How many steps do your floor managers take going back and forth to the computer and print stations in the plant as they do their jobs? How much time does all that walking take over a year’s time? How much more work could be done if computers and printers could go where they do? If you’re managing materials going to and from storage, all that travel time is taking valuable people assets away from what should be their primary function. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ROI
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Waste might be the most critical measure for manufacturing operations – waste of labor, materials, time and money. Many companies are faced with nearly constant pressure to cut costs and increase efficiency, even as demand spikes. This means reducing costs without compromising quality or throughput. What are some things you can do to balance these needs?
Tags: lean manufacturing, ROI, Cost Reduction, assembly, cost-of-goods
Posted in Manufacturing|
A fulfillment center with row upon row of pallet racks. Eight dock doors occupy one wall of the building, some for receiving, some for shipping. Pick workers work in the rack aisles pushing carts and pallet jacks loaded with picked orders. Other pick workers have empty totes on carts for pulling orders. Fork trucks stock pallet rack and pull bulk stock for large orders. Dock doors are left open much of the time, even when there’s no trailer at the dock.
How many potential safety risks can you envision in this scenario? How do you prevent those from happening?
Tags: safety sensors, motion detection, infrared, technology
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Like the Paul Simon song goes, there are 50 ways to pick an order—except in reality there are far more.
With such a variety of methods, processes, technologies and equipment options out there, it can be challenging to determine the best ways to improve order processing efficiency and productivity. In this article, LIDD’s Charles Fallon discusses 10 ways for distribution center managers to boost their order picking crew’s performance.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Automation, productivity, labor
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
Most operations maintain at least some numbers on the most critical aspects of the business. For order picking operations, you might track number of orders picked per day, hours per pick, cost-per-pick, on-time rates — and error rates. The question is this: how accurate are those numbers? For instance, if your system reports 50 order picking errors a week, does that represent half your errors? All of them? Most of them? It’s can be difficult to understand.
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
I received a newsletter the other day that really hit home during this busy Christmas season. It was about keeping warehouse order pickers motivated in their work and I thought, “That’s really key during peak seasons when highly stressed workers can get burned out quickly.” So, how do you keep order pickers moving when they’re already under the gun?
Tags: worker safety, worker satisfaction, motivation, performance improvement, warehousing, order fulfillment
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
We all know what happens to tooling and die when it’s stored haphazardly. Bumped and scratched, a chip here, a nick there, and suddenly your machining just isn’t what it used to be. The quality has slipped, maybe more products are being returned, there’s an increase in customer complaints. It’s too valuable and too expensive to risk. What are your options?
Tags: sheet metal storage, tool & die rack, tooling, machining, CNC, lathe, cutter
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
Safety is a major issue in most industrial environments – especially those where industrial traffic like forklifts, AGV’s and other vehicles mingle with workers on foot. There are just too many ways people can get hurt; too many chances for things to suddenly go wrong. That’s why including some automated safety sensor systems in a facility can make a life and death difference on a day-to-day basis.
Tags: industrial safety, forklift safety, traffic management, safety systems, safety sensors, motion detection, infrared sensor
Posted in Forklift - Pedestrian Safety|
When you look at your next live roller conveyor system, it’s smart to look at new advances. Hytrol’s e24 conveyor is one of the most important new product introductions in many years. It’s difficult to understate how this conveyor can enhance operations, but here is a quick summary of the advantages.
Tags: conveyor systems, roller conveying systems, e24, Hytrol
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
The focus when it comes to order picking is usually (and justifiably) on the fastest-moving product. You slot your warehouse for fast movers. You pareto-focus on the 20% of the product that generates 80% of the business, as you should. But it’s also useful to consider the slow-moving inventory and pick locations. Simply putting the slowest movers in the least accessible area may make them consume more order picking time and storage space than necessary.
Tags: order fulfillment, Industrial Shelving, carton flow racks
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
