Tag: Material Handling

What Is Material Handling?

Say the words “material handling” and many people think of forklifts carrying pallets across a warehouse floor. But material handling is so much more. There isn’t an industry or business that doesn’t handle materials, whether it’s steel on an auto assembly line or boxes of paper in an office. If you buy, sell or use anything (i.e., materials), it has to be moved and that, in its most basic essence, is material handling.

Efficient material handling can reap huge rewards for businesses. It can markedly increase efficiency, eliminate unproductive and duplicate efforts, improve production completion time and decrease worker accidents and injuries — all of which decrease costs and improve your bottom line. The key to maximizing your material handling investment is versatility. Material handling equipment that can be easily tasked to multiple uses, used by workers of any age or size, and that can maneuver easily in any environment, whether across an open floor or down a crowded corridor, will give you maximum return on your investment.

DJ Products is the nation’s premier manufacturer of ergonomically-designed electric carts and motorized cart pushers, the most versatile material handling equipment on the market today. DJ Products makes carts, pushers and movers for a wide variety of applications, from heavy industrial environments to hotel and hospital settings to retail establishments. We make heavy-duty tugs capable of moving 20,000 pounds of heavy equipment down an assembly line. We make compact cart pullers that can quietly move linen carts down a crowded hotel corridor or maneuver diagnostic equipment around a cramped hospital room. We make specialized equipment for the automotive industry that can just as easily maneuver cars, trucks or even trailers across a storage lot as around a showroom floor. And that’s just a sampling of the uses customers have found for our products.

But it’s ergonomic design that sets DJ Products’ equipment apart. Ergonomic design ensures that the equipment, not the worker, carries the load, significantly decreasing the risk of expensive and debilitating musculoskeletal injuries to employees. Ergonomic design assures optimal equipment management by any operator, no matter his or her age, physical size or strength. Adjustable features, strategically located and carefully designed controls, superior maneuverability in tight spaces, and excellent safety features are built into every DJ Products cart, pusher and mover.

Visit the DJ Products website today for complete information about our full line of ergonomically-designed material handling equipment.

Consolidation Mergers Can Strengthen U.S. Industry

Consolidation is the new industry watchword. As we discussed in our last post, industry experts expect consolidation to affect every sector of the U.S. economy as we struggle to climb out of the current recession. The good news is that some experts, particularly Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, are now cautiously predicting an end to the recession this year. Echoing a statement he made to Congress last month, Bernanke said in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes this week that if the government’s shoring up of the U.S. banking system succeeds, “… we’ll see the recession coming to an end probably this year.”

That doesn’t mean that U.S. business will return to its pre-crash ways. The hard lessons learned during the past year are expected to have a lasting impact on U.S. businesses. Savvy business owners are expected to continue leaner, more-efficient practices adopted during the recession to protect themselves against a still uncertain future. But we’re not out of the woods yet. Consolidation is playing a major role in weeding out weak and under capitalized players and broadening the scope of strong companies. Consolidation mergers could play a significant role in strengthening U.S. industry across the board.

In a March 16, 2009 article posted on SupplyChainDigest online, Materials Handling Editor Cliff Holste says, “SCDigest predicts the automated materials handling industry will soon see rapid consolidation …” Holste reports that a merger between two of the conveyor systems industry’s biggest suppliers is imminent, barring any last minute glitch. It could be the first of many. Holste and SCDigest believe the material handling industry is ripe for consolidation. Contributing factors include:

  • Over-abundance of suppliers in a shrinking market. Even before the recession, Holste reminds us that many industry watchers didn’t believe there was enough business to support all the players profitably. The recession just accelerated what might have been a slower winnowing of the ranks.
  • Consolidation allows companies to increase their product and customer scope while cutting expenses, primarily in personnel cuts across the board. Mergers “can goose profits of the combined companies,” Holste notes, while nearly halving expenses.
  • Well capitalized companies are buying out poorly capitalized ones resulting in stronger firms better able to withstand the economy’s financial roller coaster and provide long-term products and services to their clients. 

