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|
Steel guard rail is one of the best–and most economical–accident prevention tools in a facility’s safety arsenal. It helps keep workers safe from forklift traffic, protects valuable equipment from potential damage, and even guards ends of pallet rack rows. But there may be times when you need forklift or cart access to protected areas (or simply don’t want to step over or around railing). How do you handle those situations? How often are you having to remove your guard rail and then reassemble? There’s a better way available — lift-out rail systems.
Tags: drop-in, access point, lift-out, guard rail systems, Lift-out guard rail, lift-out/drop-in
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
When your conveyor motor stops working, do you know what you need to know to replace it quickly? How do you even know what the original motor was rated?
Tags: 3-phase, Baldor, replacement motor, Conveyor, enclosure, electric motor, horsepower, rpm, frame size, voltage, motor, single phase
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
Transportation management solutions are no longer just for moving freight at the lowest possible cost. Companies are using effective transportation management as a competitive advantage tool in the ever-challenging economic and commercial landscape. Additionally, shippers are now seeing both internal and outsourced transportation management solutions less as a commodity and more as a collaborative relationship between themselves and carriers as well as third party logistics services providers (3PLs).
Tags: logistics, transportation management
Posted in Docks & Shipping|
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: motivation, performance improvement, warehousing, order fulfillment, worker safety, worker satisfaction
Posted in Order Picking & Fulfillment|
When comparing different methods of storing and accessing pallet loads on rack, the choices can be complex.
Do I go with Push-Back Rack using gravity feed to deliver loads to the front edge? What about the loss of vertical space? What if something gets hung up? How about Drive-In Rack? Do I trust my forklift drivers to maneuver carefully enough? What would a rack collapse cost me?
Tags: space savings, storage
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
The year is coming to an end, and many operations need to address records storage. We see an influx of companies coming to work with us on their records storage and archive storage areas from October through April. With new healthcare and other regulations, companies must store an increasing amount of paper records. If you have enough of a records storage load, and lack either the space or the time to manage your archives, you may opt to use a third party records storage facility.
When you are specifying a vendor, here are some questions you should ask.
Tags: pallet racks, ROI
Posted in Storage, Organization & Workstations|
Cluttered receiving docks seem to plague far too many industrial facilities. Part of the problem is that the way receiving affects the entire operation isn’t clearly understood. Also, receiving functions are sometimes seen as a low-value-add part of the operation. Either way, adequate focus isn’t always given to this vital function. When you can’t effectively receive shipments, everything upstream is compromised.
Posted in Docks & Shipping|
When it comes to those costs, the pressure is always on. Particularly in those unfortunate companies where the distribution center is considered just a cost, not a chance to add value. Even if you are hitting cost targets, you are probably interested in reducing operational costs without reducing effectiveness.
Tags: 3PL, ROI, Third Party Logistics, ecommerce
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Facility layout is a complex and sometimes maddening process. You are often limited by budget, space, time, or schedule beyond your control. What factors should you consider when you allocate space, either in a new facility or a redesigned one?
Tags: facility layout, EHS
Posted in Space Optimization & Planning|
