Tag: Material Handling

Using Sustainability to Create a Competitive Edge

Being eco-friendly is increasingly considered a social, political and economic advantage in U.S. business and industry — and, therefore, a competitive edge. Forward-thinking companies are using environmental initiatives and dedication to sustainability to create advantageous public opinion. Cutting edge, eco-friendly solutions gain customers. The extreme, sometimes almost rabid, level of dedicated customer loyalty, despite sometimes higher consumer costs, has been an unexpected benefit. An increasing number of ecologically-concerned Americans are willing to pay more for products and services that protect or sustain the environment. Interestingly, consumers view this as a way of partnering with industry to save the environment.

More industries are pursuing sustainability to reduce the life-cycle costs of parts, equipment and processes (see our July 9 post). “Anything not in a product is considered a cost; it’s a sign of poor quality,” say the authors of Green to Gold in explaining 3M’s Pollution Prevention Pays program. “As 3M execs see it, everything coming out of a plant is either product, by-product (which can be reused or sold), or waste. Why then should there be any waste?” As the authors point out, 3M views waste as unrecouped expenses and something to be avoided. The company’s goal is 100% sustainability.

Sustainability is not limited to the direct costs of business and industry. Savings can also be realized in indirect costs such as packing, transportation and other logistics considerations. Eco-friendly smart packages that reduce cardboard and filler save resources and money. Replacing gas-guzzling forklifts with energy-smart electric and motorized carts and tugs is another environmentally smart way to cut costs. Optimizing shipping loads and delivery strategies can result in significant cost savings given skyrocketing fuel prices.

Implementing a sustainable supply chain also eliminates or reduces the amount of money spent on disposal of harmful by-products, scrap and adherence to regulatory issues. In many instances, by-products previously disposed of as waste are now generating viable revenue sources for environmentally-conscious companies. Sustainability is already being used to competitive advantage by many companies who have found it a profitable way to grow market share in their industry.

Ergonomic Scissors Lift Adjusts to Workers’ Heights

Bending, twisting and reaching all day long can have workers reaching for the Tylenol well before the day is over. These muscle-torquing activities lead to aches, strains and sprains that slow workers down and can eventually cause musculoskeletal injuries that entail multiple doctor’s visits, costly physical therapy and time off from work, placing an added burden on fellow workers who have to pick up the slack.

This was the problem being experienced by an Ohio manufacturer of aftermarket exhaust systems. Management noticed a high level of sprains and strains reported by workers. Investigation found the culprit to be the awkward positions workers assumed while performing production and packing tasks.

Workers come in different shapes and sizes but, as is true in most facilities, materials were delivered to work stations at a single, stationary height. Since few workers fit the “ideal” height around which equipment and tasks were designed, this meant that most workers, being either shorter or taller than the “ideal” height, were forced to bend, stretch, and strain to perform their work tasks. In the process, they overtaxed and injured muscles.

Company management sought a solution in ergonomics. Ergonomics is the science of fitting equipment and tasks to the capabilities of the worker to eliminate strain on the human body. Ergonomic design allows equipment that will be used by multiple workers to be adjusted to fit the size and capability of each individual. 

In the case of the Ohio exhaust manufacturer, the perfect solution proved to be an ergonomically-designed, portable scissor lift. The portable scissor lift allowed relatively heavy parts (120 lbs.) to be quickly moved from one station to the next. The power scissor feature permitted each worker to quickly and easily adjust the lift bed to the optimal height for his size. The result was virtual elimination of musculoskeletal injuries, an increase in productivity from 65% to 88%, and increased on-time delivery.

The problems experienced by this Ohio company are common to many industries, including manufacturing, fulfillment, packing, logistics, shipping and warehousing. DJ Products’ PWP2000 Cart Puller mobile electric lift table could be the perfect solution for your facility. Our ergonomically-designed, self-propelled electric scissor lift is available in a variety of shapes and sizes for various applications. Our lift tables deliver work items to the appropriate height every time. Combine our lift table with our PartsCaddy mobile platform truck and workers can easily move fully-loaded lift tables from one station to the next without physical strain. With 16 hours of battery life, DJ Products’ electric movers can stay in continuous operation through two shifts with ease. 