Safety Is No. 1 When Choosing Material Handling Equipment

Productivity and safety are the two top concerns when business owners buy material handling equipment, with safety being paramount. Unsafe equipment will drag down productivity, while safe equipment will enhance productivity. To handle materials safely, loads must be under the operator’s control at all times. Load capability and handling, maneuverability, control placement and design, wheel placement, tire composition, operator line of sight — there are a whole host of design elements that determine the safe operation of material handling equipment.

Manufacturing material handling equipment that is as safe to use as it is easy to operate drives the design of DJ Products’ material handling equipment. Our products are ergonomically designed to take the physical strain off workers’ muscles, allowing them to work more efficiently and more comfortably. By making equipment adaptable to the worker, ergonomic design allows workers of various body types, ages, and physical skills to perform on an equal footing. Ergonomic design maximizes employee performance by eliminating awkward work postures that lead to the tired and cramped muscles that erode job performance and can lead to injury and disability. When workers are forced to contort their bodies into less than optimal postures to operate equipment, muscles become more quickly fatigued. Not only does fatigue lead to slower task production and longer and more frequent breaks, it increases the risk of injury. Ergonomic design eliminates these problems and ensures each worker a safe and comfortable work environment.

To maximize operator control and line-of-sight, DJ Products’ material handling equipment is designed so that the operator walks or rides behind the loaded equipment. This affords the operator maximum visual sight lines to ensure plenty of time for maneuvering and safe stopping, particularly in crowded or heavily trafficked environments. Conveniently-positioned, ergonomically-designed controls allow easy operation and instant safe stopping power of DJ Products’ battery-operated and motorized carts and cart pushers.

A unique safety feature of DJ Products’ carts and movers is our strategically-designed mover arm that allows our cart movers to pivot a full 180 degrees under the arm once it is firmly attached to a cart or piece of equipment. This allows the operator to turn and maneuver carts and equipment safely without risk of jackknifing the cart while carrying a heavy load.

To find our more about the specific safety features that make DJ Products’ material handling equipment a national favorite for a wide variety of applications from manufacturing assembly lines to hotels and hospitals to grocery stores, visit our website today. 

DJ Products Trailer Mover Perfect Solution for RV Industry

The economy is driving people in search of inexpensive travel and vacation options and, in many cases, inexpensive housing. RVs seem to fit the bill. Record-setting attendance at RV shows has led to strong first quarter sales in the recreational vehicle industry. With young adults aged 18 to 34 comprising the fastest growing segment of RV owners, industry watchers expect RV sales to remain strong well into the future. RVs are the perfect vehicle for active folks who appreciate the outdoors and are looking for an easy, eco-friendly way to travel. The ability to take off for a quick weekend or mini-vacation is as appealing to young adults as it is to busy families and retirees.

Increasing RV sales are creating a ready market for DJ Products’ popular TrailerCaddy trailer mover. More RV buyers mean more RVs moving across sales lots and in and out of showrooms. DJ Products’ trailer mover is the perfect solution for manufacturers, dealer lots, trade shows and service centers. Our versatile TrailerCaddy is designed to push and pull trailers that require lifting on one end before maneuvering. DJ Products’ ergonomic design provides powerful pulling strength while protecting workers’ health and insuring their safety. Our ergonomically-designed material handling equipment is built to prevent the physical strain that occurs when workers are forced to muscle around large trailered equipment. Ergonomic design ensures that the equipment, not the worker, takes the strain of moving and maneuvering heavy equipment.

DJ Products’ TrailerCaddy makes easy work of pushing and pulling all kinds of recreational vehicles, including RVs, campers, equipment trailers and boats. Our electric-powered trailer mover is the perfect solution for moving recreational vehicles down an assembly line, around a manufacturing plant, across sales lots and showrooms and into trade show spaces. The compact design of DJ Products’ powered TrailerCaddy allows superior, precise movements, making quick work of maneuvering large recreational vehicles through crowded spaces and into display areas without fear of damaging surrounding vehicles. As RV sales continue to increase, you can expect to see more manufacturers and dealers turning to DJ Products’ handy TrailerCaddies to move recreational vehicles.

