We measure many facilities on-site, but there are times our customers either want to or need to measure their own buildings. Here is a quick guide to measuring for conveyors, racks and other material handling equipment.
A Guide to Measuring Your Facility
August 2, 2018
by Scott Stone
Tags: facility design, facility layout, warehouse design, manufacturing facilities
Posted in Space Optimization & Planning|
Dealing with Warehouse Labor Shortages
July 26, 2018
by Scott Stone
If you run a distribution center, factory or warehouse, it’s not news to you that labor is in tight supply. Demands is up, and workers — particularly skilled, motivated, productive ones — have more options than ever.
E-commerce has transformed the business, with constantly-escalating demand for pickers, packers, assembly workers, drivers and warehouse labor. With national unemployment rates below 4%, many other industries are competing with you for the same labor pool. What can you do to cope with these issues?
Tags: labor, ROI, ecommerce
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
A Warehouse Manager’s Guide to Safe Product Flow
July 12, 2018
by Scott Stone
One of the best things about warehouse automation the way it helps your labor force become more flexible.
With the right automation strategy, you can add new people without long training curves. This allows you to expand, hire temporary workers as needed and juggle shifts. When it comes to safety, though, there are behaviors you must account for, no matter how much conveyor or how many robots are at work to simplify the work. Let’s break down the ways you can work to keep people safe near conveyors.
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
How to Set Overhead Conveyor Clearances
June 19, 2018
by Scott Stone
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|
How to Safely and Effectively Load & Unload Tall Pallet Racks
June 14, 2018
by Scott Stone
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|
A Guide to Conveyor Rollers “Set Low”
April 24, 2018
by Scott Stone
When conveyor rollers are set low, you gain several advantages vs. rollers set high. When you do this, your conveyor has several advantages.
Tags: Accumulation Systems, conveyor design, rollers
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
Order Picking Velocity: Storage and Picking Method Comparisons
April 12, 2018
by Scott Stone
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|
Factors for Storage Area Security
April 5, 2018
by Scott Stone
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|
Why Your Order Pickers Should be More Like Fast Food Workers
March 22, 2018
by Scott Stone
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: labor, Robotics, Automation
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
Three Inexpensive Ways to Reduce Forklift Accidents
March 1, 2018
by Scott Stone
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|