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Package Shipping Fee Increases: How to Cope with Surcharges
Tags: Automation, shipping, labor
Posted in Industry Insights|
How Many Warehouse and Manufacturing Workers are Retirement Age?
This month, we’re looking at the growth of workers 65 or older, who choose to stay on the job. They now make up 22% of all American workers. How does that affect manufacturing and distribution operations? What can you do to accommodate these workers? Also: more on packaging automation, manufacturing in Texas and more.
Tags: labor, warehousing, Manufacturing
Posted in Industry Insights|
April 2024 Insights: Staffing America’s Manufacturing Boom
This month, we cover the investments one state is making to staff its manufacturing sector, vertical automation options, AI in warehousing, and more.
Tags: Automation, Manufacturing, labor
Posted in Industry Insights|
Stress and The Warehouse Worker: What are the Issues?
This month, we delve into the stresses faced by warehouse workers, and how that may play into the sector’s competitiveness for labor as the available pool continues to contract. Also: detailed data on manufacturing output, ROI for industrial capital spending, and a bit more.
Tags: Automation, Manufacturing, labor
Posted in Industry Insights|
How to Use Conveyors for Ergonomic Truck Loading and Unloading
We recently discussed the various ways you can use conveyors to optimize the end of the line, which includes the ways they interface with trucks and trailers. The transition between the end of a conveyor system and the trucks where goods are loaded or unloaded are one of the areas where distribution centers can struggle. The traditional method has been to throw labor at the problem, but as we know in 2023, that is becoming a less useful and more difficult option.
Tags: Receiving, shipping, labor, ergonomics, loading docks
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
Conveyors: Optimizing the End of the Line
Conveyors are primarily a transport mechanism within a facility: they move products from point A to point B to point C. Value is added at all points along the way. They’re the most efficient way to do that, even if that’s the only task they have. However, that’s rarely the only way they’re used. They’re loaded at point A, then transport the load to points of value down the line. Processes are is executed at point B, and something is finalized at point C — at the end of the line. Let’s dive into the ways you can drive value at the end of the line.
Tags: Packaging, Docks, Automation, labor
Posted in Conveyor Optimization|
Ways to Optimize Industrial Labor
73% of warehouse operators said they can’t find enough workers. The National Association of Manufacturers sees shortfalls today, and more in the future: an astonishing 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled by 2030. With labor shortages the norm today and for the foreseeable future, how can you optimize, retain and improve labor in your operation?
Tags: labor, ROI
Posted in Warehousing & Distribution|
Targeted Warehouse Automation: Manual Pallet Handling
While many companies can benefit from full scale automation, the math isn’t the same for everyone. However, labor shortages continue to drive companies to seek ways to reduce dependence on manual processes in specific, labor-intensive functions. What are some areas you should target for partial automation?
Tags: labor, palletizing, ergonomics
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|
How Material Handling and Automation Increases Labor Flexibility
Manufacturing plants, warehouses and other industrial operations are all facing one central challenge today: labor shortages. There are other challenges in supply chains, material inputs and environmental situations, but everyone in every industry across the board is dealing with labor—or the lack of it.Â
Tags: labor
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|
Automated Palletizing Options: Finding a Happy Medium
Robotics in distribution operations aren’t exactly the stuff of the Jetsons; you see them every day. Because end-of-line palletizing involves so much repetitive motion, it’s a prime target for automation. It fits the profile of easily-profiled, repeatable and low-value labor tasks. It’s also back-breaking and un-ergonomic. How do you know if a robotic palletizing option makes sense? And what type of automation fits you?
Tags: labor, palletizing
Posted in Automation, Labor & Efficiency|