Bahrns Material Handling

Material Handling and Industrial Equipment and Supply Specialists.

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Free Demonstration of Milling and Material Handling for Industry

If you are interested in milling and materials handling for the chemical, food, pharmaceutical and mineral industries, you might want to consider attending a free demonstration being conducted next month by Coperion K-Tron Howokawa Powder Micron Systems.

The complimentary in-house demonstration will be offered on Oct. 14 and again on Oct. 15 at the company’s headquarters in Summit, New Jersey.

Coperion K-Tron will present on key topics and trends related to ingredient feeding and material handling, offing a technical objective overview on methods of both improving current operations and utilizing new process technologies in feeding and sanitary pneumatic conveying of powder and bulk materials. Seminar will allow guests the opportunity to participate in live milling demonstrations and have hands-on access to ancillary equipment including Coperion K-Tron’s new MT12/MT16 micro-ingredient feeder that includes several new design upgrades to increase accuracy and performance.

The new design allows for extended screw profiles, with a smaller overall footprint, allowing for closer discharge dimensions, ideal for multi-ingredient cluster arrangements. The MT12/MT16 micro-ingredient feeder is ideal for applications feeding high-value/high-cost additives in any food, pharmaceutical, plastics, and chemical process that require second to second performance with a high degree of accuracy. Typical applications include feeding jet mills, continuous extrusion processes, and any application where expensive micro ingredients require accurate feeding.

The seminar is suitable for process engineers and equipment operators interested in air classifying mills, ingredient feeders, granulators, hammer mills, sanitary pneumatic conveying, pin mills, or dust collection systems. The seminar is complimentary and offers interactive equipment demonstrations and includes lunch.

While the event is free, registration is required. Visit the company’s website to register.

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Anatomy of a top safety training program

Hyster offers comprehensive, award-winning safety training guides

Hyster is one of the reputable brands of material-handling equipment sold by Barhns. Hyster equipment can be purchased with a comprehensive safety training program for equipment operators. Hyster’s safety program earned the Aurora award last fall and is considered a comprehensive safety training program that meets OSHA and CCOSH requirements for safety training.

If you can find a training program for your material handlers that is based on the actual equipment your material handlers use, you will certainly have an easier time with training. It’s been said time and time again that well-trained operators make fewer mistakes and have far fewer accidents. Lack of proper training tops the Canadian Center for Occupational Safety and Health’s reasons for forklift accidents.

Forklifts for your Materials Handling needs.

Hyster is not the only material-handling equipment manufacturer that offers full-fledged safety programs, and its program is not the only one that works well. There are some key features of Hyster’s program that characterize a good program as created by any equipment manufacturer whose products may be right for your operation.

Some key features that make any safety training program strong include:

Programs that cover all classes of an equipment category. For example, there are five classes of lift trucks, so a comprehensive program will offer training and advice on safe operation of all five class types.

Convenient media modules and access. A user-friendly program will allow for easy downloads of course material, videos and exam materials. Hyster’s program includes classroom materials and supporting links, as well as printable wallet cards and materials to document the completed training of material handlers who have been certified to operate equipment.

Sources:

MHI.org

http://www.mhi.org/media/news/12822

Canadian Center for Occupational Safety and Health

http://www.ccohs.ca/

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Comic relief for forklift safety training? Check out these fun videos of kids stealing a lift truck

Safety trainers may differ on how to effectively engage the operators and keep their attention during classroom training. Comic relief in safety training can not only lighten the mood, but also give the operators some useful perspective.

Some video clips from various movies show some great examples of how not to use equipment such as forklifts and other items in the warehouse. The videos do show some plausible examples of what can happen when equipment is misused. They also remind material handlers of the risks that can come when equipment is not properly secured in warehouses where customers are present.

The lighter side of warehouse and forklift hijinks

On the lighter side, the different warehouse equipment gets a chance to have the light of glory shine on it. Take for example, the un-glamorous pallet-a platform for dancing-though we won’t recommend it in real life, the video is one to be enjoyed. Shakespeare said that “all the world’s a stage”; and the warehouse is a big part of everyone’s world in one way or another.

Furthermore, everyone would love to see a video that shows kids swiping a forklift from the unsuspecting operator at the local price club warehouse-and see them raise a little Cain when they drive it down the aisles against the unrelenting pleading of their parents to stop-we just hope we never see it in real life.

Sources:

Premier Handling Solutions

http://www.premierhandling.com/latest-news/blink-its-gone-material-handling-equipment-movies-and-weekend-824-movie-preview/

http://www.premierhandling.com/latest-news/forlklift-scene-in-yours-mine-and-ours/

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How to choose ISO-approved equipment

Few things can be as confusing and challenging and ISO regulations. Your clients demand that your facilities be ISO-certified, so not going ISO is not an option. As if getting ISO-certified wasn’t a big enough headache, you need to make sure that your equipment is also ISO certified. How would you like to spend twenty grand on a new piece of equipment and find out during your next ISO audit that it put your facility’s certification in jeopardy?