Benefits of Ergonomic Design in Material Handling Equipment

Life lessons come in all kinds of packages and often from unusual sources. Astute businessmen are quick to take lessons learned in other industries and apply them to their own operations. That’s why we’ve been talking this week about a three-year study of musculoskeletal injury risk factors in the trucking industry (see our April 27 and 29 posts). Any time workers are forced to work in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time or repeat uncomfortable actions over time, undue strain is placed on the body’s sensitive musculoskeletal system, increasing the risk of serious injury. The result is the same whether you drive a long-haul truck across country or spend your shift moving material back and forth across a factory floor. The trucking industry study only serves to remind us that material handling operators face the same physically-challenging, musculoskeletal risk factors, just in a different setting.

Musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace account for the greatest number of worker’s compensation claims in the U.S. each year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which places the annual price tag of such injuries at more than $60 billion. But the true cost of back injuries, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other stress and repetitive motion injuries is far greater than the direct medical/insurance cost. Poorly designed material handling equipment that forces workers to stretch and strain decreases productivity, negatively impacts product quality, lowers morale, and increases absenteeism. The true annual price tag for workplace injury and illness is estimated in excess of $171 billion.

A national leader in the design and manufacture of ergonomic solutions to material handling applications, DJ Products specializes in making the finest, most versatile, electric and motorized cart tugs in the industry. Ergonomically designed to take the stress and strain off workers, our products have earned as many kudos from customers for their role in increasing production efficiency as they have for improving worker health and safety. Here are just some of the ergonomic design features that make DJ Products’ material handling equipment stand out from the competition:

  • Exactingly-engineered ergonomic controls place operating controls at the precisely optimal position for easy use and maximum operator control while eliminating carpal tunnel injury.
  • Versatile adjustable tug arms allow carts to securely attach to the bottom of any cart or load, even those loads that overflow the cart bed.
  • Our scissors-lift option allows each worker to raise or lower materials to his personal, optimal work height.
  • Safe, smooth 180-degree pivoting is ensured with our unique tug arm, eliminating the risk of dangerous jackknifing while maneuvering heavy loads.
  • Energy-efficient electric battery-powered operation guarantees safe, quiet, green operation through two full shifts before recharging.

For complete information on the full line of DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed material handling equipment, visit our website today.

Freight Solutions for Small and Medium Sized Warehouses

A forklift is a great asset for moving palletized freight or heavy loads from point a to point b in your facility, but not every plant or warehouse that handles heavy loads has the storage capacity or room to maneuver for a forklift to be a viable option.  In many of these establishments, employees are manually handling these heavy loads and workers are risking injury every single day in order to perform their job.

You don’t need extra wide aisles in order to operate a powered machine that can move heavy equipment or loads from one end of your warehouse to the other; you can get the same power delivered by a full sized fork truck in the smaller and easier to maneuver CartCaddy4SC powered hand truck from DJ Products.

The CartCaddy4SC allows workers to quickly, safely and easily handle loads up 4,500 pounds in situations where a full sized forklift would be too big a piece of equipment.  The CartCaddy4SC can also be an incredible compliment to a full sized forklift in high volume warehouses that require multiple large loads to be handled at the same time but that don’t have the budget, need or space to merit having two forklifts on site.

Just like all of the material handling equipment from DJ Products, this powered hand truck is built with both functionality and safety in mind.  This piece of equipment is easy to use, quiet, ergonomically designed and can run for a full eight hour shift with regular use on a single charge.

Your business can operate much more smoothly and safely with the proper equipment for the job and if you need heavy loads moved in tight quarters or need to safely get heavy equipment or stock from one place to another while your forklift is in use elsewhere – your business could certainly benefit from having a powered hand truck on site.

Improve Warehouse Efficiency With Cart Movers

Moving carts throughout your warehouse, even ones mounted on wheels, is a cumbersome and time-consuming task. Traditional equipment like forklifts no longer fit current material handling needs. Improve efficiency and worker safety with one of the battery-powered movers from DJ Products.

