OSHA’s conveyor guidelines focus on guardrails and emergency stops, but when it comes to conveyor safety, the story hardly ends there. One neglected aspect is in areas where people may pass under suspended or overhead conveyors. Here are some best practices for those situations.
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
When it comes to loading and retrieving pallets from a rack bay that could be 30 feet or more off the ground, there is some risk of product damage or falls. These things occur when drivers are busy, under-trained or just have a bad moment. Here are some things you can do to reduce these risks.
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
Because they offer instant access to, and easy selection of either an entire load or any part of it, cantilever racks are ideal for storing long, unwieldy, heavy and difficult loads. They come with many options and questions, so we have published a guide to cantilever racks (PDF) you should read as you move forward on a storage project involving these types of loads.
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
While warehouse robotics can be thought of as too futuristic, there are many e-commerce fulfillment applications being installed today that are set up to take full advantage of all they have to offer a facility. Some may be leery of this technology, but it would be a mistake to say that robotics would never apply to your warehouse.
Today’s robotic applications are all based on existing applications and technology, not uncharted research, and each generation of technology gets cheaper. Here are some important considerations when looking at applying warehouse robotics today.
Tags: Manufacturing, e-commerce, Robotics, warehouse flow
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|
When conveyor rollers are set low, you gain several advantages vs. rollers set high. When you do this, your conveyor has several advantages.
Tags: rollers, Accumulation Systems, conveyor design
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
When you consider the various storage media and order picking methods, it’s critical to understand why some items are better picked in a variety of storage media, and accessed by the right type of picking authentication. The following table is a visual comparison of these alternatives.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|
Although security experts agree that dock areas are probably the largest security concern in a warehousing operation, storage and picking areas are also a problem. What are some things you can do to reduce your pilferage risks?
Tags: Industrial Security, wire mesh security cages, secure storage, distribution center pilferage, access control
Posted in Security|
Because it links the manufacturing process with transportation to retailers, cold storage is one of the most important parts of the frozen food supply chain. The rise in e-commerce and evolution in where food is stored and how it gets to our homes is causing a massive increase in cold storage facilities across the nation.
With supply chains becoming more and more complex and increasing in length, it’s more important than ever for providers to ensure that perishable products that are stored in their warehouses are kept within a strict temperature range (normally between -20 degrees Celsius and -28 degrees Celsius). A temperature variation of even a few degrees could ruin hundreds of pallets of food—and cost many thousands of dollars.
Tags: 3PL cold storage, e-commerce, cold storage, frozen storage
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
Order picking operations in today’s rapid, ecommerce-driven market are faced with increasing demand and customer expectations on one side, and a fluid labor pool on the other. This isn’t dissimilar to the labor challenges experienced by fast food companies. What can you do to cope with this?
Tags: Robotics, Automation, labor
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
You probably know the stats: Forklifts are extremely common, very productive and likely the most dangerous piece of machinery in any given warehouse. They seriously injure tens of thousands of people a year.
Over its lifespan, most every forklift will be involved in some type of accident. If that involves a pedestrian, the injuries can be ghastly and the costs astronomical. Here are some things we’ve recently looked at to help reduce the chances of such incidents.
Tags: forklift, forklift injury, warehouse accidents
Posted in Forklift - Pedestrian Safety|
