Efficiency

The material handling world is governed by standards and regulations. Compliance with all these codes can take a lot of time and effort For some standards, however, compliance is wonderfully simple: Just choose equipment that already complies with applicable codes.

In the warehousing industry, we spend a lot of time thinking about order picking.

Should we try zone, wave, or batch picking? Which is better, bigger Order Picking Carts or more nimble Stock Picking Carts? Is it possible to make order fulfillment safer and more efficient at once?

A warehouse cart is a simple piece of equipment, but on the floor, every second counts. If material handling equipment (MHE) isn’t suited to the task — or not capable of handling the load — productivity suffers.

The global wall art industry is having a moment. Print-on-demand technology has expanded available offerings to virtually anything, and the public’s appetite for decoration only seems to be growing. In fact, the wall art market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 7% through 2030, reaching a value of over $97 billion by that year.

Every product has its unique manufacturing challenges. When the things you build are big, however, access to work itself becomes the bottleneck. How can workers safely assemble components at either end of an industrial mold, appliance, or sofa, when their reach only extends a few feet?

Multi-level warehouses need material handling equipment (MHE) designed for the job. But choosing material lifts isn’t always straightforward — you’ll need to think about the average size of loads, the variety of materials, and the layout of your operation in order to find an efficient solution. You’ll also need to consider costs, including long-term maintenance, to get the best possible return on investment.

Piece picking, also known as broken case picking or pick-and-pack, is a time-intensive process in which workers retrieve individual items (as opposed to cases or pallets).

Mezzanine systems provide a cost-effective way to optimize vertical space in warehouses, storage facilities, and other operations. They’re essentially just raised platforms that hold products and equipment — though they can be fairly complex systems. Catwalks might run between rows, and some systems have multiple levels.

To improve warehouse efficiency, start by identifying your current bottlenecks. These are the places and processes that slow down your whole operation — and one of the most likely culprits is your loading dock.

A vertical reciprocating conveyor (VRC) is a type of freight lift that efficiently raises and lowers materials between levels. Importantly, freight lifts are not elevators—they have distinct safety standards (ASME Standard B20.1) and cannot be used to lift human workers.