Tag: Material Handling

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.

Avoiding the Number One Citation from OSHA

According to statistics released in publications for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the number one reason for citations in warehouses across America is the forklift.  This makes perfect sense if you consider that more than 100 individuals die each year as a result of forklift related accidents and that nearly 100,000 people are injured in forklift incidents every single year.

If your employees, even ones that have been driving your forklift for a substantial period of time, don’t closely adhere to the proper safety guidelines when driving, they are putting themselves, other employees and your entire operation at risk.  Forklifts can be a huge asset to the warehouse and material handling environment, but only if they are used in a consciously safe manner.  Many forklifts are also loud and run on combustible fuels, which can add another element of risk to operation and storage.

Though forklifts have many potential benefits, if you run a warehouse or distribution center, there may be safer and easier alternatives to your material handling needs.  Battery powered carts from DJ Products create no noise pollution and operate free of combustible fuels – they are powered by a long life battery that can easily handle an entire, fast paced shift on a single charge, making them much more efficient and much less expensive to operate than a traditional forklift.

Keeping your employees safe is integral to running a successful business and the battery powered carts from DJ Products are designed with employee safety in mind.  All carts are ergonomically designed to prevent over use injuries and the overall operation is so simple that a single employee can transport heavy loads safely with very little physical effort.  This gives your employees the power to perform work as quickly as they could with a forklift, without the potential hazards often associated with forklift operation.  By trading in the biggest risk of employee injury for a much safer alternative you can greatly increase your company’s overall productivity while at the same time reducing risks to your valuable employees – that’s a winning situation for everyone.

A Light Cart Caddy To Do Big Jobs

Good things come in small packages, and when it comes to healthcare material handling solutions they don’t come smaller and better than the CartCaddyLite from DJ Products. This compact electric puller is mighty enough to allow a single employee to move up to 1,500 pounds.

Workers routinely have to move bulky items like linen carts through hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities. Narrow hallways and tight spaces create a high likelihood of damage and injury. The CartCaddyLite can pivot a full 180 degrees under its arm attachment, allowing for smooth turning without jackknifing.

According to OSHA, 20 percent of workplace injuries involve back strain. Thanks to the power of its 24-volt electric batteries, use of the CartCaddyLite greatly reduces the possibility of injury. Our cart puller accelerates smoothly up to three MPH in both forward and reverse, allowing the operator to follow without the risk of sudden, jerky movements.

The CartCaddyLite includes other ergonomically designed features such as a variable speed twist grip to help eliminate repetitive stress injuries. A safety stop switch at the back of the handle bar box allows the operator shut down the puller immediately in case of emergency.

Make sure your healthcare facility can focus on treating patients instead of your own employees. The CartCaddyLite is one choice from our comprehensive line of electric-powered material handling solutions. Call 800.686.2651 or use our convenient online chat feature for assistance from our friendly Sales Engineers. They can help you join Team Cart Caddy with the right selection for your particular needs.