Posts by Lacey Scanlan
Guidelines for a Legally Acceptable CAOHC Industrial Hearing Conservation Program
By: Robert M. Traynor, Ed.D., MBA, FNAP and Garry G. Gordon, MS, Contributors The Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing conservation (CAOHC) is a non-membership organization created in 1973 to collaborate with nine professional organizations that have a common interest in all aspects of occupationally related noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Through the mission to advance…
Read MoreChemical Safety and Storage
By: Jane Marsh, Contributor Chemicals, both caustic and benign, play essential roles in nearly every industry. Their use is unavoidable. However, while dangerous, they don’t have to present a hazard for employees in the workplace. How can managers and business owners improve chemical safety and storage protocols in their own workspaces with the goal of…
Read MoreSDS Availability Must Be 24/7
By: Maureen Paraventi It’s not enough to have a safety data sheet (SDS) for each hazardous chemical in your workplace – one that describes the physical, health and environmental health hazards of the substance, and provides information about how it should be safely handled and stored. Employers must make sure that employees are able to…
Read MoreErgonomics in Manufacturing & Beyond
By: Ric Schlesinger, Contributor The field of ergonomics continually strives to create products that, in industrial settings, improve production line operations and increase productivity while at the same time reducing or eliminating operator strain. Ergonomics is quite simply fitting the job to the person, rather than vice versa. It brings together anatomy, physiology, engineering and…
Read MoreThe Small But Mighty Pallet Jack
By: Maureen Paraventi It’s no secret that automation is transforming operations in warehouses, distribution centers, factories and other facilities where large quantities of good are moved from one location to another. Amid all of the complex new systems being rapidly rolled out and adopted, though, is a relatively simple piece of equipment that many companies…
Read MoreAMRs: The Scalable Solution for Semi-Automated to Full-Scale Industry 4.0 Automation
By: Ed Mullen, Contributor Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are increasingly used as the most effective solution when wanting to optimize internal logistics, reduce cost and increase productivity while addressing labor shortages. Despite the turmoil created by the COVID-19 pandemic for most businesses, mobile robots have been singled out by Interact Analysis as one of the…
Read MoreWhat AS/RS Solution Is Right for Your Operation?
By: Tony Morgott and RC Paschke, Contributors Since the inception of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), companies have wondered how they can benefit their operation. Because these systems promise improved utilization of available space and a reduction to the workforce required to manage the inventory, they are very appealing. Pre-COVID-19 forecasts predicted record growth…
Read MoreCreating Productivity in all the Nooks & Crannies…
By: Jessica Bernardo, Contributor A Story of Products That Move Where You Need to Be Last year we saw a precedent-setting 44% expansion of ecommerce in the United States. This rate far surpasses the 15.1% year-over-year increase in 2019, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data. The year 2020 put immense pressure on supply chain…
Read MoreSix Steps to Automating Tugging and Other Material Handling Operations
By: Mike Harper, Contributor To automate the delivery of lineside supplies, a top-tier automotive manufacturer recently integrated its existing manufacturing conveyers with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) pulling custom trailers. Not only did this autonomous tugger solution reduce how often employees had to manually lift and move heavy objects, but it eliminated the risk of forklift-related…
Read MoreVacuum Technology-Based Palletizing Meets High-Speed Needs
By: Andrea Bodenhagen, Contributor With the pandemic-driven ecommerce market growth, changed retail structures continue to drive investment in automated packaging and palletizing. Understanding available tools and grippers is crucial to install a solution that increases efficiency, copes with market needs and enables flexibility and customization. Vacuum technology based gripping solutions play a major role when…
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