Our selection of CartCaddies includes models that can accommodate loads of up to 50,000 pounds. These units are designed to allow easy operation by a single worker, eliminating the need to devote valuable manpower to the tasks. A customized attachment lets the operator quickly connect to the load. In addition, it transfers weight to the CartCaddy tires, providing needed traction.

Are work-related injuries in your workplace cutting into productivity and reducing the bottom line? Our CartCaddies are ergonomically designed to prevent many of the more common injuries. For example, the variable speed twist grip allows smooth starting and stopping without promoting repetitive-stress injuries such as carpal tunnel.

The electric caddies are powered by three 12-volt batteries which will generally last through two shifts of continuous use before recharging. The units are also compact and can pivot a full 180 degrees under the arm attachment, meaning they can smoothly and safely maneuver through even the tightest quarters in your warehouse.

We have an assortment of movers to provide solutions to a wide variety of applications. Our Sales Engineers are ready to help you find the one that’s right for your needs. Call 800.686.2651 or use our convenient online chat feature and find out why you should be a member of Team Cart Caddy.

Ergonomic Equipment Cuts Strain on Depleted Workforce

News continues to look dire for the labor market. The Conference Board Employment Trends Index, or ETI, continued to decline in October. Down nearly 12% from a year ago, the index fell to 105.3 in October, a further 2% decrease from its September level. And the future isn’t looking good, said Conference Board Senior Economist Gad Levanon who predicts continued deterioration of the labor market and rising unemployment rates well into 2009.

“The economic developments of the last two months made it clear to businesses that demand for goods and services in the U.S. is declining, and businesses are responding by aggressively slashing their payrolls,” said Levanon in an interview published in Manufacturing & Technology eJournal. “Unfortunately, it seems this environment will persist for several more quarters and business leaders will continue reducing their workforce.”

Published monthly by the Conference Board, a global non-profit business organization that monitors and forecasts economic trends, the ETI is a compilation of eight labor-market indicators:

  • percentage of workers who find jobs “hard to get”
  • initial unemployment insurance claims
  • percentage of companies with job openings
  • number of temporary hires
  • number of part-time workers working for economic reasons
  • number of job openings
  • industrial production rates
  • real manufacturing and trade sales

Whether we like it or not, in a recession most businesses are forced to trim labor costs in order to survive. It’s happening in every sector of U.S. economy. From retail sales to office workers to manufacturing, layoffs are occurring, workforces are being downsized and retiring workers are not being replaced. This means fewer workers must shoulder greater burdens if production quality and output are to be maintained.

Ergonomically-designed equipment easily enables a single worker to do a job that may previously have required two or more workers when performed manually. By transferring physical effort from the worker to the equipment, ergonomically-designed carts and equipment movers allow business owners to effectively reduce their workforce without taxing their workers.

Ergonomic equipment is designed to prevent the expensive and debilitating musculoskeletal injuries that plague manual pushing, pulling and lifting tasks.  The introduction of ergonomic equipment and ergonomic practices into the workplace have been shown in countless studies to immediately reduce worker injury, decrease associated medical and insurance costs and improve worker morale and productivity.

To find out how ergonomically-designed equipment can help you maintain production values with a depleted workforce, talk to the ergonomic experts at DJ Products.

Weighing the Options

Functional equipment operated by quality employees is pretty much the lifeblood of the material handling industry.  Unfortunately, with the state of the economy over the course of the last couple years, many warehouses and distribution centers are operating with outdated and broken down equipment that is hampering their employee’s productivity and putting them at risk of injury. Some owners feel that equipment upgrades simply aren’t in the budget, but at the same time they constantly have to pay for costly repairs on the machines that they are using and losing time and money when equipment is down.  If all of the repairs and lost income from delays over the course of a year were tallied, odds are that the sum would far outweigh the cost of an equipment upgrade.

Upgrading outdated material handling equipment in favor of the safer, more reliable and more efficient powered carts from DJ Products will have many benefits, both immediate and long term, which will far outweigh the initial one time investment of the purchase.

