Tag: Material Handling

Material Handling Education Foundation Supports Higher Learning

Material handling, logistics and supply chain are cornerstones of today’s business world. Companies continually seek improvement in these areas to achieve maximum profitability without sacrificing safety and environmental concerns. The Material Handling Education Foundation plays an important role in these goals by promoting education and student achievement.

The Foundation was established in 1976 for the purpose of distributing funds from private and corporate donations to students, teachers and schools. Since its inception, more than $2 million in scholarships and grants have been awarded. Focus is on the following fields of study:

  • Industrial, mechanical, electrical and civil engineering
  • Engineering technology
  • Computer engineering, computer science and business administration (concentration on distribution, supply chain and logistics)

Students who have completed at least two years of study are eligible to apply. They must also be currently enrolled in an undergrad or graduate program or demonstrate proof of plans to enroll. Finally, they must have a minimum B average in their post-secondary studies.

One of the most recent scholarship winners is Bailey Hofland, a mechanical engineering student at South Dakota State University. She has spent her summer vacations working for 3M, most recently as an engineering intern. Ms. Hofland has been involved in several projects, including one involving the improvement of a production status board that tracks output, downtime and attainment.

DJ Products is proud to be a member of such a vital and progressive industry. Our Team Cart Caddy solutions contribute to greater workplace efficiency along with improved worker safety. Please call 800.686.2651 to learn more from our friendly, helpful Sales Engineers. Our online chat feature is also available for immediate assistance.

Part 2: How Much Can Ergonomics Save Your Business?

As we began discussing Friday, pending health care reform could wind up taking a big bite out of businesses’ bottom lines. Businessmen who take proactive measures to bring down medical costs today will realize significant savings going forward. As we noted in our last post, largely preventable musculoskeletal injuries account for 33% of workplace injuries.

In 2007, U.S. workers suffered 335,390 musculoskeletal injuries requiring a median nine days away from work. National Safety Council statistics for 2008 list the following medical costs for common musculoskeletal injuries:

$15,313 – Upper back
$23,820 – Lower back
$12,726 – Hand, finger, wrist
$21,577 – Arms, wrist, shoulder

And that doesn’t include the cost of missed work days, insurance, workers’ compensation, disability, decreased productivity or low morale. Ergonomics can drastically reduce and generally all but eliminate the risk of musculoskeletal injury. Ergonomics is the science of adapting the equipment to fit the worker. Ergonomics recognizes the breadth of human differences and designs equipment that will accommodate those differences while supporting worker performance. The result is decreased injuries, improved productivity and increased worker morale. Costs go down and profits go up.

All this from a simple, well-designed piece of material handling equipment. Except there’s nothing simple about ergonomic design. Hours of careful observation, consultation, statistical analysis and engineering expertise go into the ergonomic design of each of DJ Products’ powered tugs and motorized carts. Every element in our ergonomic material handling equipment is strategically placed for optimal efficiency and ease of operation by the widest possible pool of workers. DJ Products’ ergonomic carts and tugs significantly decrease the risk of worker injury. Many of our customers report recouping their investment well within the first year of operation.

Don’t wait for health care costs to gobble up your profits. To learn how you can proactively reduce workplace injury, talk to one of DJ Products’ ergonomic experts today.

Introducing the Chain Drive Cart Caddy

How many of your employees does it take to move 50,000 pounds worth of product? If you’re using the Chain Drive CartCaddy from DJ Products, the answer is only one. This heavy-duty tug is one of the most powerful in our line of battery-powered material handling solutions.

Thanks to the 2,000 pounds of horizontal push and pull force generated by its 6 hp motor, this tug lets you do away with fork lifts and other traditional movers. Do your loads require a lot of turning and maneuvering through tight aisles? Addition of the Power Mover attachment allows for a full 90 degree turning radius.

Like all our products, the Chain Drive CartCaddy is designed with employee safety in mind. Features such as the variable speed twist grip help to prevent repetitive stress injuries that are all too common in material handling. There is also a safety stop switch on the back of the tug in case of emergencies.

