ploy | Warehousing Insights | Material Handling Systems - Part 17
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Pretty Much Everything Rolls on Casters

March 14, 2019
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caster wheel

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.

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Posted in Material Handling|

Light-Directed Assembly for Manufacturing

March 5, 2019
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manufacturing pick to light workstation
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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Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|

Dukes of Hazardous

February 26, 2019
by

PPE including hard hat, safety vest and eye protection

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.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

The Impact Of Industrial Robots On Your Workforce

February 14, 2019
by

worker using industrial robot

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?

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Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|

Order Fulfillment is the First Line of a Great Customer Experience

January 15, 2019
by

worker selecting box from warehouse rack

Your most important customer satisfaction function is probably your warehouse and order fulfillment operations. Order fulfillment impacts the things customers care about most:

  • Is the right product picked?
  • Did I get it on time?
  • Did I get the right quantity?
  • Was my shipment damaged?

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Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|

Innovative Ways to Secure Your Facility with Wire Partitions

January 10, 2019
by

pallet rack security cage
The typical application for a warehouse wire security cage is on the floor, in the plant, to create a secure storage room or tool crib. This usually means something with one to four sides, depending on the surrounding areas, a gate (or more than one), a ceiling, windows, or other additions. What are some ways you can create security beyond the simple cage?

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Posted in Security|

How to Store and Handle Long, Heavy Loads: Tube, Pipe and Bar Stock

January 8, 2019
by

bar and pipe storage rack

Pallet storage is easy, or at least easier than dealing with pipes and tubing

The idea behind pallets was to unitize and standardize the storage of standard blocks in racks designed to store those units. Standard units like pallets are easier store and handle. With pallets, you make sure your rack and forklifts can handle the pallet size and weight, and essentially you have a relatively dense, easily-accessed storage scheme. It’s more complicated for long, heavy loads like tube, bar stock and pipes. Let’s break down your options.

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Posted in Manufacturing|

Ways to Increase Order Picking Speed

December 4, 2018
by

worker in high vis vest scanning box
Years ago, direct-to-customer fulfillment was a niche business, dominated by catalog companies. Most distribution was mostly retail-oriented, with pallets of items shipping to store locations rather than to millions of front porches. Sometimes, retail brands would allow customers to order at stores and have their purchases shipped directly to their homes, but it wasn’t nearly as common. Today, speed from placement to shipment has become critical. Let’s dive into some ways you can improve this crucial warehouse metric.

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Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|

Shoptalk: Measuring Warehouse Guard Rail for a Perfect Fit

November 6, 2018
by

How to measure guard rail

In the first installment of Cisco-Eagle’s new video series, Shoptalk, Taylor reviews how to measure Steel King Steel Guard rail for a perfect fit into your space.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

How to Manually Pick Heavy & Bulky Items from Pallet Rack Aisles

November 1, 2018
by

pallet jack picking pallet from floor

In many warehouses, the floor level of a rack aisle is used for pallet storage. Those slots are frequently designated for manual each or carton picks. These loads can be most anything, up to heavy dies, compressors, parts or bulk item containers.

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Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|

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