Tag: Material Handling

Reducing Strains, Aches and Pains

The biggest danger in the workplace may not stem from the loudest crash or ugliest fall, though these instances can cause injury they are pretty rare when compared the injuries relating to the use of poorly designed material handling equipment.

Many distribution center managers understand that the use of forklifts and powered carts makes their workers jobs easier, but they fail to realize that easier may not always be safer.  In order to prevent overuse and repetitive stress injuries the equipment that your employees are using needs to be ergonomically designed.

All of the battery powered lifts and carts offered by DJ Products are designed to move without putting any undue stress on your employees’ bodies and they also put the material in the best possible position for lifting.  This keeps nagging aches and strains, which can ultimately result in the need for time off, to a minimum at the same time as increasing the staff’s overall productivity.

Operating your facility with equipment that forces your employees to strain to get the job done or that puts their bodies in uncomfortable positions while completing everyday tasks puts everyone at risk for injury.  This can lead to more absences, lower productivity and higher rates of workman’s compensation claims costing your operation quite a bit of money in the long run.  By upgrading to the highly efficient, battery powered equipment from DJ Products you can all but eliminate these risks from your workplace and you can greatly improve the physical portion of the job for your employees.

Outdated equipment can put your employees and your productivity in jeopardy, and though a material handling equipment upgrade will have an initial investment – the benefits of healthy and more productive employees are well worth the cost.

Upcoming Material Handling Conventions

We help you stay on top of your game with cart caddies to improve your warehouse and facility productivity and safety. Industry conferences help you get ahead of the curve by connecting with industry leaders to discover new techniques, best practices, and exciting new products.

Here are upcoming material handling conventions to attend:

Handling Expo 2014

November 27 to 30, 2014

Cairo, Egypt

A huge convention with exhibitors from the US and around the world, this international event will draw reps from global firms. Learn about the art and science of worldwide material handling and distribution and enjoy an exciting trip to Egypt.

Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association

2015 Annual Convention & Exhibitors’ Showcase

April 18 to 22, 2015

San Antonio, TX

The 2015 MHEDA conference will be held two weeks earlier than usual next year. The JW Marriott Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio will host the event, featuring four days of informative talks and discussions with leaders from around the industry.

SIL 2015

17th International Logistics and Material Handling Exhibition

June 9 to 11, 2015

Barcelona, Spain

This international conference features showcases and education on material handling segments such as forklifts and cart caddy solutions, industrial transportation, and related fields such as telematics and logistics.

MODEX 2016

Bi-Annual Show

April 4 to 7, 2016

Atlanta, GA

The next MODEX will be held in April 2016 at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta. You can view webinars online from the last MODEX to get a taste of the show.

Plan on attending? We’ll be at many upcoming conferences to showcase our cutting-edge ergonomic cart pushers.

Tips for Ramping Up Warehouse Efficiency

The economy is forcing everyone to tighten up operations. Efficiency is today’s business byword. In a timely article posted on Supply Demand Chain, TriFactor systems engineer Greg Tuohy offered provocative tips to ramp up warehouse efficiency by improving material handling processes in distribution centers.

  1. Know where you’re at. Before you can decide where to make improvements, you have to know where you are, says Tuohy. Review operational data and break it down so you can see where your money goes and relationships between processes. Start with the big picture, but break it down to figure the cost of each element in the process. This will show you where you’re getting the best value for your dollar and where you need to tighten up your operation.
  2. Define customer service. Tuohy recommends defining your commitment to customers as narrowly as possible to allow more accurate measurement of success or failure. Defining what constitutes achievement of a perfect order, including labeling, delivery time, damage and documentation, also defines employee goals and customer expectations. Aim for realistic and achievable results that will give you a competitive edge.
  3. Touch it once. Each time an item is touched invites human error. Track the number of times an item is touched from the time the order is received until it ships out of your facility. Work to eliminate as many steps in the process as possible.
  4. Look up. When you need to expand operations, expand upward into unused overhead space instead of laterally. Elevating operations makes more efficient use of available space, allowing you to extend the useful life of your facility.
  5. Map SKUs. Gather data on SKUs in inventory, says Tuohy. Carefully map each SKU for shape, weight and velocity of use. Knowing how fast items move from demand to use allows you to slot your facility for maximum efficiency. “The data also allow you to take advantage of the cubing features of most warehouse management systems in order to calculate the appropriate-sized carton to use for a respective order,” says Tuohy, thus reducing carton and packing filler expenses.