Our Chain Drive CartCaddy is powered by three 12-volt batteries with enough life to usually last through two shifts. It smoothly accelerates up to 2 mph in both forward and reverse, preventing frustration due to lag time waiting for the mover to catch up with the operator.

Regardless of the size of your company or warehouse, we have a full range of material handling solutions to fit any applications. Let our friendly Sales Engineers assist you in finding the correct answer for your needs. Call 800.686.2651 or use our convenient online chat feature and become a member of Team CartCaddy today.

Ergonomic Mobile Applications

We recently read about a mobile app that was designed to help improve ergonomics in the workplace. With this app, people can see photos different postures that might lead to injury at work and get information on ways to improve posture as well as learn about exercises they can do at work to reduce injury. This is a great way to increase awareness about the importance of correct posture.

However, before the term “app” was used to refer to programs created for mobile devices, it was part of word “application.” And for some people, a mobile app will not be enough to reduce injury in the workplace but a mobile application that they can use as they complete their work tasks can make all the difference.

A DJ Products Industrial Power Mover can eliminate the strain of manually pulling heavy products, parts carts and wheeled equipment. Our material handling solutions or “mobile apps” can also eliminate bulky, expensive lift trucks.

Our CartCaddy power movers comes in many different shapes and sizes to handle wheeled applications that operate with racks, carts, and casters. They are designed to move with employees so they do not have to overexert themselves to push or pull in ways that can damage the musculoskeletal system.

If you have seen a number of workers who need to go on disability due to injuries that relate to ergonomic issues, isn’t it time to apply a different kind of material handling solution?

Call us at 1-800-686-2651 so we can help you find material handling solutions that fit your workplace.

Introducing New Hospitality Applications for Motorized Carts

Business owners must constantly be preparing for coming changes and watching for new trends and products. That’s the reason this blog devotes space to those issues, as we have in the past week. As the country’s leading manufacturer of ergonomically-designed motorized material handling carts, we’ve learned that staying competitive in U.S. industry requires not only the flexibility and willingness to embrace new ideas, but the innovative thinking to see new applications for your products in the workplace. Innovative applications of DJ Products’ ergonomic carts originally developed for health care and manufacturing markets have opened new opportunities in the hospitality industry. When you visit our website, you’ll find a new product category for Motorized Carts for Hospitality, Hotel, and Industrial Environments. 

DJ Products has found that many of the same tasks performed in hospital and industrial settings are also performed by employees at hotels, motels, resorts and casinos. All must push heavy carts filled with dirty linens or cleaning supplies. All sometimes need to move heavy equipment, whether it’s an EKG machine or a one-armed bandit. All need to move materials and supplies from one point to another, usually through narrow and crowded hallways. And all have to haul trash. With the click of your mouse, it’s now easy to find and examine all of these commonly used material handling products in one place by clicking on the new link to Motorized Carts for Hospitality, Hotel, and Industrial Environments from DJ Products home page.

Our expanded listing of motorized powered carts and equipment for the hospitality and hospital industries includes: housekeeping carts, dirty linen carts, wire carts for clean linens, powered and electric flatbed carts, a motorized dump hopper for trash and debris, and more heavy-duty motorized industrial carts and powered movers for handling bigger, heavier, more unwieldy loads. We even offer a motorized cart retro kit that can be adapted and installed on any cart, turning your old carts into money-saving models of ergonomic efficiency.

All of DJ Products’ material handling products are built to maneuver economically and safely in confined spaces. The ergonomic, walk-behind design of all of our products provides clear sight lines, ensures easy maneuverability and protects the health and safety of operators. Forward-thinking business owners who recognize coming trends are already embracing ergonomics as the wave of the future. To find out more about DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed powered carts and movers, visit our website and talk to one of our ergonomic engineers. At DJ Products, the future is now!

Highlighting the Roll Pusher

Moving square and rectangular objects around your warehouse can be difficult enough. How do you handle round items like rolls and spools? Our CartCaddy Roll Pusher takes the awkwardness out of transporting these often troublesome objects.