DJ Products makes a full line of compact, ergonomically-designed material handling products designed to do the job while protecting the health and safety of workers. Our products are cost effective to purchase and inexpensive to operate and maintain. Most of our customers report recouping their capital investment within the first year of ownership. To find out how DJ Products’ motorized carts, movers and pushers can benefit your business, talk to one of our ergonomic specialists today. 

Light Glimmers at End of Tunnel

A light is beginning to glimmer at the end of the tunnel. Financial gurus are now predicting that the recession will ease by the end of the year. That’s the prognosis of financial experts assembled by Dow Jones Indexes to assess the effect of President Obama’s stimulus package and the government’s efforts to combat the economic recession.

Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Ecomony.com, told David Pitt of the Associated Press that he expects the economy to pull out of America’s longest post World War II recession by the end of the year, ending 24 months of trials and tribulations. Experts expect unemployment to peak at 10% by mid year, thanks primarily to the federal $787 billion stimulus package. Without government intervention, Faucher said unemployment increases would have continued throughout 2009, rising to 12% and possibly higher.

“That would take what is now a severe recession and actually turn it into a deep depression,” Faucher told the Associated Press. “We think the fiscal stimulus package is vital in turning around attitudes toward the economy.”

The assembled financial gurus also predicted a mid-year turn around in home sales with a slow rise in prices expected in the last quarter of 2009. While home prices are not expected to return to the inflated values of two years ago, prices will definitely improve from their current record lows. Home prices are currently running at 35% their average value.

As federal programs buy up toxic assets, banks and financial firms will stabilize. Financial experts expect credit to be available again by the third quarter of this year. While credit terms and standards will be tougher than during the feeding frenzy that led to the current collapse, credit will be obtainable by both businesses and consumers.

All of this is good news for struggling American companies and consumers. Of course, given the size of the federal debt it’s taken to stop the bleeding, we’ll be paying for this for years to come. But it is heartening to hear from the specialists that the patient will live.

At DJ Products, we’ve never doubted that America would recover. Sure, we’ve been as concerned as everyone else; but Americans are tough fighters. Sometimes it seems that we’re at our best when we’re cornered. A lot of businesses have had to cut back, lay off and make tough choices during the current crisis. But the worst is nearly over and it’s time to think about the future. As everyone gets back on their feet, we want you to know that you can depend on quality DJ Products’ material handling products and our superior customer service to help you get back in the game.

Bootstraps Still in Fashion for Budding Entrepreneurs

It’s heartening to hear that entrepreneurship is alive and well in America despite the dismal economy. A new business organization is growing in the heart of the American Midwest where it seems that bootstraps are still in fashion! The International Bootstrapping Association held its inaugural meeting in Columbus, Ohio this week. Its goal is to give budding entrepreneurs, known as bootstrappers, a leg up, help them get started, and teach them to survive on self-funding while the economy fights its way back to full recovery.  

“A bootstrapping entrepreneur has to solve problems with creativity and perseverance because they can’t buy the answer,” association co-founder Bill Troy told Margaret Harding of The Columbus Dispatch in an article that appeared on April 10, 2009. “They have to come up with some creative solution that doesn’t cost money.”

Most entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of investment funding, particularly in the current economy. To keep American entrepreneurship alive, successful Ohio entrepreneurs have pooled their talent and resources to create a self-help organization by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. The organization provides an opportunity for would-be entrepreneurs to learn from the start-up experiences of their already successful, experienced counterparts. The group hopes to create a model that could spark similar chapters nationwide.

The first meeting debuted with a panel discussion followed by work groups. “We really focus on experience, not advice,” Troy, president and founder of Troy Research, told the Dispatch. The group takes a real-life approach to problem solving during its discussions. “It’s what people have really tried and done in the situation, not people telling you what you should do,” Troy explained.

Concerned about the pitfalls of investor-driven business, as all too clearly elucidated by recent events, the Ohio group aims to give entrepreneurs the tools to survive on their own. Troy believes that to survive U.S. entrepreneurship needs to return to the perseverance and scrappiness that defined its early pioneers.