Next time: More ways to ramp up warehouse efficiency

Keeping Up with the Trends

The world of business, and subsequently warehousing and material handling, is ever changing.  To be successful you must adapt as your customer needs change and there is never a more serious time to serve your customer as a time where the economy is suffering.  If you can’t provide the service that your customer needs, you better believe that he or she will find someone that can in an effort to serve their customer and keep their doors open.

Recent trends have shown that some businesses are being forced by the economy to move into smaller properties in an effort to cut overhead and continue operating.  Some of these businesses will require their suppliers to change from a customary “pick and pack” type supplier to someone who is willing to store materials until they are needed.

Warehouses and distribution centers who are asked to provide this service to their customers need, more than ever before, to be properly organized and capable of staging and shipping orders quickly and accurately once an order is received from their customer.  Direct shipments to end users may be necessary and the overall volume of shipments may increase causing the environment to become faster paced and more hectic.

The need for accurate and properly stocked inventories becomes crucial in this type of environment; because there is no time for error when direct or expedited shipments are required.  One way to ensure that your workers can both accurately receive and store materials and to ensure that material can be pulled and staged for priority shipments quickly is to have the proper material handling equipment available for use.

The ergonomic, battery powered carts and scissor lifts from DJ products operate quickly, cleanly and quietly for an entire shift on a single charge, allowing your employees to focus on the accuracy necessary for pulling and receiving orders rather than on the back breaking labor of manual material handling.  In order to become and stay successful your team needs to be fast, accurate and efficient and one of the best ways to achieve that level of performance is to operate with the best possible equipment.

Preventing Catastrophe

More than five thousand workers are killed on the job every year; weekly reports can be viewed on OSHA’s website detailing the individual events that caused the fatalities.  This is a very scary number, but what’s scarier than the sheer number of deaths that occurred is that many of them probably could have been prevented.

For the week ending May first (the latest week with an available report), there were nearly twenty fatalities.  One of the accidents involved an employee of a major national retailer who climbed onto a storage rack and fell while attempting to get back onto a ladder.  There are other instances on the weekly report that point to poor judgment on the part of the employee and many that occurred as a result of faulty or malfunctioning equipment.  These reports show that the proper employee training and education and the presence of properly functioning equipment that is specifically designed to handle the type of work being performed can most certainly prevent injuries and very likely save lives.

Warehouse and material handling equipment needs to be more than just fast, it needs to be reliable and safe in order to provide the best possible work environment.   The best material handling equipment is quiet, reliable and easy to use because equipment failure and overly complex controls can increase the chances for accidents and injuries.

Employees need to be properly trained on how to use each piece of material handling equipment that they will encounter while performing their job duties and they need to be well aware of all general safety procedures and practices for the workplace.

There will always be injuries in a line of work that requires plenty of physical labor and the transport of heavy materials, but with the proper education and the safest and most reliable equipment, those injuries can be kept to a minimum.

Material Handling Product Sales Are Booming – All The Way to 2018

The proper material handling equipment helps companies operate more efficiently and protects employees from accidents and back injuries. It reduces the damage that can occur to materials during movement and storage. Increased competitiveness in all industries requires every business to look for ways to maximize their available space, improve customer service, and lower indirect labor cost. Research by the Freedonia Group shows more industries are implementing advanced automation equipment and investing in material handling equipment to ensure their continued success.

Mike Deneen is a senior industry analyst for the Freedonia Group. Deneen says much of the strong gains for material handling equipment will be in the area of large-scale factory automation and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that contribute to automated warehouse environments. He expects U.S. demand for AGVs and robotics to increase by about 6 percent, with durable goods manufacturers accounting for half of the material handling equipment demand through 2018.

