Can you cause a pallet rack collapse with a simple kick or push? In this video, it seems you can. But what really happened to cause such a dangerous incident? 

The kick itself, while inadvisable, should not cause a pallet rack collapse. Some conjecture on the real cause of this near-fatal incident:

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Forklift approach warning lights are an economical way to help alert people on foot to the approach of a forklift, AGV, or other industrial vehicle. In this case, we are able to show you how visible these lights can be in a setting where an order picking vehicle is traveling through a rack aisle, and where someone’s perspective might not allow them to see the approaching danger. The light is very visible, up to fifteen feet preceding the lift.

This video displays a Seegrid automated industrial truck, at our recent Open House and Automation Exhibit. The Seegrid truck navigated a large warehouse, interacting frequently with attendees to demonstrate its route learning and safety features. “I trust it more than many forklift drivers I’ve been around,” said one attendee. (Seegrid trucks have a 100% safety record, so that trust is well-founded).

• More information on the unique Seegrid system may be found here.

Joel Pason has been named Cisco-Eagle’s Employee-Owner of the Year (click for more details).

The award recognizes an employee-owner that has gone beyond what is expected to promote and support the ownership culture at Cisco-Eagle during the fiscal year. Pason, a Project Manager in our Oklahoma City Systems & Design group, has been with Cisco-Eagle since 1999.

Congratulations to Joel!

Check out this video from ESH Safety News America for some common ways people fall in a variety of situations. The video is informative, and sometimes funny (see the shovel part), but the consequences of a slip & fall accident certainly are no laughing matter.

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In any order picking, assembly, packing, or palletizing process, time spent walking is wasted. Value is realized at work areas, not in transit between them. In many operations, order pickers can walk as many as 12 miles a day. This level of walking makes workers tired and more prone to error, injuries, and declines in productivity. While some degree of walking is unavoidable, much of this is simply commuting time to retrieve supplies, or inefficient design that makes the job harder and less efficient than it should be.

How can you reduce time walking, and increase the time people spend getting things done?

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There’s a lot of confusion about the different finishes that can be applied to a pallet rack wire deck. Various manufacturers offer different finishes, and you may have need of more than one of them for different types of storage applications. Nashville Wire, our rack decking supplier, has sent us this super-basic primer on the common finish options.

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To save time, people  sometimes climb pallet racks to pick orders or do other things. This should never happen. While  it’s faster to climb than it is to bring a rolling stair ladder or a forklift in to do it right, it’s dangerous and counterproductive. Do it long enough and there will be injuries.

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Cisco-Eagle is opening our doors on April 18, 2013 for a day of education and fun at our Dallas offices. The Open House and Automation Exhibition will feature commentary from Mike Cicco, General Manager of FANUC North America. He’ll provide a brief review of the newest robotics technology and applications, and will be available to field any questions you might have about the future of robotics in industrial automation. We’ll have a demo of Seegrid’s automated, driverless lift trucks, as well as AisleCop® Safety Gate Systems, Hytrol e24 Conveyors, and much more. Click below for full details. We’ll be serving lunch, door prizes, and good conversation. Come see us!

• Register for a day of education and fun

There is nothing inexpensive about a new facility.

The cost of real estate (or lease costs), new equipment, people, regulatory compliance, and potential downtime add up very quickly, even for a relatively small operation. But reconfiguring your current operation has its own challenges. You have to deal with operating in a construction/renovation environment, the potential that the redesign won’t serve your needs through future growth, new equipment, and more. It’s a difficult choice.

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