Is there a one-stop guide to figuring it out?

Yes, there is. It only makes sense to choose equipment from a guide that lists every type of equipment for every type of job and function-and which is compliant under applicable ISO regulations for your facility. You can only do this if you design material handling procedures that are ISO compliant.

ISO’s website www.iso.org, includes a standard catalog that list material handling activities provides direct links to ISO standards for choosing the right equipment. For example, choosing an approved tractor for agricultural and forestry standards, you can go to the tractors link that is part of the list Standards Catalog for tractors and equipment for agriculture and forestry.

Learning the regulatory language

Navigating the ISO standards, and choosing the right equipment, doesn’t have to be such a daunting task. The ISO site also provides guides on the vocabulary that is sued to draft the ISO regulations your facility must comply with. Different vocabulary lists apply to different industries-such as wine-making and vine cultivation, as one example of vocab lists and language tips that exist in the site.

The site provides you with an overview of the scope of standards you are researching-so you can see just what you are getting into and not get in too deep too quickly. You’ll be able to determine quickly if you will need the help of your compliance expert or if you can tackle the task on your own.

Just to give you some perspective, there are 484 published standards related to the handling of fishing nets. Regulators from 31 different countries participated in the creation of these globally-accepted standards. So don’t assume you are behind the curve if you find ISO compliance complicated-chances are that you do think so-and that’s because it is-that’s that.

The ISO website standards catalogue will provide you with an opportunity to educate yourself, your employees and your internal auditors. Revisions of standards will be fully accessible. The site catalogue will serve as a tool that is continuously updated-and at no cost to you.

Direct access to business plans

So what about a business plan? You need to model your business plan so that it supports the ISO certification you must have to do business with your clients. The ISO standard catalogue includes live links to published business plans for many different businesses and industries. Bear in mind that these plans are for public view as ISO’s website is also public. So the plans can’t be kept secret. On the plus side, you won’t have to pay for them.

Source:

ISO (www.iso.org)

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Hidden hazards that kill people

How can you be certain your work area is safe? You’ve been trained and you know about wearing proper PPE that is fully functional and intact. So why then, do people still die on jobsites despite taking all the normal safety precautions?

You need to conduct a job safety analysis

A video published by the National Association of General Contractors explains to you, free of charge how to conduct a proper job safety analysis, or JSA, so you can find hidden hazards. The video includes real-life scenarios-both of tragic deaths of workers when JSAs weren’t conducted, and how the proper JSA can prevent such things form happening.

One case explained how workers were sending a welder inside a pipe to fix a bad weld. They established a proper oxygen supply for the confined pipe in order to prevent the person inside from suffocating, but neglected to consider that they might have been creating an oxygen-rich environment in a confined space-a recipe for disaster because it caused an explosion.

Learn how to conduct a JSA with all the proper documents

The video quizzes you on how to identify the hazards and creating hazard controls. It walks you through the scenario and offers different practical examples based on real workplace situations, such as working in confined spaces, working with forklifts and heavy equipment and other examples. The pictorial explanations and slides enable you to digest and retain the information easily, and can be useful tools in training others once you have viewed the program from start to finish.

Source:

National Association of General Contractors video “Step by Step Job Safety Analysis”

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Toyota takes the cake in Euro-airport logistics

When we think logistics, we think trucks, forklifts and warehouses-and we often forget one of the biggest components of the global supply chain-the airport. Europe’s airports are among the largest movers of goods, and the equipment used to get all the work done is quite unique. One company- Toyota Material Handling Europe (THME) is leading the way across Europe when it comes to airport logistics equipment.

UPS jetliner takes off (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain)

THME was a showcase participant in recent trade show in Munich where all manner of material handling equipment for airports was displayed and demonstrated. THME was also a showcase participant in recent Russian trade shows, and the company continues to expand its presence in Russian airports and warehouses despite all the recent tension between Russian and its neighbor, Ukraine.

Getting Big Into Basics

Among the most basic equipment in airport logistics are towing tractors-yes-the ones that pull the planes. There are different types of equipment that transfer goods to and from aircraft, onto conveyors and into trucks. None of these concepts are new, but the relentless need for efficiency forces and material handling equipment maker to focus on how to make the same thing better than it was before.

THME’s focus has concentrated on reducing the number of moving parts and redesigning material handling equipment to reduce wear to a minimum and extend the life of every piece of equipment in service, from the biggest towing tractor to the smallest stand-up mobile lift.

Making equipment more use-specific

a small tugger like this one is among many in use in European airports

Counterbalance trucks are among the most-used of multi-purpose airport material handling equipment. Newly-re-designed models have been created fit specific areas of use, with mast and cab sizes created for specific jobs. The newer models, from diesel-powered units that lift 2.5 tons to small, electric units, are said to consume up to 20% less energy, areport from THME said.

