Day: September 14, 2015

A Heavy Duty Cart Mover Gets the Job Done Safely

You would think that a cart itself would be enough to transport loads that a person cannot carry on his or her own, but when it comes to industry, sometimes even the carts need a little help. This is when a cart mover can come in very handy. The CartCaddyHD from DJ Products has been designed to push, pull, or maneuver carts or equipment up to 50,000 pounds.

If you’re wondering just why someone would load something up with that much weight, think about how long it would take if you were to break that 50,000 pounds in to smaller, more manageable loads—the kind that one person could carry comfortably. It would take a very long time to transport the kind of load or move a very heavy piece of equipment that has been broken down in that way. Sometimes transporting goods and machinery in these large quantities just makes sense.

So while many warehouses, factories and other places have seen the logic in having weighty loads to make things more efficient, they haven’t examined another factor in efficiency and that’s human capacity. There will be times when it is necessary to transport loads that are quite heavy for efficiency’s sake but you do not want to overburden workers. Have an uninjured workforce is also a key component in keeping things running smoothly and you don’t want workers with overtaxed musculoskeletal systems continuing to work until they become injured.

Try the CartCaddyHD—this battery powered cart mover offers a variable speed twist grip that allowed the cart to move forwards and backwards, allowing smooth movement and protecting the operator from carpel tunnel syndrome.

Move Horse Trailers with a Powered Trailer Dolly

There was a time when horses were our main source of transportation. We rode on them and used them to move heavy loads. Horses are still used to do a lot of heavy lifting and pulling but there are times when even they must be transported and they cannot be the means of transport. In those instances, we put horses into horse trailers that move the animals along.

Just as horses who can transport themselves sometimes have to be put into horse trailers, so too sometimes you may need help moving a horse trailer itself. Moving something like a horse trailer, even a short distance, can cause muscle strain and possibly cause injury. This is where a powered trailer dolly can be of great benefit. With its compact size, variable speed and the ease with which it can be maneuvered, a powered trailer dolly is a great alternative to yard tractors and pick up trucks.

Skeptical? You should know that our powered trailer dolly features a heavy-duty 36-volt motor that generates an enormous amount of power in the compact powered dolly.

The TrailerCaddyHD Extreme from DJ Products is not just for transporting horses; it can also be used to move boats, RVs, toy haulers and equipment trailers. If your workplace needs a horse trailer, there is a good chance that you will be able to put a powered trailer dolly to use in several ways. This powered dolly unit is the perfect solution for manufacturers, warehouses, distributors, and anyone who has to move heavy trailers short distances either indoors or outdoors.

New Chat Features on Our Website Give Realtime Help

The Internet has changed the way we shop. Company websites allow us to gather information and even “see” products before we decide to buy. However, there are still times when we need some knowledgeable input and advice. Our new chat features let you get real time help from the friendly, experienced Sales Engineers at DJ Products.

As you browse our website you’ll see a box in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Simply enter your information and question in the corresponding boxes. A Sales Engineer will be waiting at the other end to give you a prompt response and answer any other questions or concerns. 

If you’d rather chat the old-fashioned way, you can contact a Sales Engineer via phone. The chat screen gives you three options to match your preference. You can conduct your phone call on your computer, on your telephone or via Skype.

Our website is open 24 hours a day, but our Sales Engineers may not be available after business hours. Use our “answering service” to send a message detailing your questions. You’ll receive a response to your question as soon as business hours resume.

Let our Sales Engineers know what type of business you have. They have extensive experience in finding the right solution for any application. In addition, they can provide recommendations regarding customized features that may be of benefit.

Feel free to browse our website with full confidence that we can provide assistance for any questions or concerns you may have. Use our convenient chat screen or call 800.686.2651.

Vehicle Pushers Provide Safe Solutions for Automotive Industry

Vehicle pushers, car and truck pushers, trailer movers and heavy equipment tugs provide safe solutions for moving cars, trucks, trailers and heavy equipment. DJ Products has designed a line of vehicle pushers, movers and tugs specifically targeted to the automotive industry.

The CarCaddy car and vehicle pusher was designed to push cars, buses and heavy equipment down an assembly line. This battery powered pusher can push any cart, vehicle or piece of equipment that has all straight wheels or is on a rail when no turning is required or when wheels will be turned by an operator. The CarCaddy is used by manufacturers to push units short distances as they are moved from station to station down an assembly line.

In the automotive industry, the CarCaddy is also often used to push stalled vehicles with pneumatic tires that don’t require steering. The CarCaddy has plenty of power to move stalled cars, trucks, campers and buses at service centers and along highways. The CarCaddy prevents the pain and strain of overextended muscles that occurs when vehicles must be manually pushed from a parking area into a service center garage for servicing. The CarCaddy is also a boon for emergency response crews who must often move vehicles from the highway onto the shoulder of the road for servicing or towing.

