The legendary television show Star Trek and the franchise’s many spin-offs brought the future to the present. Many of those futuristic gizmos sparked the imaginations of young inventors resulting in tools, electronics and appliances that are commonplace today. So I was surprised to see what looked suspiciously like an ordinary forklift truck creeping along the space dock floor in the newest Star Trek movie. Of course, the good news is that the material handling industry appears to be alive and well in the 24th century. However, with their staggering accident and injury rate, you’d think that engineers of the future would have come up with a more efficient, more cost-effective, more ergonomic tool for moving material and equipment from place to place than antiquated forklifts.
This is one place where the generally forward-thinking minds who envision the Trek universe got it wrong. Even in our century, forklift trucks are already on their slow way out. Spurred by safety issues and high operating and maintenance costs, a growing number of savvy business and industry leaders are choosing to replace their forklifts with safe, fuel-efficient, ergonomically-designed, motorized material handling carts and movers. A few centuries from now, I can envision sleekly-designed material handling movers gliding silently on cushions of air above the floor surface, either completely automated or guided by shiny robots; but primitive forklifts? Surely the material handling industry will have progressed beyond that old dinosaur by then!
Companies that have replaced their forklift trucks with ergonomically-designed motorized carts are already realizing decreased accident/injury rates and enjoying the accompanying significant savings in medical, insurance, worker’s compensation and disability costs. Every year forklift accidents are responsible for 100 worker deaths — 25% from overturns — and more than 20,000 injuries. Ergonomically-designed CartCaddies promote operator control and safety with their walk-behind design, strategically placed ergonomic controls, and easy maneuverability.
And when it comes to maintenance costs, sure to be a factor when you’re building mega-trillion dollar starships, battery-operated CartCaddies win over forklifts hands down. The average annual battery/maintenance cost of operating an ergonomic electric CartCaddy is around $300 per year. Compare that to forklifts where operating and maintenance costs comprise 80% of the total cost of ownership over the life of a unit. Annual forklift fuel costs alone can run from $15,000 for gas and diesel units to $3,000 to $8,000 for electric and battery-operated units.
If you want to experience the future of material handling today, contact a DJ Products ergonomic sales engineer and ask about our full line of CartCaddy products.