The size and weight of rolls makes them difficult to handle manually. Our CartCaddy has a front-mounted adjustable roller system that pushes against the bottom of the object being moved. This applies pressure to the tires, picking up traction, while the rollers turn in the opposite direction to move the object forward.

Ergonomically designed twist grips on the handlebars allow the operator to start forward momentum without accelerating too quickly. The object will slow down or speed up following the pace of the pusher. Thanks to the ease and smoothness of the operation, the job can be handled by a single employee.

The pusher operates on a 36 volt three-battery system that will generally last two shifts on a single charge. It’s powerful enough to handle loads up to 20,000 pounds. The rollers extend outside the profile of the pusher, making it easy to separate objects that are stacked alongside each other.

Team CartCaddy has a solution for your material handling applications, no matter how big or small. Our line of tugs and tows can handle loads up to 50,000 pounds and their ergonomic design helps prevent many of the most common workplace injuries. Call 800.686.2651 or visit our website and use our handy chat feature to get immediate assistance from our friendly Sales Engineers.

How Ergonomics Increases Productivity and Quality

In our last post we talked about how ergonomically designed material handling equipment improves worker health and safety by reducing expensive and potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injury. Business owners also realize measurable increases in worker productivity and product quality when ergonomic equipment and procedures are introduced into the workplace.

Most industrial equipment and work procedures were originally designed for occasional use, not the high-pressured, repetitive, long shifts found in the modern work place. By designing equipment that adjusts to the physical size and capabilities of each individual worker and by structuring work procedures to eliminate uncomfortable body positions during task performance, ergonomics decreases fatigue on muscles while increasing worker comfort. This enables workers to continue working comfortably without the frequent breaks they would otherwise need to stretch and rest tired muscles. Workers remain fresh and energized and can work comfortably through an entire shift. The result is decreased injury, better worker morale and increased worker productivity resulting in improved product quality. Ergonomics produces a win-win scenario for business owners and their employees.

Implementation of an effective ergonomic plan requires a three-pronged approach that involves engineering, administration and work practice modifications.

  • Engineering modifications may include changes in equipment and tools used, workstation modifications and changes in the way tasks are performed. Because engineering modifications produce the greatest reduction or elimination of physical risk, they also result in the greatest cost savings. Reduced physical risk reduces the medical, insurance, disability and lost man-hour costs of potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injury. On its website, DJ Products provides an invaluable Ergonomic Load Calculator that can be used to estimate the force needed to move loads in a variety of workplace environments and recommend ergonomic solutions to your material handling problems.
  • Administration modifications involve alterations to the work organization and/or workplace culture. While less expensive to implement, results are also less reliable in that they depend entirely on human compliance. Administrative modifications may include education and training in ergonomic procedures, restructuring job responsibilities to minimize repetitive tasks, worker/task rotation, increasing the frequency or duration of break periods for certain tasks, improving workers’ physical conditioning and developing oversight programs.
  • Work practice modifications include the development of ergonomic procedures for the performance of each individual task, worker training and oversight.

The initial investment in ergonomics may seem to be considerable, but the benefits — and long-term savings — far outweigh the costs and continue long after the initial investment is recouped.

Monday: How ergonomics saves money

Invest in Ergonomic Material Handling Solutions

They say you have to spend money to make money but deciding which expenditures are worthwhile is certainly not easy. Business owners have to concern themselves with the bottom line, often cutting costs to make sure that they don’t wind up on the red. But one area where you might want to consider spending more instead of cutting back is material handling solutions. You may think that not investing in things like industrial power movers or motorized carts will save money because you spend less…but what you are not considering is how much inadequate equipment can cost you in the long run.

