Docks are often the busiest and most dangerous areas in warehouses or distribution companies. If it does not follow the proper safety procedures, serious accidents can occur.

Per OSHA, every year more than 20 workers are killed in accidents involving semi-trucks at loading docks. In addition, forklift-related fatalities occur every 3 days, and non-fatal forklift accidents are much more common, with about 94,750 reported cases each year.

Read More

In the past, many high-level decisions in the manufacturing sector were made based upon intuition, human intelligence, experience, or gut feeling. Today, as technology advances, many decisions are made based on information from online databases, statistical analysis, experiments, and other sources. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a major driver for this change, with manufacturers using AI to improve manufacturing methods and productivity. There are several ways that AI helps the manufacturing industry.

Read More

There are many different strategies for equipment maintenance that teams can use to help raise and keep the operational availability (OA) up on the production lines. And every one of those strategies comes at a cost. It’s a balancing act between keeping the right number of technical resources on staff, keeping the lines up and running, and of course, keeping profits up.

Read More

Read More

In the past, the idea of, “air is for breathing, water is for drinking, oil is for your automobile” was one shared by many designers when specifying components, designing systems and building machinery. The result was big, inefficient machines that consumed great amounts of commodities.

Read More

Safety is a critical part of any operation but it is especially important in a manufacturing environment. In manufacturing, there are many aspects of the process that can present safety concerns for employees if proper procedures are not managed and maintained. There are regulations for safety that need to be followed in order to provide a safe and productive working environment for employees and to prevent OSHA fines and penalties. In addition, poor safety can result in rising insurance costs, increased workmans’ compensation claims and medical expenses.

Let’s talk about a few common safety issues and how to best prevent them from becoming a liability in a manufacturing operation.

Read More

In today's manufacturing environment, safety fencing plays an integral role in protecting employees from hazards posed by industrial machinery. Threats to operator safety can be found on automated machinery, process control equipment, robotic work cells, and many other areas on a manufacturing floor.

A physical barrier between hazards and operators is an effective, low-tech solution for significantly reducing the risk of injury and the costly lawsuits or machine downtime that result from these accidents.

Before implementing a safety fencing system, these five considerations should be taken into account.

Read More

Implementing industrial robots in a manufacturing setting isn't as simple as buying the robot and plugging it in. There are many different financial and logistical considerations to take into account before a robot can productively automate anything. While industrial robots may serve a wide variety of purposes, the challenges manufacturers face when implementing them are relatively similar.

Understanding the common challenges that manufacturers experience when investing in robotics can help you prepare for the day when you invest in new robotic automation equipment.

Read More