Warehousing Archives - Page 8 of 9

Safety Breeds Productivity

Too many warehouses and material handling companies view safety as secondary in order of importance compared to customer service – but a clean, safe and clutter free workplace can have a huge effect on productivity.

Organization is key in being able to deliver optimal customer service as orders can be pulled, stationed, packed and shipped much more quickly and efficiently in an environment that is clutter free and safe. There is also a much lower chance of injury in an environment that is organized, properly equipped and well designed.

Warehouse and plant managers shouldn’t wait for fire or safety inspection time to roll around to get their operations organized and clean – the possibility for greatly increased productivity and, in turn, an increase in the bottom line along with a loyal customer base are readily available for business that can provide lightning quick and pin point accurate service.

Employees who work in atmospheres where the equipment is outdated and unreliable are more likely to have to perform the brunt of their jobs manually; this can lead to oversights and errors that may affect the accuracy of orders and of your inventory. It can also result in material being left in areas that weren’t necessarily meant for storage, potentially leading to accidents or injuries.

Upgrading your material handling equipment to battery powered carts that are quiet, ergonomic and long lasting will allow your employees to work at a faster pace without having to worry about resorting to manual handling when the equipment fails. Nothing hurts moral and performance worse than equipment failure during the picking or stocking of a large order when the pressure is on to perform.

Electric Carts from DJ Products have the power to last for an entire, fast paced shift of shipping/receiving without any worry about failure. This means that your employees can fully receive stock orders and put them away, or pull and stage large orders without interruption – with the right equipment; your warehouse will be clean, organized and operating at the highest possible level of efficiency.

Make Power Moves with Power Pullers

When people talk about someone having “pull” in an informal sense, they mean that the person has the power and influence to attract or draw resources towards them. People who have “pull” are able to exert this influence effortlessly.

In contrast, being able to have “pull” a warehouse or hospital setting often requires a lot of effort. And there are times when that effort can cause injury. A DJ Products CartCaddyLite Shorty power puller is a battery powered tug designed with enough power to maneuver carts through confined environments where tight maneuverability is of a huge concern. You can use it to help transport dollies, hand trucks, linen carts, hospital carts, maintenance carts and even hospital beds. Even though these carts are typically less than 1500 lbs. and usually maneuvered manually, pulling them can cause considerable strain. If our battery power puller is used, risks of fatigue and injury to valuable workers can be reduced.

With the CartCaddyLite Shorty, there is no need to jackknife or manually turn the front of your cart because once you attach the arm to your carts or equipment, the puller can pivot a full 180 degrees under the arm.

Power Pullers and Power Movers from DJ Products give employees the “pull” they need to get their work done without straining muscles and risking injury. And giving your employees the right tools can boost morale in a way that gives you more “pull” as well.

Ergonomic Plan Can Help Attract and Retain Workers

This week we’ve been talking about the growing worker crisis that faces the material handling, manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and related industries (see our Nov. 3 post). By 2010, American industry will face a 50% shortfall in its material handling workforce. Attracting workers to material industry jobs is one of the biggest challenges of our industry (see our Nov. 5 post), particularly with worldwide growth in our industry expected to remain robust over the next several decades. Developing and instituting a comprehensive ergonomic plan in your company is an excellent way to attract new workers and retain your current workforce.

Ergonomics is the science of designing equipment and planning work tasks with the goal of eliminating workers’ risk of musculoskeletal injury. Equipment and tasks are designed around the capabilities of workers and seek to make it possible for workers to perform tasks with a minimum of physical strain and effort. A comprehensive ergonomic plan combines the use of ergonomically-designed equipment with ergonomically-planned task procedures to make it possible for workers to perform tasks more efficiently with a minimum of potential injury-causing motions.

Any time a worker has to bend, stretch, reach, push, pull or lift, he runs the risk of serious musculoskeletal injury. These injuries cost U.S. businesses more than $150 billion a year. More than 13 million American workers suffer non-fatal injuries each year, and 6,500 people die from workplace injuries. Workers’ compensation costs U.S. businesses $60 billion annually, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. More than 25% of those claims are for back injuries caused by repetitive lifting, pulling, pushing and straining. Back injuries alone affect more than 1.75 million workers a year, costing American businesses more than $12 million in lost workdays.

When you implement a comprehensive ergonomic plan, you send an immediate message to your employees that you respect their contribution to your business and value their health and safety. That, in turn, engenders worker appreciation and loyalty. The ability to offer a safe, ergonomic work environment is a powerful inducement in attracting and retaining your workforce.

