Shipping & receiving docks are a particularly dangerous area of most operations because so much activity takes place in a relatively small space. In your average warehouse, the docks take up 20% of the square footage but host 80% of the activity. As you know, at times that activity can be fast-paced – even frenzied as full pallets are taken in, or loaded ones are being loaded into trailers. This is a time rife with possibilities for accidents. How can you prevent them?

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Do your line employees help extend the life of your conveyors? If you don’t know the answer to that question, it’s probably “no.”

Employees are the first line of defense when it comes to minimizing maintenance problems, according to Cliff Holste at Supply Chain Digest. Are you adequately preparing them to fulfill that role? Are they trained, equipped, and encouraged to help you prevent issues with conveyors and other equipment? Past the jump, a couple of ways to help your line workers become more aware of ways to keep your systems running…

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This video illustrates the reason why we always advise customers to securely bolt their lockers, racks and shelving to the floor.

It’s that season – facilities across the country are facing mounting utility bills, workers drenched in sweat, and ferocious heat. Typically, an HVLS fan is one of the best solutions to these issues, but MacroAir has gone one better by producing these massive air movement ceiling fans in a solar configuration. This innovation does a couple of things. First, it cools your facility during the day, using the same method other HVLS fans use. But beyond that, it’s a very green product, one that reduces your energy costs and carbon footprint. Currently, these fans come in solar-only configurations. They won’t run when the sun is down, and they do not have battery backup systems. However, there is an option being designed to allow you to tie them to building power for night time or non-seasonal applications.

More information here…

Environmental factors are often ignored

One percent of factory accidents involve forklift trucks, but the forklift accidents produce ten percent of the physical injuries. That’s an astonishing ratio, but not all that surprising given the nature of forklifts and the way they are utilized. Forklifts are dense, heavy-mass vehicles. When they collide with something – or someone – the results are devastating, even at low speeds.

Some leading types of lift truck accidents are:

• Workers struck by forklifts
• Loads are dropped onto employees
• Driver catches his body between the forklift and other objects
• The forklift is driven off the loading dock

Kind of a terrifying list, don’t you think?

Most forklift accidents are blamed on operator error, but that is just partially true – and something of a cop-out. Rough estimates say that a quarter of forklift accidents could be avoided by addressing environmental concerns. When you eliminate those, it helps you understand better when a driver is truly ineffective, or just hamstrung by the way your warehouse is set up. In other words, before you point the finger at the driver, take a look at your operation…

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Cisco-Eagle has named Jason Eitreim as its 2010 Employee Owner of the Year. The annual award is made by a committee of Cisco-Eagle associates, the ESOP Advisory Committee, and recognizes one employee for going above and beyond the expected to promote our ownership culture and personal accountability and positively affect our stock value.

Eitreim has been with Cisco-Eagle in many capacities since joining the company in 1999.  He has served in customer service and sales associate roles before taking the lead as our Houston Market Manager.

Jason has served on various employee committees, including the ESOP Advisory Committee and Vendor Evaluation Team.

Previous winners include Anne Miller in 2008 and Darrell Griffin in 2009.

We recently mailed thousands of dock equipment mini-catalogs, so you may already have a copy. If not, read on to download one.

It focuses on ways to improve productivity, safety, and security at the shipping & receiving dock. The focus is on equipment such as our exclusive truck-to-dock delivery vehicle conveyor,  dock bumpers, dockplates, and dock door security cages, plastic strip doors. We also toss in some basic storage equipment like shelving and racks, along with all kinds of protective equipment, including edge-of-dock safety gates, bollard covers, man trap dock door cages, column protectors, and more.

• Check out the mini-catalog here (966KB PDF, opens a new window). You can also contact customer service and request a hard copy.
• Article: Security at the Shipping Dock: How to Harden the Target.

Prices are fluid and subject to change in this day and age of energy and steel volatility, so check the part number on our website for any changes.

The Lean Logistics Summit kicks of on June 22 in Cincinnati. The Summit will gather the world’s leading authorities on the subject of lean logistics. Authors, researchers, and company representatives actually on their own lean logistics journey will share their insights. Learn from them and learn from your peers as you network with like-minded professionals. Sessions of interest to warehousing and distribution professionals might include “A Case Study in Lean Distribution,” by Sarah Giffin, Sr. Operations Improvement Manager of CEVA Logistics on 6/22. Also, check out “Implementing Lean Inside the Logistics Facility” later that day. The summit costs $995, but use the code “leannation” for a 25% discount.

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This has very little to do with warehousing, storage, or material handling – the normal stuff you’d see on this blog. It has everything to do with the debt we owe our veterans as the long weekend approaches.  This certainly isn’t original on our part, but it’s about the most apt thing I can think of to say. If you served, or have family who have served, thanks. We owe you everything.

It is the  VETERAN,  not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is  the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN,  not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is  the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

This is great news for small business. How great?

All businesses that purchase or finance less than $800,000 in business equipment should qualify for the Section 179 Deduction. To qualify for the Section 179 Deduction, the equipment purchased must be placed into service between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010. The list of qualifying equipment includes machines purchased for business use, vehicles, computers, and property attached to your building that isn’t part of the structure (essentially, most material handling equipment). For more information, check out the Section 179 website – it has lists of qualifying companies and an online calculator that helps you figure out your position. As always, see a tax professional to ensure your company and purchase qualify.

Please Note - The HIRE Act does not extend the 50% bonus depreciation that was available in the 2009 tax year.  We’ll let you know if there is movement toward extending that credit.

• www.section179.org has calculators and detailed equipment lists to help you understand how this may affect you.
• Crest Capital Section 179 Calculator