Sources:

THME Toyota Material Handling Europe

http://www.toyota-forklifts.eu/en/News/news/Pages/TMHE-Exhibits-at-Inter-Airport-Fair-Europe-2013.aspx

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Changing Forklift Tires? There's An App for That!

It seems like people do everything on their smart phones these days — from watching their favorite TV shows to exchanging text messages with friends to ordering a pizza. All you need to do is touch an app on your mobile device’s screen and you can do practically anything!

Now there’s a new app that allows you to fit and order new tires for your forklift.

The app is called “Interfit USA” and it was developed this month by Trelleborg Wheel Systems, a leading producer of solid industrial tires based in Akron, Ohio.

Push Button Technology

The app is easy to follow and can be used by anybody even if they don’t have any previous knowledge about how to size and fit forklift tires. You simply log onto the Interfit-usa.com website and select the “find forklfit tires” tool. There you will be asked some basic information about your forklift, such as its make, model, year and average hours of usage.

The app will then provide a list of the available tires for that particular vehicle. After a tire is selected, the app walks the user through the delivery scheduling and payment for the tires. The entire process takes only a few minutes.

Innovative Business Solutions

By combining high-tech mobile technology with something as mundane as ordering replacement tires for a forklift was something Trelleborg believes will distinguish itself from its competitors, according to Jason Canning, Trelleborg’s program manager.

“The Internet has changed the way we purchase goods,” Canning said in a company news release. “The array of products we are able to purchase online has exploded. We believe forklift tires should be no different. Through our 500 plus nationwide Interfit authorized service providers, we will be providing consumers with the ability to purchase our tires installed on their vehicles for the very first time.”

Website Build for Speed

One of the benefits of using web-based technology to order new forklift tires is the speed and efficiency in which users can gain access to the information they need. In the past, ordering new forklift tires required calling up dealers on the phone or wasting time paging through hefty order guides or catalogs.

Not anymore, said Canning.

“Using the proper tire can keep a forklift in service longer and reduce maintenance costs,” he said. “Interfit is another example of how we are focused on providing the best Total Value of Ownership. We are giving tire consumers the tools they need to make an educated tire purchase. We believe that the forklift is the most important machine on earth.”

Trelleborg supplies tires for the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company specializes in premium brands such as Monarch Press-On tires, Monarch  M2, Elite XP and Expert.

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Numbers Show Why US Will Gain Lead in Manufacturing

The USA is poised to be a manufacturing leader again. US companies are now selling more US-made goods than ever before. Does this sound far-fetched? Hardly. There  are a lot of good reasons for the rebound of US manufacturing-the many techniques that have revolutionized material handling and logistics-both key to the success of any manufacturing operation-are paying off for US companies.

sophisticated material handling technology has given the edge back to US manufacturers

The idea of “working smarter, not harder” is working for US companies, writes Ed Romaine in a report on ISSDD.cm, the blog owned by Integrated System Design Corp. ISDD specializes on the integration of all components of a manufacturing operation, and through its own work, has helped US manufacturers regain a competitive edge in the global marketplace.

Romaine doesn’t discount the American work ethic as a success factor; but since the American work ethic was still around during US manufacturing’s long, depressing decline the many thought could never be reversed, there had to be other ingredients added to the new recipe of success, he said.

Labor costs, of course, were a key factor that attracted many firms in the Western world to move plants overseas. Two different dynamics have all but quashed the overseas advantage of the past:

In new capitalist economies, labor costs tend to rise rapidly as an economy develops.

In mature capitalist economies, labor costs tend to be nearly flat.

In 2002, China’s labor costs were 22 times lower than those of the US. Now, that spread has dropped to a ratio of just five to one. Now add another factor to the situation-automation and integration-and the playing field is virtually level. In order for manufacturers to reap cost benefits of making things in China, they have to shift production to rural regions-wages in urban regions are rising ever higher.

The problem with moving to rural areas is that there is little infrastructure to support a manufacturing operation-shipping costs will be higher and the whole supply chain slower and more costly to operate. Once infrastructure gets upgraded, urbanization comes with it, and that means upward pressure on wages just like in the cities. Because of this reality, it is expected that Chinese manufacturing costs will keep rising to the point that the US will no longer be at a disadvantage.

According to analysts at the Boston Consulting Group, a firm that closely monitors these economic factors, the playing field for America and China could be completely level by 2015. Yes, 2015-just one year away.

BCG also points to another important reality; if US manufacturing costs can be on level with China’s, then it means the US will have an edge over most Western European countries as well. US costs could be anywhere from eight to 18 percent lower than those of nations such as Germany, the UK and France. ISDD says the potential for more efficiency increases still exists for many US firms, which makes a US manufacturing renaissance inevitable.

