One of our core values at Cisco-Eagle is our commitment to our communities. This year, each of our offices chose a volunteer activity to participate in and took time during the workday to help those in need in our hometowns. Volunteerism and community service are built into our strategic plan, and our employee-owners are encouraged to take paid time off for community service.

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If you run a warehouse, you’re keenly aware of how hot and uncomfortable it can get on a scorching July afternoon—and you also know how much that affects your work force, their comfort, their error rates and their ability to get things done. Installing air conditioning may not be feasible for every industrial facility, but there are alternatives.

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Conveyors are essential for manufacturing operations, but in some areas where they are exposed to dust, airborne debris, moisture or chemicals, there may be issues with their mechanical components. These environmental factors impact performance, equipment lifespan, maintenance burdens and safety, but can be dealt with if the conveyor is properly designed, used and maintained. Let’s dive into these issues.

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We’re pleased to announce Cisco-Eagle has partnered with Big Ass Fans, makers of the world’s leading HVLS (high-volume, low-speed) fans, innovative direct fans and LED lighting systems.

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Anyone who works in a production facility or distribution center knows how loud these places are. The sound of forklifts, the constant whirr of conveyors, the thrum of generators, and the steady beat of all things mechanized can be overwhelming. There are also specific, distracting noise producers, such as small engines, stampers, and generators. Over time, people adapt to this environment, “tuning out” noise as much as possible.

Research from the National Institutes of Health is clear: sound affects productivity. It’s also unsafe on a number of levels for industrial workers.

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Jeremy Beckett has been named Cisco-Eagle’s ESOP Employee-Owner of the Year for 2018-2019, an annual award presented by Cisco-Eagle’s ESOP (employee ownership) Advisory Committee. The employee-owner of the year award is awarded by a committee of peers, based on nominations from all Cisco-Eagle employee-owners. This is a critical part of the award — employees award it, not management.

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Warehouses, shop floors, and manufacturing facilities can be difficult environments for workers, and heat makes it even harder. Hot days and hard work conspire to reduce productivity and increase errors. We’ve found some research that spells out exactly how much, and have some recommendations to reduce the issues.

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The extensive conveyor lines that snake through many distribution facilities allow operations to transport, buffer and direct loads in a way that takes the best possible advantage of space. These conveyor systems are essentially the core around which a lean, efficient material handling operation is built, but they also create barriers to people moving around the facility since they can block the flow of foot traffic.

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The advantages of pick-to-light for order fulfillment are well-documented: you can pick faster and more accurately without the burden of tickets or voice-activated systems. Your workforce can be trained in a fraction of the time, in a “fast food” type experience. It’s a technology that has found broader applications in many distribution centers simply because it’s a fast, easy way to improve.

Light-directed systems may have a more positive impact on assembly than they do on order picking.

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In this Shoptalk video, we go into detail on rack specification and the various factors you will need to understand before installing a rack system. This video goes into detail on arm capacity, load sagging prevention and much more.

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