The material handling equipment from DJ Products is ergonomically designed to be among the safest equipment that your employees can use, this helps to ensure that your employees avoid many of the injuries often associated with manual material handling.  You’ll also get unparalleled reliability, with carts that can operate strong for an entire shift on a single charge with no worries at all about failure.

Healthy employees and reliable equipment will dramatically increase your operational productivity, this will allow you do satisfy more customers and do so in a quicker fashion.  Equipment that can help to keep your employees healthy and allow you to fulfill customer orders more quickly will pay for itself in no time, regardless of the cost of the initial investment.

Upcoming Material Handling Conventions

With the rapid pace of change in the material handling field, it can be a monumental task to keep up with the latest news. Why not make plans to attend one of the industry conferences and trade shows? You’ll have access to hundreds of resources in one place along with educational sessions addressing the latest trends and developments.

Be sure to mark your calendar for these upcoming events:

  • International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), September 8-13, 2014 in Chicago, IL Billed as one of the largest industrial trade shows in the world, this event draws more than 100,000 attendees from over 100 different countries. Displays from 1,900 exhibitors focus on industries such as aerospace, automotive and medical.
  • APICS 2014, October 19-21, 2014 in New Orleans, LA This conference is considered the premier event for supply chain and operational management professionals. Educational sessions are organized around paths based on different areas of interest. Available themes include Operational Efficiency, Supply Chain Innovation and Risk and Resiliency.
  • Pro-Mat 2015, March 23-26, 2015 in Chicago, IL More than 800 exhibitors will be featuring the latest in material handling and logistics equipment. There will be more than 100 informational sessions including show floor seminars and keynote speakers on current supply chain topics. Your ticket is also good for admission to Automate 2015, a companion show highlighting cutting-edge automation technologies and solutions.

DJ Products is proud to be one of the leaders in this vital and progressive industry. Our battery-powered tugs, pullers and pushers provide safe and effective material handling solutions for a wide variety of applications. Call 800.686.2651 or use our convenient online chat feature for more information.

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 for Creating a Successful Ergonomics Program

Last time we talked about the financial and production benefits of implementing an ergonomics program (see our Nov. 24 post). A recent study on the bottom-line value of ergonomics showed a $4 savings for every dollar invested. Most businesses that purchase ergonomic equipment recoup their investment costs within the first year. The financial benefits alone make ergonomic equipment a shrewd investment in your future. But forward-thinking businesses that investment in ergonomics understand that they are also making a powerful proactive investment in the health, safety and retention of their workforce.

Creation of a successful ergonomics program requires three important elements, Mike Kind wrote recently in the New Hampshire Business Review:

Support of top management. To be successful, an ergonomics initiative must become part of your corporate culture and be thoroughly embraced and supported by top management. The introduction of an ergonomics program can be an excellent step toward creating a wellness-based focus in your organization, notes Kind.

Other wellness-centered activities include offering wellness training classes, scheduling health screenings and flu shots, providing healthier snacks and beverages in vending machines, sponsoring Weight-Watchers groups, offering gym membership discounts. Employers only stand to gain from sponsoring activities that promote a healthy workforce.

Established goals and measurable results. Any new initiative requires a bit of tweaking once it’s off the launch pad. Particularly in the early weeks of a launch, it’s important to conduct regular workplace assessments of a new ergonomics program to ensure that maximum efficiency and productivity are achieved. Close monitoring of employee complaints, injury reports, medical costs, workers’ compensation claims, absenteeism, lost man-hours and production results will provide the hard data needed to assess the success of your program and make any necessary changes.

Kind adds a word of caution: Don’t be surprised if you find an initial increase in incident reports. As employees learn about ergonomic issues, they are more likely to recognize the symptomatic causes of musculoskeletal complaints and report them. As your ergonomics program progresses and becomes an effective component of corporate culture, incidence reports will decrease significantly.

Next time we’ll discuss the importance of effective education, training and leadership in implementing a comprehensive ergonomics program in your workplace.