  Sources:

ISDD.com Blog (Integrated System Design)

http://www.isddd.com/content/material-handling-automation-helps-bring-manufacturing-back-usa

Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

http://www.bcg.com/

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Study Examines Supply Chain Management Tactics for the New Era

Supply chain management-more than just faster-to-be-cheaper

Managing a supply chain is key to the survival of all businesses large and small. The bigger the business, the more critical it gets because profit margins depend on fast turnaround without damage or flaws. Success depends on many factors-it isn’t enough to just go faster and pay bottom dollar to material handlers-that business model can’t offer what a competitive material handler needs to succeed.

A new study promises to give us the answers we need for better supply chain management

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons (In the public domain)

Among the most-respected organizations of supply chain management tactics and systems is APICS. APICS is a non-profit with five decades of proven experience. The organization announced last fall that it will found a new study in cooperation with Michigan State University which will take an in-depth look into popular practices in supply chain management today.

The APICS study will not only look at the management tactics within a business, but will also closely examine the complex relationships between different businesses who serve as each link within the supply chain by which all such businesses are linked. The initial results of the cooperative study, which commenced in fall, 2013, are due to be published this year. The entire study will be completed over a period of two years and is expected to be completed in fall of 2015.

Penny-wise and dollar foolish-the difference needs to be known

Anything that slows a supply chain is seen as a weak link in that save chain, but things need to be analyzed so you can see their role in the big picture. For example, let’s say you opt to make product ahead of schedule and store it in bins instead if live loading.

On the surface, the idea sounds like it won’t be beneficial. Why store stuff only to have to move it again in order to load it onto trucks? It seems wiser to just make the stuff and move it once-in short, live load it off of the production line right into trucks-a move that is penny-wise; but there’s more to consider.

Panamax Container Ship (Photo courtesy Williamborg via Wikimedia Commons)

What if a different product is needed in couple of days and you have a holiday coming up? You have none of the different product that planning wants and you have a holiday-some people are out, others have worked their full 40 hours to cover for those who are out and you’re out of options.

Suddenly, you have to pay overtime to make what is immediately needed. Had you stored up some product when you had some slow time where not many trucks were waiting then no one would be waiting now. You wouldn’t be scrambling, spending extra for labor and losing time for on-the-fly changeovers in order to meet you unforeseen production requirements. You may have saved a few pennies in live loading before, and now you’re spending dollars to fix the problem you could have prevented. This is just one of many possible examples that represent real scenarios that can create a sluggish supply chain.

  Sources:

Michigan State University

http://supplychain.broad.msu.edu/2013/08/15/964/

APICS Foundation

http://www.apics.org/about/overview/apics-supply-chain-council

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Why Forklift Operator Certification Is a Must

Getting your forklift certification isn’t an arduous task. It typically consists of a cyber-course, a written exam and a hands-on forklift test. The entire program can be administered at your workplace if your facility has an OSHA-certified instructor on site. Once your certification is established, it can usually be renewed by re-taking the hands-on test under the supervision of a certified instructor. Most certifications last two or three years.

Training programs might include videos, online quizzes and possibly the use of simulation tools that mimic the real environment where forklifts are operated. Many programs are also bilingual.

Benefits of forklift certification to the forklift operator include:

Improving your chances of staying safe and in one piece

Enabling you to build a recognizable record for safe operation

A good safety record puts you in better standing with your employer

Helps you build credibility to operate other equipment

Give you more general professional credibility

More and more, OSHA is demanding that material handlers obtain certification for operating forklifts. OSHA may sponsor some courses, but many are taught by private institutions that OSHA recognizes. Whether you are an individual who is seeking forklift certification or an employer who is seeking a program for your employees to enroll in, choose a program that is recognized by OSHA and which is recognized by other firms who have safety records in good standing.

The many benefits to employers for having employees get forklift certification include:

Your employees go home in one piece

So does your product

Less lost work time

Less reportable accidents

Lower insurance rates

Better outcomes for OSHA audits

If you’re an employer, your own insurance company may also demand that you certify your operators. Even if they don’t make you certify your forklift operators, they will prefer that you do. Furthermore, it may be the key to obtaining favor with your insurance company and possibly to lower rates.

Certified operators will have less accidents

Most forklift accidents are preventable. Lists of reasons for accidents always cite lack of proper training as one of the majors.

The Canadian Centre For Occupational Health and Safety, Canada’s equivalent to OSHA published its own list of causes of forklift accidents on its website…..

“Lack of Proper Training” is at the top of the list of reasons for forklift accidents

  You can also become a mentor to other forklift operators

Getting your forklift certification also affords you additional opportunities for you as a professional. Once you yourself are certified, you can coach other operators and provide support to the OSHA trainer on site and to the management staff who seeks to have employees certified. This can give you the opportunity to develop and demonstrate your abilities to supervise and mentor other employees, which can help you reach career advancement goals of your own.

