Tag: productivity

Ergonomic Products Will Lead Material Handling Gains in U.S.

The material handling industry is on the cusp of a major worldwide growth spurt. Increased automation at home and growing industrialization abroad, particularly in automobile production, are expected to increase worldwide sales of material handling products and systems by 5% a year for the next five years (see our Sept. 22 & 24 posts). Products that maximize worker efforts while decreasing the physical strain on workers will enjoy an ever-increasing share of the market. Particularly in the U.S. where a declining workforce coupled with escalating medical, insurance and workers’ compensation costs will drive a move toward more efficient material handling products, ergonomically-designed equipment and systems are expected to capture an increasing part of the material handling market.

DJ Products is well situated to help you meet the material handling challenges of tomorrow. We manufacture ergonomically-designed material handling carts and tugs designed to maximize work effort and safety. Our energy-efficient electric and battery-powered carts and tugs are less costly, smaller and more maneuverable than the traditional equipment used to move carts and equipment such as forklifts which kill 100 U.S. workers a year and result in 20,000 serious injuries.

All of our products are battery-powered walk-behind units that allow maximum operator control, even in tight, difficult spaces. The flexibility of our ergonomic equipment allows it to be used not only in manufacturing settings, logistics centers and  warehouses, but in hospitals, hotels and motels, and in the retail industry.

We make a number of efficient vehicle pushers for the automotive industry, including some for use on production lines. Our vehicle pushers can be used to push vehicles down and assembly line or move them from station to station. Padded to prevent dents, scratches and cracks, our vehicle movers preserve the paint and integrity of vehicles during production and processing. From our handy car/vehicle pusher to our heavy-duty truck pusher which is capable of moving 10,000 pounds, we make versatile automotive material handling products useful in every aspect of the automotive industry.

For complete information, specifications and videos of our ergonomically-designed carts, tugs and movers in action, visit the DJ Products website.

Get Powered Carts for Aging Healthcare Workers

As workers get older, the wear and tear of age, combined with a lifetime of labor can contribute to them slowing down. This does not mean that older workers should be cast aside, however. It does mean that employers need to recognize that retaining older workers may require some adjustments.

A Department of Labor newsletter article entitled, “The Aging Workforce: Challenges for the Healthcare Industry Workforce” outlined a growing concern for employers in healthcare and other industries. It said that “By 2050, the U.S. Census predicts that 19.6 million American workers will be 65 years or older, roughly 19 percent of the total U.S. workforce” and that by 2020 almost half of all registered workers will be eligible to retire. Not only will these workers be aging themselves, they will be called on to assist patients who are even older than they are,

In some instances, these workers will stay on the job because of financial need or a desire to remain active. In other cases, employers will want to keep these workers on because of their knowledge and experience. Either way, employers will need to think of ways to make work tasks adaptable to aging physiques.

Providing ergonomic material handling carts such as an electric cart puller or powered cart from out CartCaddy line of products can make a difference. These are our smallest and most maneuverable caddies, designed for lighter loads and areas with lots of pedestrian traffic. These applications usually have a space constraint, and these products tend to look less industrial in nature than some of our more heavy-duty material handling solutions.

A Shopping Cart Retriever Can Make Holiday Shoppers Happier

It seems as if the holiday shopping season begins earlier each year so it is never too soon to make sure that you and your employees are ready to accommodate your eager but possibly stressed out customers. One thing to have at the ready is a DJ Products Shopping Cart Retriever, a labor-saving device for gathering and recycling carts from your parking lot.

Locating carts: On especially busy days, people become frustrated if they cannot find a shopping cart because all are taken. It is likely that there is one available but if it hasn’t been rounded up and returned to the store yet, you could potentially lose out on valuable sales.

Loss Prevention: Shopping carts cost money and anything that disappears from your property—be it merchandise or a shopping cart— affects your bottom line. Some people will take carts on purpose, while others may just forget to return a cart (like a Pennsylvania man who intended to steal a computer but ended up being arrested for stealing a shopping cart instead.) Bringing carts back into the store quickly minimize theft.

Safety: Whether the ground is bare or covered in snow and ice, stray carts can make a parking lot less safe: the wind can blow a cart into a person or into a car; someone who isn’t paying attention may back into a cart; an abandoned cart can block a parking spot and cause confusion. Plus, the faster an employee can gather the carts, the better. Instead of having employees outside in all kinds of weather dodging cars to retrieve and corral carts, they can use a cart retriever to steer a line of up to fifty shopping carts back into your store.

A Powered Cart Can Be Used in a Variety of Workplaces

A powered cart is a versatile piece of equipment that can not only be used in a variety of work environments but can also be used in a myriad number of ways in one workplace. A powered cart can streamline work tasks and reduce the chance of injury in places like: warehouses, hospitals, hotels, resorts, casinos, offices and schools.

The PartsCaddyLite powered cart has enough power to handle most parts-moving applications within a hospital or other hospitality setting, but it is still small and maneuverable enough to be easily pushed through a crowded hallway.

You can use it to move equipment, boxes, books, chairs and other items. This is the kind of thing that will be used constantly in some workplaces, while in others it may not be used every single day but having it on hand will make a huge difference when there is a need to move heavy items from one spot to another.
While a wheeled cart is also useful, there are times when you need something with more power. This is especially true if your workplace has wheeled carts that have been around for a while–with time these carts can become rickety and difficult to maneuver. You do not want employees endangering themselves and risked collisions in narrow spaces. The cart has a variable speed twist grip for forward and reverse directions from 0 to 3 mph.

Watch this video to see the DJ Products PartsCaddyLite in action and you’ll understand just how useful it can be for your business or organization.

Making the Most of Your Space

A few years back, when business was booming, the answer to the need for increased space because of increased business was simple – upgrade to a larger facility that can handle the increase of inventory.  Now things aren’t quite so simple, increases in margins remain slim and there is constant competition to attract and keep new customers, so many business are leery about taking on greater overheads to try and meet customer demands – instead businesses are being forced to recreate the space that they are in an effort to hold the necessary inventory to satisfy customer demands.

This may mean changing storage racks, warehouse aisles and converting office space in order to make room for additional product storage and this restructuring of space may also mean that the equipment being used may no longer be as effective with the more constrained spaces.  Traditional forklifts can be bulky and may need a good deal of space to  maneuver  around a warehouse  – if you decrease the amount of room for travel there may no longer be enough room for a large forklift to effectively operate.

Though upgrading to smaller, safer and more efficient equipment will bring about an initial investment, unlike assuming a new lease for a larger space, this investment will immediately begin to pay for itself.  The powered carts and lifts from DJ Products allow a single employee to move heavy loads around in the smallest places easily – meaning that your employees won’t struggle at all in the smaller and more cramped spaces and that your business will maintain the same level of productivity despite the fact that your employees have less space to move around in.

Your new equipment will cost less to operate and allow your employees to get the job done quicker, which is exactly the formula you need to attract and keep more customers without having to move into a larger facility.