Logistics

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.

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).

In 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) looked through the data on forklift accidents at work. They discovered that forklift operators aren’t the only ones at risk. Of the 9,050 forklift-related injuries BLS tallied in 2017, 1,850 involved pedestrians. That made pedestrians the injured parties in more than 20 percent of these cases. Even worse, pedestrians injured by forklifts required more days off than workers injured in other forklift-related cases.

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.

Ladder hoists aren’t just for roofers. Any workplace that combines material handling with overhead work can benefit from equipment that supports lifting and climbing at once — and that includes the warehousing industry.

A loading dock platform is a free-standing, steel loading structure that does everything a standard loading dock can do, but in a modular format you can quickly install just about anywhere.