Being a mentor to other operators also means you are contributing to the better health and safety of everyone you work with, and makes the workplace safer for everyone.

  Sources:

Canadian Centre For Occupational Health and Safety

Safetycare Corp.

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World's Two Largest Shipping Lines Reach 10-Year Accord

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons (In the public domain)

Two of the world’s largest cargo shipping lines — Maersk and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. — have reached a deal that allows them to share vessels on some of the world’s busiest trade routes for the next decade. The move comes just weeks after government regulators in China nixed a wider alliance that would have included the two carriers as well as France’s enormous CMA cargo shipping line.

The new agreement — which has been given the nickname “2M” — is aimed at capturing at least some of the cost savings Maersk hoped to get out of the three-way agreement, which had been known as the P3 alliance.

No Opposition Expected This Time

Unlike P3, 2M isn’t expected to encounter regulator opposition from China or elsewhere because it is much more narrow in scope, even though it includes trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific and Asia-to-Europe routes. China’s antitrust regulators killed the P3 plan in June after many smaller shipping companies in China and elsewhere complained they would be squeezed out of the world’s primary shipping lanes.

Officials from Maersk and MSC emphasized that the 2M deal won’t involve mutual ownership of ships and shared logistics, pricing, marketing or customer services, all of which were a part of the P3 plan. The 2M pact is scheduled to begin early next year. A spokesman for Maersk has said that the two partners have agreed to keep regulators informed about the alliances activities, but there is no formal approval process required.

Shipping Agreements Increasingly Common

These kind of agreements between cargo carriers are relatively common. In 2011, six container shipping lines formed the G6 alliance, one of the largest vessel networks linking the Far East with Europe. The CKYH Alliance, which was formed in 2002, includes Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, China’s Cosco Container Lines, Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport, and South Korea’s Hanjin shipping lines.

Maersk, which is based in Holland, will contribute about 110 vessels to the deal, each of which has a nominal capacity of about 1.2 million containers, representing about 55% of the share capacity. MSC will contribute 75 ships with a nominal capacity of about 900,000 cargo containers. The combined shared fleet of 185 ships is far less the 255 ships that would have been involved had the P3 pact gone through.

The benefit of the partnership is improved profitability and efficient in operations on routes across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as between Europe and Asia. The deal comes as cargo shipping companies struggle with higher fuel costs and global sluggish growth. Currently, there is a high amount of spare shipping capacity on many routes.

Move Comes as No Surprise

Lars Jensen, an industry analyst for SealIntel Maritime Analysis, based on Copenhagen, said the 2M deal comes as no surprise after the failure of the P3 deal.

“The new vessel-sharing agreement between MSC and Maersk Line is in line with the expectations following the rejection of P3,” Jensen told the Wall Street Journal. ”In a broader industry perspective, we expect (vessel-sharing agreements) to be the main vehicle for new cross-carrier collaboration in the main east-west trades for the near-term future, as carriers will strive to avoid another rejection by competition authorities.”

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Air compressors - what they do and what kind you need

Why do you need an air compressor? If you already know the answer to that question, then what kind do you need? Air compressors come in many shapes and sizes and they are designed for different things. This report will help you choose the right one. There are regular home air compressors and then there are industrial-size units for factories and smaller commercial unit is used by professional painters and mechanics.

How do air compressors work?

The fundamentals of different air compressors are the same. An air compressor forces air through a hose and keeps it going in one direction so you can have increased air pressure for different applications. Compressed air is a very powerful force-powerful enough to drive nails, break lug nuts and even lift small elevators.

Practical applications for the homeowner include inflating car tires, basketballs and other odd jobs. Larger units drive air tools and can boost the functionality of hydraulic-based machines. An example of this type would be a small freight elevator in a small commercial building. Smaller buildings might not have conventional elevators for moving freight. A hydraulic elevator avoids the need for ceiling mounted cable-and-motor apparatus and can be driven by an air compressor.

More details about air compressors-what different features mean

Most air compressors are electric, though gasoline-powered units are available for use in places where there is no power supply.

Air compressors generally have horsepower ratings and CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) ratings. The CFM rates matters much more-it’s the true measure of how powerful the compressor is.

Compressors have an air tank. The size of the air tank determines how much reserve power the compressor has. If your work application depletes the back-up air supply faster than the compressor can boost it, then you need a bigger tank or a more-powerful compressor that can keep up with what you are doing. Larger units, of course, will be less portable. Higher CFM beats a bigger tank.

