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Air Conditioner Protection

July 13, 2023

Facility with industrial AC cages to protect equipment

Recently in Tulsa, where I live, we were in the midst of a large power outage due to a violent thunderstorm. Thunderstorms are not at all uncommon in this part of the country, but power outages associated with them are. What made matters worse was that the heat of the summer was just starting to blanket the city as well. As electrical workers are tirelessly repairing the damage, many residents are battling the heat without their biggest weapon, their air conditioning.

For an industrial facility, keeping your workers comfortable and cool is a top priority as the temperatures rise. But what about protecting those investments made to keep your operations cold?

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Posted in Security|

Dock Doors: Options for Security and Access Control

May 22, 2017

dock door security gate

Years ago, during a busy time at one of our warehouses, an intruder entered our building through an open dock door and proceeded to steal things from some offices. Thankfully, nobody was harmed and nothing was really lost, but the incident underlined the need to control access to our facility while still letting fresh Spring air flow. To prevent intrusions and still allow easy access, there are some options for warehouses and manufacturing facilities with large dock doors.

Since 87% of warehouse inventory losses occur at warehouses and shipping yards, dock doors – and the way they are guarded – play a critical role in overall security.

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Posted in Docks & Shipping|

Securing Product in Pallet Rack Bays

April 19, 2016

Rack Safety Types

There are some inherent safety and security issues when it comes to pallet rack – goods failing to be appropriately stacked on the pallets, failing to shrink wrap goods on the pallet, over hanging pallets past the rack beams into the flue space, and failing to secure high dollar products being stored in rack bays. Each of these situations present hazards either in safety or security.

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How to Safely Store Gas Cylinders

October 26, 2010

cantilever rack in a lumber storage operation
One of the more dangerous items that you’ll find at virtually every facility is the humble gas cylinder. In warehouses or manufacturing operations, you’ll find LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) canisters that power gas forklifts. You’ll also find vertical cylinders for welders, cutting torches, or other equipment operations. Too often, you will find them standing against a wall or on the dock with no protection at all.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

7 Steps to Help You Prevent Worker Compensation Fraud

September 8, 2009

picking wood and boards from a warehouse rack

Duncan Prince of Material Handling Wholesaler has a short, informative piece you might appreciate on preventing workers’ compensation fraud.  In a system that costs business billions of dollars every year, there is ample opportunity — and motivation — for fraud.  Prince argues that many employers, but in particular smaller operations, take a hands-off approach to worker compensation. After all, they believe that it is just an insurance issue.

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Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|

Staged Shipments at Risk for Pilferage

May 25, 2009

Warehouse dock theft

The everyday stuff that hits many shipping docks may not be as organized, or to such a scale, but any operation that stores, ships or receives valuable items is at risk of being hit – or is already being hit to some degree.  In the above case, an organized group of thieves working at a shipping dock would simply wait until after a supervisor finished checking outbound shipments and add more to them. Since the shipments sat on the docks for 90 minutes, it gave the pilferers plenty of time to work on this. They would place extra cases onto staged pallets and those would ship out on trucks driven by colluding drivers. The next day, the drivers would sell the extra product for cash and split the proceeds with their warehouse accomplices.

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Limiting Access to your Dock & Warehouse Areas

May 12, 2009

man trap driver security cage

Leaving a dock door open all day is an invitation to have someone stroll your aisles, check out your inventory, and perhaps take something. Most busy operations, particularly in good weather situations, leave those doors open. Often, the crew is busy with actual work; they don’t have the time to monitor visitors, delivery drivers, service providers, and every other person who strolls in.

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Posted in Docks & Shipping|

Wire Security Cages: Welded vs. Woven

April 22, 2009

Photo with welded wire mesh on the left and woven wire mesh on the right, a visual comparison.

With the focus on plant security the last few years, it’s little wonder that companies are outfitting their warehouses with security partitions and cages for high-value inventory, restricted access areas, tool cribs, and other places where more physical control of the property is needed. They are superb in these functions, keeping tools, components and inventories safe for a relatively low cost vs. other kinds of security measures.

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Modular Storage Considerations

June 4, 2008

modular drawer - compartmental industrial drawersSomething we often recommend to save space for our clients is modular drawer storage — for certain operations, in particular those with components, assorted small parts, hardware, or even tool storage, we’re talking about recouping 50% -70% of floor space. Once people have ’em, they love ’em.

But there is more than one way to skin that cat. You can configure different kinds of cabinets to do different jobs. There are hundreds of possible combinations of drawer styles and sizes. Another wrinkle is what happens when you can merge the drawers with steel shelving. It can be new, it can be some you are already using. It begs the question: when is it better to have a cabinet, and when is it better to use shelving and compartmentalized drawer inserts?

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Posted in Storage, Organization & Workstations|

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