ploy | Warehousing Insights | Material Handling Systems - Part 21
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Industrial Workstations: The Key to Improved Productivity in the Warehouse

April 19, 2016

Modern packaging and shipping work bench station

Providing employees with a comfortable, ergonomic, and efficient workspace is a necessity in any picking, packing, assembly, inspection, quality control, manifesting or other industrial operations. A proper industrial workstation, tailored to the task and employee, goes a long way toward creating a healthier and more productive workspace and environment.

There are dozens of options for workstations, ranging from a simple bench to a more elaborate set up designed with the job in mind. Let’s take a look a few industrial workstations and their unique benefits.

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Posted in Storage, Organization & Workstations|

How Forklift Warning Systems Help Separate Traffic & Pedestrians

April 14, 2016

Large modern warehouse with forklifts

Forklifts are ubiquitous in the modern warehouse

As an invaluable tool, they must be operated properly and always with safety in mind. However, that’s not always the case. OSHA statistics reveal there are more than 30,000 serious injuries involving forklifts (and similarly powered vehicles) in the U.S. each year. Approximately 20 percent of those accidents occur when a forklift strikes a pedestrian. This can make the forklift the most dangerous equipment in your facility.

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Posted in Forklift - Pedestrian Safety|

Demonstrating the Value of Warehouse Operations

April 12, 2016

man in business suit standing in front of pallet rack

You know that your warehouse is critically important to being able to satisfy customers. You know how warehousing mistakes can impact your company’s bottom line, and how excellent warehousing can boost it. You know that a lack of resources can cripple a thriving storage or distribution operation. You also know that there are people in some organizations who don’t understand this.

Communicating the warehouse’s value is almost as important as establishing it.

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Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|

5 Ways Folding Gates Make Your Warehouse Safer

March 17, 2016

Folding security gate: warehouse dock door application

Safety and security are critical for warehouses and other industrial facilities. Many times, safety means controlling access to your facility and keeping unauthorized people out of areas where they aren’t allowed. Industrial-strength folding gates make your facilities more secure, but allow frequent, easy access to those who need it. Whether it’s a doorway, hallway, or loading dock, folding gates make warehouses safer. Let’s dive into it.

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Posted in Security|

Comfort and Productivity: It’s Worth It

March 15, 2016

Workers at Packaging Station

I recently attended a product training class on high volume low speed fans, and a statistic was thrown out to the audience that really got me thinking. A NASA study, Compendium of Human Responses to the Aerospace Environment*, showed that worker productivity falls significantly for every degree over an optimum temperature of about 72 degrees. If the temperature hits 85 degrees in the workplace, productivity drops by 18% and accuracy a walloping 40%.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

How to Reduce Your Storage Footprint with Spiral Conveyors

February 9, 2016

spiral conveyor system

In any warehouse or distribution facility, there are two critical—and usually very limited—commodities: time and space.

Warehouses and DC’s are limited by these two constraints – you basically have your square footage, your people, and 24 hours in a day—or less, if you aren’t running three shifts. These constraints drive us to refine processes and optimize performance. Let’s discuss a type of equipment that can save time and slash the need for space: spiral conveyors.

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Posted in Conveyor Optimization|

3 Ways Conveyors Boost Flexibility

February 2, 2016

overhead, multi-tier conveyor system

From throughput requirements to building expansions, you want to be ready for your company’s future. Sometimes these changes take place over longer periods of time, and sometimes they’re lightning-fast—your products and throughput can change from season to season based on shifting customer demands, market conditions, explosive growth, and other factors outside your control.

Sometimes conveyors are incorrectly called inflexible since they are often installed on a floor level, but their benefits can ultimately create greater versatility by optimizing an operation and creating more efficient material flow. Let’s look at 3 ways conveyors increase operational flexibility: Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Conveyor Optimization|

5 Key Warehouse Performance Metrics for an Effective Operation

January 28, 2016

worker using tablet in warehouse

Performance metrics are a universal way to measure a warehouse operation’s overall effectiveness, quality and productivity. In today’s fast-paced and competitive environment, setting benchmarks and goals for a company is essential, but it’s not enough to set lofty goals for the coming year in terms of revenue, profits or production. In the warehouse, success is the sum of all its parts. To reach overall production, quality, safety or service goals, an examination of each step is essential. Through this evaluation process of different performance metrics, managers can find actionable information and begin prioritizing problems within a warehousing or distribution operation.

We’ve previously discussed how key performance indicators (KPIs) demonstrate the value of warehouse functions. Now, let’s take a dive deeper into five specific performance metrics to consider implementing in the modern warehouse. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|

Safety and Cranes: What You Need to Know

January 26, 2016

gantry crane system

The jib, gantry and bridge cranes used in material handling applications are typically smaller, lower capacity, and used with a much wider array of end effectors — magnetic connections, manipulators, bundlers and other specialized end effectors along with the standard hook mounts — than construction cranes, but many of the same safety and application issues are shared by both types of crane systems. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Lifting & Lift Systems|

7 Ways Industrial Housekeeping Boosts Productivity & Safety

January 14, 2016

WarehouseRacking

Most people work less effectively, are less comfortable, and have poorer attitudes in a messy environment. For industrial facility operators, housekeeping can sometimes lag behind with busy days where people hardly have time to look up, much less deal with the clutter and byproducts of meeting shipping deadlines or production demands.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

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