Oil and oil-free compressors-which is right for you? Most larger units are lubricated-meaning they contain oil internally like a car engine. There are also oil-free units. Oil-free units are cleaner, especially for jobs such as spray-painting. Oil-lubricated compressors emit a constant, fine mist of oil which can cause trouble in painting applications. In many cases, however, the mist can be channeled into a catch bottle. Lubricated compressors have a longer lifespan and are generally the better choice for heavy, long-term use. The downside to oil-based units is that they can only be used on level surfaces-a luxury in many commercial applications such as construction or drilling. They also require periodic oil changes, a messy job that means downtime. Non-lubricated units are virtually maintenance free.

An air compressor of any size is a sizable investment. Think long-term, since any decent unit will last a long time. It may be better to buy a larger unit and have you operation grow into it. If you’re certain your operation will stay small, than a smaller unit may do the job and save you some cash.

Sources:

Tech Talk-Hinsdale Public Library, Hinsdale, IL

http://www.hinsdalelibrary.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/tech-talk-air-compressors.pdf

Popular Mechanics-Air Compressor-How It Works

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/energy-efficient/1275131

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Happy 40th Birthday, Bar Code!

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons (In the public domain)

The bar code — those 12 tiny black stripes that are now printed on practically every package and are used for everything from pricing to inventory to tracking through the supply chain — celebrated its 40th anniversary last month.

On June 26,1974, the first bar code was used to ring up a 10-pack of Wrigleys’ Juicy Fruit gum at the Marsh Supermarket, in Troy, Ohio. The price was 67 cents. Today, that package of gum is on display in the Smithsonian Institute, in Washington, D.C., as an artifact of American history. 

The UPC Truly is Universal

Today, the bar code is everywhere. It’s what allows FedEx to guarantee overnight delivery. It’s what allows Walmart to keep its prices low thanks to its just-in-time supply chain logistics. It’s what powers Toyota’s revolutionary kanban manufacturing system. It is used on everything from boarding passes to hospital patient wristbands, from rental cards to nuclear waste.

Alan Haberman, a supermarket executive from Massachusetts who led a committee that was seeking way to modernize the grocery industry, is credited with giving birth to the bar code. But he didn’t invent it.

It was based on an idea by Joe Woodland, a grad school dropout who in 1949 drew Morse code dots and dashes on a Florida beach then drew vertical lines down from each character to tease out the first prototype of the modern bar code.

Allowed Systems to Be Interchangable

The bar code was created out of necessity. By the late 1960s, some manufacturers and retailers started putting their own product coding systems in place, but unlike the bar code, these symbol’s couldn’t “talk” to each other, according to Stephen A. Brown, author of the book “Revolution at the Checkout Counter”.

“The grocery product manufacturers — Kellogg’s, General Mills, people like that — they were terrified at the thought that they would soon be facing conflicting demands from their customers,” Brown told the New York Times. “That Safeway would ask them to put on a symbol that was a a semicircle, that Kroger would ask them to put on a symbol that was a square, and so on.”

In 1973, Haberman chose the bar code over other contenders, including circles, bull’s eyes and seemingly random agglomerations of dots. He tirelessly urged manufacturers, retailers and the public to embrace the strange new symbol. His efforts ushered in  the new world of information technology.

Bar Codes and the Book of Genesis

Haberman himself understood that bar codes — also known as Universal Product Codes, or UPCs for short — offered more than just a better way to manage inventory at his supermarkets. They provide an almost Biblical type of globalization.

“Go back to Genesis and read about the Creation,” Haberman once told the Boston Globe. “God says, ‘I will call the night “night”; I will call the heavens “heaven”. Naming was important. Then the Tower of Babel came along and messed everything up. In effect,the UPC has put everything back into one language, a kind of Esperanto, that works for everyone.”

Today’s bar codes aren’t limited to information about a products price or description. It can convey instructions to a three dimensional printer that can be used to create the object itself.

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Retail Sales Growth Flat But Economists Remain Upbeat About Economy

Retail sales gains between May and June showed relatively little growth, yet at least one economist from the National  Retail Federation said the retail industry could be on the brink of the rapid growth everybody has been waiting for since the start of the Great Recession.

According to statistics released earlier this month by the US Department of Commerce, June retail sales in the US were $439.9 billion, up just 0/2% from May but 4.3% higher than June 2014. Total retail sales from April through June were up 4.5% annually.

Not including the sale of big-ticket products like automobiles, total retail and food services were in June increased 0.4% over May to $351.9 billion. That’s 3.7% higher than June 2013. The April to May 2014 increase was an increase of 0.5%, revised from an earlier 0.3% figure reported by the Commerce Department.

Flat, But Promising

Jack Kleinhenz, the NRF’s chief economist, said consumer retail sales — which includes everything except cars, gas and restaurants — were flat on a seasonally adjusted and sequential basis for the second straight month in May, but saw a 3.0% increase year over year. Kleinhenz said he prefers to look at the report optimistically.