As innovators in the field of ergonomically-designed, battery-powered material handling equipment, DJ Products understands the challenges faced by today’s budding entrepreneurs and salutes the launch of the International Bootstrapping Association. 

What Is a Sustainable Business?

The Earth’s natural resources are not infinite. As the world’s burgeoning population places increasing strain on those resources, sustainability has grown in importance. From maintaining environmental ecosystems to manufacturing goods from recycled materials to developing renewable energy sources, sustainability has become the modern watchword for efforts to meet mankind’s present needs without jeopardizing the survival of future generations. Perhaps because of the relative newness of sustainability in the social consciousness, defining sustainability in a business sense is still a bit of an abstract art.

Consensus is only just beginning to gel about what it means to operate a sustainable business. While some companies continue to define sustainability in terms of resources used and recycled, more businesses are taking a broader view. According to a 2008 report by the Institute for Supply Management, “The largest percentage of respondents (37%) indicated that their companies define sustainability as ‘the triple bottom line’ — the integration of social, environmental and economic objectives.”

The survey polled a broad section of U.S. supply professionals including manufacturers, government, transportation, finance, healthcare, utilities, service providers and other players in traditional U.S. supply chains. However, manufacturers made up the bulk (45%) of the respondents. Here’s the breakdown on how survey participants said their companies defined sustainability:

  • 37% social, environmental and economic issues 
  • 9% social and environmental issues only
  • 11% environmental issues only
  • 11% unsure of company’s definition
  • 14% company had no definition
  • 11% in process of developing definition 

While the ISM report indicates that considerable differences in individual perception remain regarding various components of sustainability, the ISM survey indicates that U.S. industry is moving closer to adopting Carter and Rogers’ 2008 definition of sustainability:

“… the strategic, transparent integration and achievement of an organization’s social, environmental and economic goals in the systemic coordination of key interorganizational business processes for improving the long-term economic performance of the individual company and its supply chains …”

While consensus is growing for the broader definition, the survey found that companies defined different elements of sustainability quite differently. For example, when asked to provide examples of how their company related “community” to sustainability, respondents replied their efforts were directed as follows:

  • 17% volunteerism
  • 17% supporting community through use of local suppliers
  • 25% financial value of sourcing through local suppliers

While the ISM report focused on sustainability in the U.S. supply chain, DJ Products would be interested to know how material handling firms and their customers define and utilize sustainability. Click “comment” to share your views.

Business Survival Requires Effort on Multiple Fronts

Survival is the name of the game these days. Savvy companies large and small are tightening up their production and accounting procedures, taking care of their customers and working to expand their customer and product base. As we’ve discussed this week, some companies are improving their market share through consolidation mergers. Last week we talked about the importance of innovation, flexibility and customer service in surviving in today’s highly competitive market. We’ve also discussed the need to broaden your reach by finding new market opportunities for your products and services. The bottom line is survival in a recessionary economy requires businesses to make a constant effort on multiple fronts. Survival requires continuous effort to maintain current excellence and constant innovation to explore and pursue new opportunities.

Through economic highs and lows DJ Products has maintained its standing as a national leader in the manufacture of ergonomically-designed motorized carts and powered cart movers by blending the old with the new. We have always maintained the highest quality production standards in the manufacture of material handling equipment, but we’ve introduced new, innovation, ergonomic designs to material handling that allow our customers to meet future challenges. Early on, DJ Products identified the growing concern about worker health and safety and the growing expense of ignoring musculoskeletal injuries. We predicted the increasing importance of these issues to employers and their workers as well as government and potential customers and worked to design innovative products that would meet growing demand.

Understanding the value of a satisfied customer, DJ Products has provided superior customer service. But we also understand that customer needs change as business changes. Our material handling products are designed with versatility and flexibility in mind so that they’ll be able to perform multiple functions to keep up with the changing demands of our customers. Lift kits and retrofit kits provide even more innovative flexibility to serve our customer’s needs. DJ Products also has the ability to offer our customers engineer-to-order material handling products to meet their specific needs.