In addition to manufacturers and global distribution companies seeking to reduce labor cost, more small service and trade companies are also recognizing the benefits of energy efficient products like car pushers and electric lift trucks. These easy-to-use pieces of equipment can move cars and trucks of up to 20,000 pounds on a flat surface, increasing productivity for mechanic shops and car dealers, while protecting employees from injury and keeping vehicles damage-free. With a low-maintenance design and simple 36 volt, 3 battery system, these car pushers have little maintenance cost.

DJ Products has a full line of energy efficient caddies and tugs for any size business. Contact our knowledgeable Sales Engineers at 800.686.2651 to discuss which solution best fits your individual material handling needs.

Battery Powered Carts Reduce the risk of injury

Operating a forklift or battery powered cart without following the necessary safety guidelines is a huge risk that can result in serious injuries or even death, but not all material handling injuries stem from improper use on the part of the operator.  If you allow any employee to operate material handling equipment that you know isn’t functioning properly, you are putting every employee in your business at serious risk.The older a piece of equipment is, the more likely it is to malfunction or breakdown, which can cause delays in the completion of work and potentially lead to injuries.  Forklifts and powered carts require regularly scheduled preventative maintenance, but if there is ever a question of proper operation it needs to be tended to immediately to ensure your employees’ safety.Distribution of materials is often a fast paced environment with many activities going on at the same time.  There may be dozens of employees scurrying around the warehouse filling orders and receiving shipments while a number of machines are working to load and unload trucks or put away stock – if even one of these pieces of equipment malfunctions it could lead to several serious injuries.In order to keep your fast paced environment as safe and productive as possible, you need to have the safest and most reliable equipment.  Battery powered carts and lifts from DJ Products are engineered to be quieter, safer, more reliable and cheaper to operate than traditional forklifts and lift trucks.  Each piece of DJ Products equipment is ergonomically designed to prevent many of the nagging injuries often associated with manually material handling and easy enough to use so a single employee can tackle heavy jobs quickly and safely.Truly efficient warehouse and distribution environments don’t rely on equipment that may or may not get them through a shift.  In order to be as safe and successful as possible your equipment needs to be the safest around and completely reliable day in and day out – and that’s exactly what DJ Products strives for with every piece of equipment sold, including our battery powered carts.

Supply Chain Digest Announces Fall Workshops

Supply Chain Digest is pulling out a heavy-hitter to headline its annual fall workshop on improving distribution center and warehouse management and performance. Ken Miesemer, Senior Consultant at St. Onge and former Director of Distribution and International Logistics for Hershey Foods, will lead two fall workshops being sponsored by the industry magazine. “Best Practices in Distribution Center Design, Operations and Management” will be presented in Philadelphia on October 21-22 and in Atlanta on October 28-29.

Author of the book Start-Up of a World Class DC, Miesemer said, “These workshops use outstanding materials that have been extremely well received by logistic professionals, and deliver concepts and insight that aren’t just theory but which have been proven in real-world distribution environments.”

Billed as “hands-on, practical training sessions,” Supply Chain Digest’s popular Professional Education Series workshops encourage interaction between instructors and distribution, warehousing and logistics professionals. In addition to Miesemer, Supply Chain Digest editor Dan Gilmore will review supply chain execution software systems. Course materials include distribution analysis and decision-making tools and templates that attendees will be able to implement in their own operations. The discussion and provision of practical action plans is a hallmark of Supply Chain Digest workshops.

The workshops will focus on the implementation of best practices to improve labor productivity, operations efficiency and inventory accuracy using proven techniques and technology. Course highlights include: building and material handling equipment design, testing design through automation, organizing to minimize bottlenecks, workforce performance management, fostering a culture of continuous development and improvement, differentiating solutions, redefining bid specifications, controlling risk driven margin expectations, and much more.