“June retail sales reinforce the renewed strength of consumer confidence and marked increases in retail employment over the last few months,” Kleinhelz wrote on his blog published on the NRF website. “The upward revisions in April and May have provided positive signs of momentum for second quarter growth after a dismal first quarter. Retail sales gains were seen in many categories including electronics, health and personal care, clothing and apparel, sporting goods and general merchandise. The downshift in building and furniture sales continue to reflect the fits and starts of the housing market.”

Indicator of Where Economy is Heading

Retail sales are often an indication of how confident end-user consumers are in the strength of the economy. When consumers believe unemployment will remain low, the stock market will continue to rise and the long-term economic prognosis in the US is rosy, they are much more likely to spend money on products and services.

The first half of this year showed little, if any, growth in retail sales but much of this could be due to the harsh winter weather conditions which kept much of the country inside and out of the shopping malls and business districts during the first three months of this year. Now that spring and summer have brought warmer — if somewhat inconsistent and wet — weather conditions, a more normalized view of retail sales is available.

Optimism in Some Quarters

This head led many economists to be optimistic about the remaining three quarters of this year. One of them is Charles W. “Check” Clowdis Jr., managing director for transportation advisory services at IHS Global Insight.

“There are ‘positive pockets’ indicated that the pent-up demand is coupling with necessity spending to at lest continue the slow and positive trend in consumer spending,” Clowdis told Logistics Management. “We see more people dining out at more upscale restaurants than in the past several years, a good trend for the dining establishments and the carriers that transport food products. Now, if this trend spread with lowering unemployment figures, the economy may become robust at 2006 to 2006 levels again.”

“Baby steps are better than falling backward,” Clowdis said.

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What if you have an accident at work? Attorneys offer you advice

Attorneys at the New Jersey-based firm Kaplan and Kaplan say no accident should go unreported, nor should you wait to report an accident you have at work. The law firm’s website says many people are afraid to “make waves” in their work place by reporting accidents. Kaplan and Kaplan has operated for 50 years and has specific attorneys who specialize in workplace injury claims through its Wayne Workplace Accident Lawyer program.

Not reporting an accident not only endangers your health and welfare, it also gives companies a leg up over you and your workers’ comp claim even if your claim is legitimate. If you don’t report an accident as soon as it happens, the company can come back and say that you may have received your injury outside of work, and be better able to contest your claim. This can happen even if the workplace conditions were legitimately unsafe and even if you were doing everything in your power to work safely and in accordance with your company’s safety policies.

No matter what type of accident you have, you need to know your rights and always, no matter what, report the accident right away and be certain that is documented on official company records. Kaplan and Kaplan offers basic information on its website and provides contact information for attorney consultations.

 Comp costs in retrospect-your employer’s perspective

Comp claims can cost companies a fortune in hiked insurance premiums. Comp rates keep eating at profits long after the lost work time is made up for, and to make matters worse, reportable accidents put your facility on OSHA’s wanted list. So you’ll pay for accidents even if no worker ever files a specific suit beyond the comp claim.

Just as workers have a right to know their rights and exercise their options, the company also has the right to protect itself. By maintaining a safe workplace for employees and by training employees properly for safety on the job, they are protecting everyone who is involved with the operation, from the material handler to the shareholders and the CEO.

Mutual protection

Avoiding comp claims doesn’t have to mean there must be an adversarial relationships with between the company and employees. Quite by contrary, if a company gives employees proper safety training, you, as an employee, are in good hands. You want to go home in the same condition you arrived in-walking, with all ten fingers and all ten toes. Safety training, such as forklift training, may seem surprisingly basic, but then, so are the causes of serious injuries and fatalities for workers,OSHA studies show.

Given the proper training, you will know how to avoid accidents. An employee who is given proper training and who demonstrates proper understanding of what their training means should be able to pass applicable tests whose criteria is recognized by OSHA and should be able to avoid accidents if equipment is properly maintained and you are adhering to safety rules.

Sources:

Occupations Safety Hazard Administration (OSHA)

Kaplan and Kaplan, Attorneys at Law

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How to get youth interested in manufacturing jobs

Manufacturing is offering more opportunities to US youth than it has in decades

Manufacturing built the United States of America. The rise of the nation is synonymous with the industrial revolution. So why are manufacturers having such a tough time getting American youth interested in working manufacturing, and what is being done to address this problem? Manufacturing Day is an event and a project aimed at fixing this mishap that’s starving companies of would-be workers who are well educated and qualified to power round two of the industrial revolution.

The fact is that US manufacturing is on the rebound. More manufacturing jobs are being created here now that 20 years ago, and many firms who had moved plants overseas are bringing jobs back to the US. Manufacturing Day helps individual companies reach the youth of America while also educating people about the real dynamics of manufacturing today.

Why are American youths so uninterested in manufacturing?

