Material handling installations can be complicated by nature.

Shipments are coming from multiple sources, arriving at different times. Subcontractors from electrical installers to controls to cleaning crews must be coordinated. Layouts and concepts must be implemented on time, even as deadlines change while issues are being resolved. At the end of the process, the system must be commissioned and the people who will work in it trained. Maintenance and spare parts will be dealt with.

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced the Top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety violations for the fiscal year 2019. This year the Top 10 only features one change in the rankings but still highlights the most critical safety hazards your workers face on a daily basis. With an average of 5,000 fatal work injuries reported each year, using this list to review your safety offerings could make a difference.

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Pallet rack is the most common storage equipment you will find in most warehouses and industrial storage applications. On its face, rack is simple to specify, purchase and install, but there are situations where you should consult an expert involving space efficiency, seismic zones, safety, difficult loads and other situations. Let’s look into some situations where professional help is necessary.

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Out of space? You are not alone. With increasing SKUs and inventory levels, many warehouse operators are staging products in the aisles, using outside storage, and mixing SKUs in locations. All of this lowers labor productivity and impacts quality. So, where is the hidden capacity in your warehouse?

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Return-on-investment is critical to automation projects, but justification isn’t straightforward. If you’re trying to convince management to make capital improvements to your operation, a smart, accurate and succinct ROI summary can work wonders. Let’s dive into some methods you can use to understand what to do — and what you can’t quantify.
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With e-commerce operations moving at an ever-increasing pace, you must take every advantage to meet consumer expectations. You not only want to save the customer time on their order, but also gain manufacturing and processing time by doing so. With careful consideration and a robust process, each aspect at play in a distribution center or warehouse could be an opportunity to save seconds.

To maximize every advantage, more facilities are turning towards automation to meet those strong demands. By utilizing automation, a distribution center can provide a more flexible and efficient environment in addition to more accurate orders delivered on time. The ability to scale and grow with automation is also an attractive one. But to jump headfirst into the automation process is a daunting task, and can cause an operations manager cause for concern. Two overlooked areas that can become a “tipping point” for this process are mezzanines and VRCs.

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The only constant is change in today’s global economy. Many companies and operations are waiting with bated breath to see which way the prevailing tariff winds will blow. Warehouses are especially on edge about all of this, considering how international supply chains and manufacturing has become. One area of concern coming up is that of pallet racks. In the past, a facility could take the chance on a lower-cost imported with the understanding that although the quality isn’t the same, costs may be lower. Now, with tariffs looming, what should you look for in thinking of replacing foreign rack?

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The 18th North Texas WERC Warehouse Resource Conference is happening October 24th, and Cisco-Eagle will be at booth 14-15.

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HVLS fans are an ideal way to make warehouses and other industrial facilities more comfortable and reduce the cost of air conditioning, but they usually can’t be installed above pallet racks, which dominate the floor spaces of most warehouses.

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Today’s warehouse managers are fighting growing inventory levels, dealing with increased SKUS, and managing higher frequency of tiny orders. Dealing with this daily grind many often have no time to find or fix operational issues. If your company is not fortunate enough to have a team of industrial engineers, you could be missing many opportunities.

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