“Best Practices in Distribution Center Design, Operations and Management” workshop details:

  • October 21-22 at Penn State Great Valley Conference Center in Malvern, PA just outside of Philadelphia 
  • October 28-29 at Georgia Tech Conference Center in Atlanta, GA

Click here for a complete course outline and hotel and registration information.

“Where do you get off …?” Why DJ Products Talks About Economy, Politics

We cover a lot of ground in the DJ Products’ blog: general material handling news, business and production tips, product specifications and applications, industry trade shows, ergonomics, government regulations, and manufacturing forecasts. To the apparent annoyance of some of our readers, we also discuss the economy and politics.

It’s our view that today’s astute business person is interested in a broad view of the business world, as opposed to a narrow, industry-specific perspective. Because he/she realizes that American business does not exist in a vacuum, the savvy business person is interested in not only what’s in front but what’s coming over the horizon. It’s the economic and political landscape of our country that shapes that future view.

One of the purposes of this blog is to provide a forum for discussing those broader forces that affect U.S. business. If our readers just wanted to learn about DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed carts, tugs and movers, they could visit our website. But we think they want more, and we’re not the only ones. Many industry bloggers stray off their own narrow subjects to address the greater concerns of business. And, like us, they get the occasional reader comment, “Where do you get off ….” talking about the economy or politics or whatever annoys the reader. 

Mike Botta addressed this issue in his March 2 post on the Industrial Equipment News blog. Botta labeled it “Stimulosis Psychosis,” which he defined as “a rare disorder that causes people to temporarily lose touch with today’s economic, political and business realities.” Botta has run into the same issue we have: Blog readers complaining that they prefer to get their economic and political news from other sources. It seems to be a question of bona fides. While we agree that we are not national experts in the field of economics or politics, who better to discuss how the broad concepts bandied about in Washington will actually affect the businesses forced to apply them than the business owners tasked with the job?

An excellent case in point is national ergonomics standards. Ergonomics standards have waxed and waned with Washington’s shifting political winds: in with Clinton, out with Bush, coming in again with Obama. While business owners generally support ergonomic measures because they increase production, lower overall costs and improve worker health and safety, the state of the economy has many worried about the expense of implementation and reporting procedures if the feds get involved.

Politics and the economy are all part and parcel of doing business in America. It’s like Botta, who writes about industrial equipment, says in his blog, “No Industry = No Equipment.” Without a viable U.S. industrial community, material handling firms have no market for their equipment. A healthy industrial community is dependant on a healthy economy and, right now in particular, a healthy economy is dependant on politics.

Part 1: How Much Can Ergonomics Save Your Business?

As Congress debates passage of a health care reform bill, the potential cost of meeting new health care requirements is causing some consternation in the business community. Small business owners in particular are concerned that new federal income surtaxes may take too big a chomp out of profitability. Some are even worried that too big a health insurance bite could force them out of business. Among other things, the current plan could cost small businesses 5.4% in new health care taxes and levy payroll taxes of as much as 8% on other businesses. Of course, who knows what the final bill will actually look like, but taking proactive measures would seem to be a wise move.

Implementing an ergonomic plan now and switching to ergonomically designed material handling equipment is a proven way to lower workplace injury rates and significantly decrease the need for medical services. Lower risks mean lower insurance costs. The day is coming when businesses that use ergonomics may enjoy special discounts like homeowners now receive for installing security systems and smoke detectors. It’s something business owners might want to address with their insurers.

Back injuries account for more workers’ compensation claims than any other workplace injury. They are just one of a class of injuries termed musculoskeletal disorders that involve injury to the body’s connective tissues. These injuries to muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage or spinal discs account for no less than one-third of U.S. workplace injuries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cost of a musculoskeletal injury goes beyond immediate medical care. Often extensive — and expensive — physical therapy or other post-injury care is required. On average, workers miss more work days for musculoskeletal injuries than for any other type of workplace injury. Once workers return to the job, the incidence of reinjury is high and many will be unable to fulfill their originally assigned duties. Particularly if reinjury occurs, there is a high risk of permanent disability.

Part 2 on Monday