According to Pat Lee, the current director of marketing for the Fabricators and Manufacturer’s Association-a key sponsor and creator of Manufacturing Day, says our culture’s obsession with glamour is part of the problem. The media has come to glorify celebrities and athletes. Those who work in ordinary jobs are indirectly regarded as inferior and manufacturing professions bear the brunt of that stigma.

There is the prevailing misconception that manufacturing jobs are “unskilled labor” and that having such as job makes you less important. The fact is that any manufacturing job is a myriad of multiple tasks. Production technicians are the eyes and ears of the quality control team and liaisons to logistics specialists. Every manufacturing work station these days includes a computer with a live database link, spread sheets and other cyber documents that are the heart of today’s lean manufacturing operation.

The myth that manufacturing is passé

In the early 1990s, manufacturing jobs seemed to be America’s biggest export. The textile industry disappeared, and many other industries shed milli0ns of jobs to overseas plants. The favorite saying that academic intellectuals used to respond to the crisis was that the industrial age was over that we were “in the post-industrial information age”.

There was also the false reassurance that “manufacturing jobs were being replaced by service jobs”-that was just a coincidence that, when considering the fact that most people in the service sector require public assistance just to make ends meet even though they work full-time, we know what a joke that is.

Automation reduces the edge that Asian sweat shops have over US manufacturers. Lean US factories combine automation with well-paid, skilled laborers and are now very competitive.

Since we still consume manufactured goods, there is no such thing as the “post-industrial age”; we have merely added a lot of information technology to it, and with manufacturing technicians controlling so much of the collection of information in the manufacturing process, information at formulates corporate financial plans and official data for important financial audits, they are the principle brokers of information.

Lee says it is time to remake the image of manufacturing, and that’s what Manufacturing Day is doing. This year’s Manufacturing Day will kick off in October, and will include at least 240 different events around the nation. Events will be held in all 50 states.

Manufacturing Day is more than just a seminar series.Manufacturing Revival Radio will be following the unfolding events closely. Says MRR’s Todd Schnick, this won’t be a run-of-the mill PowerPoint presentation, “this is a real, hands-on kind of ‘look under the hood and see what’s going on’ [event].”

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Tablets Help Indiana Manufacturer Improve Productivity

(Photo courtesy DavidMace13 via Wikimedia Commons)

If you own an iPad, Surface or another one of the popular tablet devices, most likely you probably use it to watch HD video, play games or check your Facebook page.

But at least one Indiana company has found a unique use for the iPad and it’s one more and more companies are likely to start implementing: Improving the way data is collected and used to improve workplace flow and processes.

Diversity Vuteq — which is based in the small town of Princeton, Indiana, about 150 miles southwest of Indianapolis — is a maker of injection-molded plastic components that are used in a nearby Toyota assembly plant for the interiors of vehicles such as the Highlander and Sienna.

Using Tablets to Increase Productivity

Bill Buck, the company’s assistant sales and logistics manager, said they were looking for a way to improve operations, reduce costs and increase communications. The iPad solved all three problems.

In October, the company started using the tablets to develop a process that minimized the number of picking errors as measured by the number of plastic kanban containers returned by the Toyota plant because they held the wrong part. They also sought to provide 100% accountability so that if someone did make a mistake, it could be identified and corrective steps could be taken so that it didn’t occur a second time. Finally, they wanted to eliminate redundant team members from the process whose sole responsibility was quality control.

Practically Zero Errors

Before the iPads were being used, Toyota was sending back about 10 to 15 containers per month. Since the system was deployed, they aren’t returning practically any of the kanban containers.

“Our total error for the current month was two containers,” Buck told Modern Materials Handling. “But those two containers were pulled from a dock area where the (warehouse management system) is not yet in place. Where we’re using the system, we have zero errors.”

Another benefit of the iPads is that they are approachable for new users and require almost no training. New workers can quickly learn to use them even if they have little or no experience with the processes.

“We are a Japanese plant and we have embraced lean technology,” Buck said. “Visualization is an important component of lean. That was a big selling point to implementing this solution.”

How They Are Being Used

Diversity Vuteq produces 100 different parts and each part is available in three colors The product team is given a six-week forecast on a rolling basis. On the first of each month, Toyota gives the company a firm production number that outlines how many vehicles will be produced within a specified time period. But the monthly forecasts don’t give Diversity Vuteq information about what colors or options are required, information that won’t be known until closer to vehicle production. Consequently, the plant builds product schedules broken down by color and part based on trends and averages.

“We try to keep one-and-a-half to two days worth of inventory in storage at all times,” said Buck. “Using the forecasts and Toyota’s order history, we try to anticipate what they may order and build stock from that.

The iPads have turned this process from a three-person job that resulted in 10 to 15 errors per month to a one-man job with essentially no mistakes.

“Today, we have one person doing a one-person job, and we’re investigating ways to further streamline picking and palletizing,” said Buck.