DJ Products is an industry leader in the manufacture of ergonomically-designed electric and motorized cart pushers. Our equipment is less costly, smaller and more maneuverable than traditional equipment used to move carts and equipment. Ergonomically-designed equipment increases worker efficiency, thus improving production efficiency. In most situations where ergonomic equipment is introduced, businesses recoup purchase costs within the first year in medical, insurance, workers’ compensation and lost work-days savings alone. An investment in ergonomic equipment is a win-win situation for both businesses and their workers. DJ Products’ ergonomic specialists can help you assess your equipment needs and explore custom applications to benefit your business and your workers.

Automation Is Changing Warehousing

Warehousing and distribution centers are being forced to perform more quickly than ever before and meet a growing list of unique customer requirements. Automation is the key to success.

“To get more throughput while decreasing cycle times, more facilities are turning to the strategic use of automation for picking, conveying, storage and sortation,” wrote Modern Materials Handling editor Bob Trebilcock in a May 2006 Modern Materials Handling article on warehousing systems.

Over the past decade, automated systems have moved from simple stock locator systems to islands of single-task automation to the unified, integrated systems being installed today. Automation is speeding up every aspect of warehousing, including inventory control, receiving, material movement, picking, packing and shipping. Automation allows greater volumes to be handled in shorter timeframes. Today, automation allows customization of an end-user’s needs to be accomplished with amazing speed, accuracy and efficiency.

Engineering a customer’s requirements “into the workflow” and performing them as a matter of course, is the most efficient and cost-effective way to meet specific customer requirements, Trebilcock writes in a July 2008 Modern Materials Handling article. Some examples of using automation to meet unique customer requirements:

Pick-to-light solutions ensure order-picking accuracy and maintain throughput.
Synchronizing material delivery to the production line in the same sequence as component assembly and packing saves time on the order assembly line.
Automatic print and apply processes save labor in applying shipping labels and guarantee accurate shipments.

Anything you can do to automate your warehousing or distribution operation will improve speed and accuracy for your customers and allow you to handle a higher volume while still meeting unique customer requirements.

We’re Watching Warehouse and Logistics Trends for 2016 for You

Industry trends serve to prepare for changes. Every business adopts change and technology at different paces, but many trends will eventually inform the new reality for us all. In 2016, the warehouse and logistics industry looks forward to beneficial disruption — especially in terms of technology that boosts efficiency.

At DJ Products, we help warehousing and logistics providers with automated material handling equipment. Devices like our warehouse tugs and powered pushers help close the gap between operational efficiency and the rigorous demands of profitability.

For 2016, the folks at Logistics Viewpoints have already identified several major warehouse and logistics trends to watch:

Sustainability will eventually be a part of your mission. Private companies can avoid public pressure longer than larger, publicly-traded companies. But emissions standards and landfill reduction will become a necessary action — and there are ways to find ROI for those efforts.

Omni-channel logistics is your next big move in fulfillment. As legacy software gradually becomes replaced, omni-channel technology will become the norm and business strategies will adapt to integrate.

Warehouse automation keeps disrupting. Warehouses continue to innovate with robotic and motorized tools such as warehouse tugs and powered pushers. This tech is now necessary to meet the demands of e-commerce efficiently.

Crowdsourcing will disrupt transportation. For delivery and transportation, many warehouses would be wise to leverage one of the new Uber-inspired outsourced delivery innovators instead of investing in in-house fleets and TMS.

Follow our blog to stay on top of the trends in 2016 and beyond. Ready to implement automation tools for warehouse and logistics efficiency? Visits DJProducts.com to learn about our warehouse tugs and powered pushers.

Volunteer to Speak at High School Career Day

High schools are starting to schedule annual Career Days. DJ Products encourages business owners and managers to call your local high school guidance department and volunteer to make a presentation. There’s been a lot of press over the past year about dwindling work forces in the material handling, manufacturing, fulfillment and warehousing industries. The need to educate young people about the career potential in our industries has been repeatedly stressed by industry leaders at national association conferences. We need to work now to encourage America’s youth to pursue careers that will benefit and ensure the future of material handling and the U.S. industries so vital to American commerce. High school Career Days give local business leaders a perfect opportunity to talk to America’s future workforce and encourage teens to seek careers in material handling, manufacturing, fulfillment and warehousing.

Partnering with high schools through Career Day, internships and technical training programs are among the nationwide efforts being made to draw future workers to material handling and other industrial careers. A unique partnership in Rock Hill, South Carolina could serve as a model for similar programs across the country. In sponsorship with the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) and the Material Handling Education Foundation Inc. (MHEFI), Rock Hill Schools are set to open the Don Frazier Supply Chain Training Center at the end of April. A new addition to its Applied Technology Center, Rock Hill’s new entry-level pilot program will allow high school students to learn by doing in a state-of-the-art, fully equipped, 4,000 square foot warehouse and distribution center, according to a MHIA press release.

