Up until recently, assembly lines were literally straight-forward operations, with workers lined up in a row performing specialized tasks as products moved down a sequential line. But with some of the innovative new material handling equipment highlighted at a recent Chicago area trade show could change all that. More than 37 material handling suppliers of … Read more
Keeping track of your tools in a busy warehouse or manufacturing operation can be a challenge. Tools that are lost, misplaced or stolen are expensive to replace. Plus, you need your tools to do your job so you are counting on them to be there when you reach for them. Industrial tool carts and toolboxes … Read more
As any warehouse worker can attest, unloading a pallet by hand can be a backbreaking task. Repeated squatting, bending and lifting can easily turn an eight-hour shift into a torture session. In order to improve employee comfort — and, not coincidentally, increase productivity and reduce health care costs at the same time — many companies … Read more
When a 600-foot crane toppled in high winds in downtown Manhattan earlier this month — killing a 38-year-old pedestrian and injuring three others — the call for improved crane safety was immediate and sustained. Within hours of the Feb. 7 accident, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered that all 376 crawler cranes and 53 … Read more
A trucking company in New York was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay more than $32,000 in damages to an employee who was fired after complaining that the trucks he was required to drive were unsafe. Brindi Trailer Sales and Services, of Meridale, New York, violated the so-called “whistleblower” provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance … Read more
Businesses that use forklifts powered by propane autogas and propane can now claim a tax credit for $.50 for every gallon of the alternative fuel they used during 2015. The Internal Revenue Service announced the alternative fuel tax credit in a guidance released this month. The move comes after Congress passed a new law authorizing … Read more
There is only a certain amount of space in a confined building. If that building is a warehouse, then what can a warehouse manager do when he finds himself in need of more space to accommodate more products? It is common for any size warehouse to experience space issues. These problems arise due to rapid … Read more
Bucket elevators are a specialized type of materials handling equipment. They are most often used to lift bulk materials from one height to another. Bucket elevators resemble conveyor belts, except they move materials such as sand, fly ash, wood chips, animal feeds and others using buckets attached to a rotating belt or chain. The buckets … Read more
A truck backs into a dock at the BASF warehouse in Breuil-le-Sec, France, just north of Paris. As the truck’s driver remains in his cab, an unmanned automated guided vehicle opens the truck’s gate and goes to work removing pallets of vehicle paint products. The AGV transfers the pallets to a conveyor system, which moves the … Read more
If you’ve been involved in business for any length of time, then you probably have heard of the 80/20 rule. What it means is that in anything a few (20%) is crucial and many (80 percent) is trivial. Business managers would interpret this as 20 percent of the work eats up 80 percent of time … Read more
