plant, for example, CartCaddy power tugs can be used to deliver windows, doors and other components to the appropriate point on the assembly line for sequenced installation. In a fulfillment operation, batched orders can be carted and delivered for sequenced processing. Highly maneuverable, ergonomically designed CartCaddy products maximize the load a worker can move safely, thereby limiting the number of workers involved in material delivery.

The CartCaddy electric tug or CarCaddy vehicle pusher can then move carts, equipment or vehicles from station to station down the line. CartCaddy products are available to move equipment across the floor on wheeled tugs or on a rail.

Tips to Improve Warehouse and Distribution Productivity

There are three key areas to consider in improving productivity at your warehouse, distribution facility or fulfillment center:

Information flow must match physical flow. When the flow of information matches the physical flow of goods, inventories can be better managed and storage, pick-and-pack and retrieval operations can be streamlined, increasing productivity. It is important to realize that optimal inventory does not necessarily mean minimal inventory. To efficiently manage inventory and the flow of goods, look beyond weekly order statistics. Today’s global market demands consideration of complex logistics. If goods must be shipped from distant or multiple locations, maintaining a higher inventory of certain products can enable faster and more efficient customer response. Gathering maximum information about each specific facet of your operation allows you to discern customer and supplier patterns and the interrelationship of the many logistical factors that connect them. Developing a thorough understanding of “the big picture,” puts you in position to more effectively and efficiently direct the flow of goods through your facility.
Know and improve your total operation first. Before implementing new technology, particularly before engaging in the requisite evaluation that precedes a major change in your operation, make certain you have a thorough understanding of every aspect of your present operation. Current processes should be honed and improved to maximum efficiency and productivity before embarking on the time, expense and training involved to implement new technology. A thorough understanding of your total operation will enable you to make optimal use of current processes and pinpoint areas that can best profit most from new technology.
Automate where possible. As labor becomes more expensive and laborers become harder to find, automation is the key to increasing productivity. With the Baby Boomer generation reaching retirement age, the traditional U.S. workforce is beginning to shrink. There are fewer people available to replace the retiring workforce, and fewer young people are seeking jobs in warehousing, distribution and fulfillment. A smaller available workforce will be in a position to demand higher wages. Increased automation and, where automation is not possible, the use of equipment that allows a single worker to accomplish more tasks in less time can decrease necessary workforce and labor costs while increasing efficiency and productivity.

Plenty of Jobs Available in Material Handling Fields

With the economy down and unemployment up, jobs are a hot topic this election. As industry starts to feel the economic pinch, plants are closing, workers are being laid off and some companies are facing bankruptcy. But there are jobs aplenty in the material handling industry and the associated industries of logistics, fulfillment and warehousing.

There’s a severe shortage of qualified industrial workers in America, particularly in material handling fields, that holds promise for job-seekers. The material handling industry is expected to be “50% short in terms of employees needed by 2010,” said Virginia Wheeler, executive director of the Material Handling Industry of America’s (MHIA) Education Foundation. The growing worker shortfall guarantees job security well into the next decade for people going into material handling jobs in warehouses, fulfillment centers, logistics operations, and factories.

“Our industry is begging for people,” said Dan Quinn, MHIA VP for education. He feels America’s high schools are undercutting the value of the trade jobs that built and continue to build America. “A lot of schools measure themselves on the percentage of students who go on to college,” Quinn criticized. “Schools should embrace the concept that non-college-bound students are still valuable contributors to the economy and society.”

The reality is that many high school students are not interested in pursuing a college education for a wide variety of reasons. Many simply prefer hands-on, physical work to sitting at a desk. Many are anxious to get out on their own and lack the interest in four more years of schooling. Many do not have the financial resources to consider college but must provide for themselves immediately after high school graduation. As the recession deepens, finances are expected to play an increasing role in education/work decisions. Some high school juniors and seniors, like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s future son-in-law, have already been forced to drop out of school to help support their families. Some employers are offering their employees the opportunity to complete their high school education through GED programs.

It’s unfortunate that many high school guidance counselors are so focused on college that they ignore the positive opportunities available in material handling industries. Raising awareness of job opportunities is one of the primary challenges facing the material handling industry, said Alan Howie, author of Fundamentals of Warehousing and Distribution. “. . . the essential problem is we have to get the message out there that . . . work in the material handling industry is much more than a manual labor job. It’s a career in a high-tech industry. Our challenge is to build awareness of all of this in the schools and colleges.”

How DJ Products Can Help You Be a Survivor

As we’ve said in this space before, it’s going to take a firm hand on expenses, the guts to embrace innovative ideas and products, and the flexibility to act quickly when opportunities present themselves to survive the current recession. DJ Products’ ergonomically-engineered carts, tugs and movers can help you get the jump on the competition and position your business to move boldly — and successfully — into the future.

Cost effectiveness, worker safety, healthcare issues, energy and environmental concerns, immigration and a changing workforce — these are among the most powerful issues that confront businesses owners today. Customers, workers, the public and the government will all be watching how we address these issues in the course of business. It’s no longer enough to produce a fine product. Today, we’re also graded on how we produce that product and the cost or benefit to our workers and the environment, not just our customers. Government oversight and a watchful press have added a few links to the food chain.

Here’s how DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed carts, tugs and movers can help you successfully meet these challenges:

Cost effectiveness is key when every penny counts. When DJ Products’ ergonomic carts and movers are integrated into your workplace or production operation, full return on investment is typically realized within the first year or two through increased production and worker efficiency and decreased healthcare, disability and workers’ compensation costs.
Worker safety is one of the issues at the top of President-elect Obama’s to-do list. Stricter OSHA regulations regarding ergonomic issues are expected early in his administration. During his campaign, Obama promised workers a safer work environment which industry experts predict will mean tougher ergonomic standards and increased government oversight. Implementing an ergonomic program built around DJ Products’ carts, tugs and movers will put you ahead of the game as regulations tighten up. Ergonomically designed to take the physical burden off your workers, DJ Products’ carts improve workplace safety significantly.
Healthcare issues will be another key thrust of the incoming administration. Many of the plans being discussed in the press will increase the already difficult healthcare burden on employers. Ergonomic equipment is a proven way to significantly — and immediately — decrease employee medical, insurance and disability costs.

To be continued on Friday