Named for industry pioneer and program supporter Don Frazier, founder of Frazier Industrial Co. headquartered in New Jersey, the Don Frazier Material Handling Technical Training Program will provide hands-on learning in material handling and supply chain jobs to high school students in grades 9 through 12. Numerous local and national industry leaders and suppliers contributed to the start up of the Rock Hill program. Modeled after the prestigious Lehigh Career and Technical Institute program at Lehigh University near Allentown, Pennsylvania, it is hoped that the pilot program will serve as a model for the development of similar programs at high school technical centers across the country.

Warehouse Robots May Become Your Best Employee

As a task automation tool, warehouse robots serve as both an inexpensive “employee” and a method of improving your warehouse efficiency for everyone.

The BBC checked in on a new robotic dolly that reads orders and moves to the correct location. The robot does not handle the picking and grabbing, but it does move the loading cart into the right position so a human passerby can simply place the item on the cart.

If your warehouse does not use automated material handling solutions, your workers are handling the full physical exertion of every aspect — pushing or pulling the cart, lifting and loading the item, and moving the heavy cart from a standstill.

The Growing Value of Automation

Motorized industrial tugs are a commonsense solution for improving warehouse efficiency. No need to reinvent the wheel with a system designed for robots rather than humans. Motorized carts simply help workers get more done in less time, with less injury risk.

Humans can efficiently and accurately read an order and pick the correct item — but the strenuous, repetitive task of moving the cart slows down the process.

The new British robots require that a human happens to walk by and pick the item. Industrial tugs have an efficiency advantage — the worker simply directs the motorized cart from location to location.

Take away the strain of moving warehouse equipment and speed up the process, and your human employees will perform even better thanks to industrial tugs.

For more info about motorized cart movers and cart pushers, visit DJProducts.com and discover how you can reduce injury, boost productivity, and get more done at the warehouse.

Is Your Warehouse in Trouble? A How to Know Checklist

Discovering a problem inside your warehouse should be considered a good thing — you know what to fix! The tricky part involves figuring out the hidden causes of lost productivity. Once you know what’s wrong, you can take action to make the warehouse more efficient.

Operations expert Dave Piasecki has a helpful checklist of warehouse problem symptoms to look for. Some frequently overlooked problems include:

Equipment damage

Worker injuries & declining productivity

Cleanliness and organization

Low morale

Some problems, like inventory errors, can be easily spotted in the numbers. But what if workers are slowing down and performing below expectations because of an inherently problematic process? That’s when it’s time to focus on the process itself.

Improving the Process, Implementing New Tools for Warehouses

As Piasecki says, you only need to analyze so much. You need to implement solutions.

Do you need a drastic overhaul? Probably not. Instead of worrying about elaborate changes, streamline the material handling process with better tools for your workers.

Powered industrial tugs improve warehouse efficiency for each individual task, and for the staff as a whole. Replace the tiring, injury-riddled problem of manually pushing carts with motorized tugs, and a worker can accomplish more in less time.

Over the long haul, your workers will maintain a higher level of productivity thanks to fewer injuries and less energy spent over the course of a day’s work.

Then there’s a ripple effect: inventory and equipment get moved more efficiently, so managers, receivers and everyone else can do their job with less back-up and stalling.

Ready to solve the problems plaguing your warehouse? Start with industrial tugs from DJProducts.com.

Part 6: Why Businesses Fail, the Conclusion

Today we conclude our six-part series on Why Businesses Fail (see our posts starting July 14). One of the primary reasons businesses fail is:

Faulty attitudes and objectives. Businesses fail when personal or company desires are placed ahead of customers’ wants and desires. You don’t run your business; your customers run your business. Customer satisfaction is the single-most important factor in driving business and repeat business to your door. Businessmen who forget that don’t remain in business long.
Employee satisfaction goes hand-in-hand with customer satisfaction. When businesses fail to value their employees, employee satisfaction plummets, taking with it production quality and efficiency and customer satisfaction. It’s a downward spiral from which businesses don’t recover without an attitude adjustment. The bottom line is that it’s the human element that guarantees business success.

DJ Products understands the value and importance of customer and employee satisfaction — both ours and yours. That’s why we manufacture and use ergonomically designed electric carts and motorized cart pushers and equipment movers. Our equipment is smaller, more maneuverable and less costly to purchase and operate than traditional powered equipment like fork trucks, walkies and riding tugs. And our equipment is designed to eliminate the pain and strain of manually moving heavy carts and wheeled equipment. We value the health and safety of our workers — and yours.

DJ Products’ expert sales staff can assist you in assessing your material handling needs. On our website you’ll find a handy Ergonomic Load Calculator designed by experts to estimate the amount of horizontal force needed to move wheeled loads. Our sales staff can help you calculate load factors and recommend material handling products designed to protect the health and safety of your workers. Visit the DJ Products’ website for detailed specs on our complete line of products. If you have a material handling problem, DJ Products can provide the solution.

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.

Tag: Warehousing