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.
Conveyors in Difficult Environments
May 2, 2019
by Scott Stone
Tags: Manufacturing, ergonomics
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
Load the Barbell: Heavy Lifting Options
April 18, 2019
When you need to move heavy loads, you want equipment that offers the flexibility of a CrossFitter with the power of a power-lifting beast. Lifting heavy loads is no small feat, and understanding which option will work best for your facility, plant, or warehouse will keep your lifts in good form without sacrificing strength.
Tags: manufacturing equipment, hoist, chain hoist, cranes, jib crane, gantry crane, warehousing, warehouse
Posted in Lifting & Lift Systems|
How to Reduce Warehouse Noise
April 16, 2019
by Scott Stone
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.
Tags: conveyors, labor
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
How Heat Saps Warehouse Productivity, Causes Errors and Reduces Retention
April 2, 2019
by Scott Stone
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.
Tags: labor, ROI
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Crossing Conveyor Lines: The Options
March 19, 2019
by Scott Stone
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.
Tags: Shoptalk
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
Pretty Much Everything Rolls on Casters
March 14, 2019
Casters are the unsung heroes of the material handling world. Whether you operate a warehouse, facility or plant, you utilize casters every day in your distribution or manufacturing environment.
When you take the time to review your production environment and the types of casters available to you, it is possible to save money, enhance safety and boost production by choosing the right products from the start. This step-by-step guide will help you find the best caster solutions for your workplace.
Tags: casters, industrial casters
Posted in Material Handling|
Light-Directed Assembly for Manufacturing
March 5, 2019
by Scott Stone
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.
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|
Dukes of Hazardous
February 26, 2019
For all the work that goes into preventing them, the majority of warehouses share many of the same safety hazards.
Due to the way warehouses handle items and process shipments, many of their workers are subject to similar risks for injury and product damage. While this can seem like an unending cycle of danger, there’s plenty of ways to mitigate these more prominent ones and keep everyone and everything in your warehouse safe from harm.
Tags: industrial safety, warehouse safety, ergonomics, facility safety
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
The Impact Of Industrial Robots On Your Workforce
February 14, 2019
A research paper was released by two Harvard labor economists highlighted one of the coming decade’s most interesting talking points: the automated labor of the future. We are no strangers to the unique opportunities that adding robots can provide. What this paper sought to do was estimate the current effect of the introduction of robots on wages and employment, while also focus on the future they pose in industrial and manufacturing economies.
With this kind of research being conducted (with many more studies to be revealed for sure) and a spotlight put on the future robotic workforce, many with facilities that could use their services would be wise to discover how they can benefit. But what, exactly, should you be looking for?
Tags: labor, Robotics
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|
Conveyor Merges and Sortation: Low Volume Alternatives
February 5, 2019
by Scott Stone
Sorting, pushing and diverting products as they are transported on a conveyor system is one of the best ways to reduce costs, improve fill rates, eliminate errors and increase throughput — and there are multiple ways to go about it. Some systems are downright plodding–pushing only a few loads per minute–while others are dizzyingly fast, pushing out hundreds of diverts per minute. This post will profile some of the lower to medium speed options at your disposal.
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|