Your workers have their own budgets and bottom lines to be concerned about and they may remain silent about the pains and strains of manually pulling and pushing heavy carts and other wheeled equipment because they don’t want to ruffle any feathers. Unfortunately, this means that there may suffer micro-tears and muscle strain that over time gets worse until one day there is an injury that warrants medical attention. In some workplaces, the thought of having just one or two key workers out on medical leave is enough to send management into a panic. It is one thing if employees fall ill or get injured away from the job; having employees suffer injuries at work that could have been prevented with the right equipment is another matter entirely.

Our material handling solutions are not one-size-fits-all: DJ Products will work with you to customize our products so they suit the needs of your workers. Call is at 800-686-2651 to speak with a Sales Engineer today.

How Ergonomics Saves Money

Musculoskeletal injuries caused by overexertion are responsible for 25% of all workplace injuries and affect one in every 200 workers, according to data compiled by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Overexertion injuries caused by straining during pushing, pulling, lifting and carrying tasks cost U.S. businesses more than $1 billion in compensation costs and 12 million lost workdays every year. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg! According to the National Council on Compensation Insurance, more than 50% of worker’s compensation claims are for debilitating back injuries that affect 1.75 million (1 in 5) workers each year — at an annual price tag of $30 billion. The time-lost cost of a single back injury is estimated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at $26,000.

Ergonomic equipment is designed to eliminate and prevent muscle strain, overexertion, back injury and the whole gamut of musculoskeletal and repetitive motion injuries that eat away at U.S. business profit margins. Ergonomically-designed equipment reduces the risk of overexertion and injury from pushing, pulling, lifting, carrying, bending and twisting tasks. The equipment, not the worker, carries the burden, eliminating expensive medical, insurance, worker’s compensation and lost work-hour expenses. When workers are less physically tasked and workplace safety is increased, worker morale improves, production increases and product quality goes up.

One study of U.S. manufacturers found that every dollar invested in ergonomics resulted in a savings of $4. DJ Products, a national leader in the manufacture of ergonomically-designed carts and movers, has found that most customers recoup their investment in ergonomic equipment within the first year. DJ Products specialized in providing affordable ergonomic solutions to material handling applications. We manufacture material handling equipment that is designed to eliminate the strain and pain of manually pushing or pulling heavy carts, equipment or materials. Our ergonomically-designed equipment is smaller, more maneuverable and less costly than traditional material handling equipment such as forklifts, walkies and motorized riding tugs. DJ Products specializes in battery powered, walk behind carts, movers and pushers that offer maximum safety and maneuverability. If you’re looking to get better value from your material handling dollar, contact DJ Products’ expert ergonomic sales team today!

Staying Competitive as Recession Wanes

The economy is finally showing signs of life; although as we mentioned in our last post, recovery is likely to be a slow process. As America recovers from the recession, businesses may find themselves trapped between wary consumers on one side and skittish bankers on the other, further slowing economic recovery. A continued lag in spending and lending means that belt-tightening will remain the norm for at least the next six to 12 months if businesses are to stay competitive and, in some cases, survive.  

In an informal poll conducted last month, Manufacturing & Technology eJournal readers said they planned to rely on a variety of cost-cutting measures over the next year to maintain their competitiveness (click the link above for complete survey results):

  • 36% expand territory
  • 32% seek cost reductions from existing vendors
  • 24% eliminate underperforming products/services
  • 24% employee layoffs
  • 21% reduce salaries or work days
  • 12.5% seek work closer to home

Turning to your own workers for suggestions on how to increase cost-saving measures has proved a successful tactic in many industries during the recession. While concessions made by auto workers and airline employees have garnered the lion’s share of the headlines, workers in nearly every industry and business field have agreed to cut salaries, decrease work hours or forego benefits in order to maintain the solvency of their employer and keep their jobs.

It’s all about sharing the load and allowing workers to buy into the decision-making process. Workers express greater support for solutions they have helped create. And they’re more likely to embrace cost-cutting measures — and exert peer pressure on fellow employees to toe the line — when they feel:

  1. Their efforts will have a direct impact on solving the problem.
  2. More people will be able to keep their jobs because of the sacrifices they are making.
  3. The burden is being shared equally by workers and management.  

That last point may be the most critical. We’ll look at why next time.