DJ Products has been diligent in finding new uses for our ergonomically-designed material handling equipment. CartCaddies that were originally designed for manufacturing environments are now employed regularly in the healthcare, hospitality and retail industries. Our auto pushers are also being used at truck depots, RV sales lots and boat marinas. Working with our customers, DJ Products is constantly searching for and finding new uses and new markets for our innovative products.

Bailout Finally Reaches Small Businesses

Despite the fact that America’s small businesses have created nearly 70% of the new jobs in the past decade, small businesses have been largely ignored in Washington’s bailout frenzy — until now. Finally, small businesses are about to get a much-needed shot in the arm. As part of the federal government’s plan to jump-start the economy, President Obama recently announced plans to give lenders $15 billion to free up resources for small business loans through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, popularly referred to as the Recovery Act. The plan would also cut loan fees and increase the share of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans guaranteed by the federal government.

While the media spotlight has been focused on the rescue of big financial and automotive corporations, small businesses have been struggling to weather the same difficult storm. Decreases in consumer spending and the general unavailability of credit have hurt small business owners in material handling, manufacturing and nearly every sector of the economy. With the banks keeping a tight grip on money to shore up their own bottom lines, credit-worthy small businesses have been denied the loan money they need to survive, much less thrive.

By funneling federal dollars into banks that lend to small businesses the Obama administration hopes to increase their financial stability and encourage these banks to start lending again. New loans could not only help small businesses better meet current obligations but also allow them to take advantage of merger or expansion opportunities that present themselves.  Small businesses are defined by the feds as businesses with fewer than 500 employees. By working through existing financial channels, economic experts say new loan money will be able to reach small businesses faster.

“American small businesses are one of the strongest engines for economic prosperity in the world, and we can’t let this crisis continue to undermine their growth and potential, said acting SBA director Darryl Hairston in a statement released to the media and widely reported.

The Recovery Act will temporarily rescind the SBA loan origination fee which can be as great as 3.75% of the loan. It will also increase the federal guarantee from 85% to 90% of the loan amount. For complete information on the Recovery Act and its impact on small businesses, visit the SBA website.

Who Monitors Ergonomic Standards?

With talk that the Obama administration will implement federal ergonomic standards, the question arises: Who monitors ergonomic standards now?

There are a number of governmental and professional groups that write and/or monitor ergonomic standards or guidelines that affect U.S. manufacturers and businesses, most prominently:

  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

OSHA. Created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s mission is to provide U.S. workers with a safe working environment. The federal program is administered through the U.S. Department of Labor, but many states also have OSHA programs. OSHA develops specific workplace standards to protect workers’ health and safety and, through a network of inspectors, polices businesses to see that standards are enforced. OSHA also conducts procedural training and education courses.

NIOSH. Part of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIOSH was created by the same act as OSHA. NIOSH conducts research and makes recommendations regarding the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses.

ANSI. A private non-profit general standards organization, ANSI facilitates the voluntary establishment of U.S. standards in many areas. ANSI does not create standards but serves as a neutral forum for the development of voluntary standards by consensus of industry/business groups. ANSI works to standardize the development, manufacture and supply of U.S. products and services.

ISO. The world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards, ISO is a non-governmental network of 159 countries. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, ISO seeks international consensus on a wide range of product and service issues to facilitate trade.

In the U.S., some states — California and Washington — have their own ergonomics rules. Michigan may join their ranks soon if ongoing efforts to block a new state ergonomics rule fail. Industry trade organization may also champion ergonomic guidelines in their efforts to standardize industry practices.

Presently, ergonomics standards are piecemeal, applying to some industries or occupations but not all. Most often, standards are couched as voluntary guidelines with no penalty for non-compliance. At this time, the U.S. doesn’t have a pervasive, all-encompassing set of ergonomic laws that mandate and describe the use of ergonomics across the breadth of American business, nor is there a universal federal mechanism for requiring companies to implement ergonomic solutions and discipline those who fail to do so. Most U.S. industry watchers predict that this will eventually chance under the Obama administration.