Warehousing Archives - Page 8 of 9

Hazards in the Workplace

Many things located in your workplace; things that you use every single day without a second though, things as common as pallets, ladders, hand trucks can all prove to be dangerous if not used properly. Many of the pieces of equipment that you use on a regular basis, the things that you come in contact with so often that you take their necessity for granted, can pose a serious health risk to you and others if they aren’t in good condition or if they aren’t properly used.

Regular inspections of all equipment should be made to ensure that everything is in good working condition, regular maintenance should be performed on any equipment that contains moving parts and you should ensure that all of your employees are educated on the proper use of the equipment.

The equipment that you use everyday needs to be: properly used by your employees, in good working condition and capable of handling the work that you are using it for. Many workplace injuries can be avoided simply by the use of the right equipment for the task at hand. The electric carts and lifts offered by DJ Products are easy to operate – your employees can be trained quickly to operate these lifts properly, safely and efficiently. They are quiet – the rest of your employees won’t be distracted by excessive noise while DJ Product’s equipment is operating. They are highly efficient and have long battery life – your employees won’t be stuck with an unfinished load of material in the middle of your warehouse due to the fact that their cart died. All of these attributes will make your warehouse more efficient and much safer for all of your employees.

Safety should be a prime concern when you work in material handling – and safety starts with the right equipment for the job and properly trained employees. You can make your operation as safe as possible and dramatically increase your company’s efficiency by using the right equipment for the job.

Ergonomic Solutions for Warehouse Order Fulfillment

If your business relies on a warehouse to ship goods to your customers then you know that getting orders is only half of the battle. Once you have secured a customer’s order, it is then up to you and your team to see to it that the order reaches that customer in good condition as quickly as possible. We have no doubt that you have stressed the importance of filling orders quickly to your employees…but have you given them the right equipment to make this happen? It is important to give your employees the supplies so they can carry out your vision.

When employees are working as quickly as possible but using outdated or inadequate machinery, they are more prone to injury. In addition to this, rickety carts, unstable dollies, and overused scissor lifts can result in spilled or damaged merchandise. Having employees out on leave because of injury and losing merchandise to accidents can eat away at your profits and you do not want that.

DJ Products offers and entire lineup for industrial ergonomic material handling solutions including:

• Carts with casters
• Carts with 4-swivel casters or wagon-wheel style of turning
• Carts in a straight line
• Platform Trucks & Scissor Lifts

Our ergonomic cart pushers, electric cart pullers and other solutions eliminate the strain of manually pulling heavy product, parts carts, or wheeled equipment. Your employees can continue to work efficiently with a reduced chance of injury or product damage.

Our products are not one-size-fits-all. Contact us at 800-686-2651 to discuss exactly what you need and the customization options that will work for your industry.

Ergonomic Material Handling Equipment Meets Needs of Multi-Generational Workforce

Finding, training and keeping qualified workers is slated for discussion at the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) annual conference NA 2010 scheduled for April 26-29 (see our January 4 post). The conference will devote two educational sessions to managing the supply chain workforce:

How Industry is Changing Material Handling Training and Education will focus on the demanding skill sets now necessary to perform even entry-level jobs in highly sophisticated, automated warehouses, distribution centers and fulfillment houses.
Building the Workforce of Tomorrow will focus on the challenge of integrating multi-generational workforces successfully as baby boomers and the knowledge they harbor leave the industry.

The move toward more automated supply chain operations and the increasing sophistication of the technology that drives them presents a considerable workforce challenge for supply chain managers. Technology is necessitating a more highly skilled supply chain worker making it difficult to find suitable workforce candidates among the industry’s traditional unskilled labor pool. Exacerbating the problem is the coming retirement of skilled baby boomers who have been the backbone of the supply chain industry for decades. Supply chain managers worry that there simply won’t be enough new workers coming into the system to replace those who are leaving it. The poor economic climate has actually alleviated that part of the problem somewhat. Lost savings and pinched budgets have forced many baby boomers to return to the workforce or push retirement back a few more years.

While their expertise is welcome, the distinct physical needs of an aging workforce have thrown another wrench into the supply chain machinery. Ergonomic material handling equipment that removes the physical burden from the worker could be the key to accommodating senior workers. Adjustability allows ergonomically designed carts and tugs to accommodate workers of every shape, size, sex and physical ability, providing supply chain managers with maximum use of their workforce.

Supply Chain Digest Announces Fall Workshops

Supply Chain Digest is pulling out a heavy-hitter to headline its annual fall workshop on improving distribution center and warehouse management and performance. Ken Miesemer, Senior Consultant at St. Onge and former Director of Distribution and International Logistics for Hershey Foods, will lead two fall workshops being sponsored by the industry magazine. “Best Practices in Distribution Center Design, Operations and Management” will be presented in Philadelphia on October 21-22 and in Atlanta on October 28-29.

Author of the book Start-Up of a World Class DC, Miesemer said, “These workshops use outstanding materials that have been extremely well received by logistic professionals, and deliver concepts and insight that aren’t just theory but which have been proven in real-world distribution environments.”

Billed as “hands-on, practical training sessions,” Supply Chain Digest’s popular Professional Education Series workshops encourage interaction between instructors and distribution, warehousing and logistics professionals. In addition to Miesemer, Supply Chain Digest editor Dan Gilmore will review supply chain execution software systems. Course materials include distribution analysis and decision-making tools and templates that attendees will be able to implement in their own operations. The discussion and provision of practical action plans is a hallmark of Supply Chain Digest workshops.

The workshops will focus on the implementation of best practices to improve labor productivity, operations efficiency and inventory accuracy using proven techniques and technology. Course highlights include: building and material handling equipment design, testing design through automation, organizing to minimize bottlenecks, workforce performance management, fostering a culture of continuous development and improvement, differentiating solutions, redefining bid specifications, controlling risk driven margin expectations, and much more.

“Best Practices in Distribution Center Design, Operations and Management” workshop details:

October 21-22 at Penn State Great Valley Conference Center in Malvern, PA just outside of Philadelphia
October 28-29 at Georgia Tech Conference Center in Atlanta, GA

Click here for a complete course outline and hotel and registration information.

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.