When sufficient manpower is unavailable, another vehicle is often used to push the stalled vehicle. Even when executed with care, such maneuvers often result in dents, scratches and cracks to one or both vehicles. The CarCaddy Car Pusher is made of a soft, durable, padded material designed to preserve the paint and integrity of the back end of a stalled vehicle. No more dents, scratches and cracks!

To check out the CarCaddy specs, click here.

The High Cost of Back Injuries

Despite safety procedures, workers will still try to lift and carry items that weigh between 40 and 100 pounds without assistance. There’s something in the human psyche that says, “That doesn’t seem so heavy; I can do this myself.” That 60-pound weight range is the source of back injuries that cost U.S. businesses more than $1 billion a year in lost man-hours, medical costs, workers’ compensation and disability payments.

Back strain due to overexertion is one of the greatest causes of employee injury in the American workplace. Only the common cold fells more workers. In fact, 25% of workplace injuries are due to overexertion, according to the National Safety Council. NIOSH estimates that overexertion injuries cost American business 12 million lost workdays and $1 billion in compensation costs each year. Lower back injuries account for 60% of overexertion injuries. Nearly one-quarter of all workers’ compensation claims are for back injuries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSHA estimates that at least one in five disabling work injuries is a back injury.

Ergonomic design has been proven to significantly reduce overexertion and back injuries. By applying ergonomic principles to work station design, equipment and worker movements, back strain can be virtually eliminated. The only wild card is that over-zealous employee anxious to show off his muscles!

Ergonomically designed carts, tugs and lifts take the burden off worker muscles. Lifts can place tasks at the correct height for sorting, picking, packing and storage. Powered carts and tugs can move materials to designated work areas with no to minimal worker effort. DJ Products sells a variety of ergonomically designed carts to fit the needs of business and industry. One of our big bruisers, the heavy-duty CartCaddy HD, is designed to push, pull or maneuver carts or equipment up to 50,000 pounds. The electric lift option and mover arm allow adaptability to any size load or cart. It even allows the cart to pivot a full 180 degrees under the arm for maximum maneuverability.

Visit the DJ Products website for other ergonomic solutions that are designed to improve efficiency and productivity in your plant while decreasing potential worker injury.

Michigan Poised to Adopt Ergonomic Standard

A new initiative in Michigan could presage an expected federal push to mandate ergonomic equipment and procedures in business and industry. Last week, Michigan state regulators unanimously voted to advance a proposed state-wide ergonomic standard. Unless blocked by the state legislature, as a similar initiative was in 2006, the new standard could take effect this year.

If implemented, Michigan would follow California, becoming the second state in the U.S. to implement its own ergonomic rules. While the federal government has established ergonomic guidelines for many industries, they are currently voluntary, although that is expected to change. During his campaign, President Obama promised to enact tougher workplace safety standards early in his administration.

With the unanimous support of the state’s General Industry Safety Standards Commission and the Occupational Health Standards Commission, Michigan political analysts believe that, this time around, any efforts to block the proposed state-wide ergonomic standard will fail. Supporters of ergonomic equipment and procedures point to their proven record in reducing preventable injuries that each year cost businesses millions of dollars in medical and insurance costs, worker’s compensation claims, and lost man-hours. According to Michigan’s Worker’s Compensation Bureau, about 40% of worker’s compensation claims paid in 2006 and 2007 were related to preventable ergonomic injuries.

The proven ability of ergonomically-designed material handling equipment to prevent repetitive stress and musculoskeletal injuries and reduce concomitant production and human resources costs is well documented by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation. While opponents have expressed concern that Michigan’s ergonomic imperative will increase the cost of doing business in a state already struggling to survive economically, statistical and experiential evidence show that return on investment in ergonomic equipment is generally realized in the first year of ownership.

Michigan’s proposed standard would “assess risk factors that may contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders and establish a minimal rule for training,” according to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. The standard will only apply to general industry businesses, not construction. Public hearings must now be held by Michigan’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) before the rule can be formally adopted, possibly as early as this summer.

Lightening the Load for Hospital Employees with a Power Puller

The work environment inside of a hospital can be outrageously hectic, but there is often no time to spare in figuring out how to properly handle a seemingly difficult situation.  Rooms need to be cleaned and prepared for incoming patients, food needs to be delivered on time and patients need to be moved to appropriate areas for the treatment they need regardless of how crowded, cramped or full the hallways and rooms may be.  This presents a unique work situation that requires the right type of equipment for employees to be able to complete all of their required duties in a timely manner.

A power puller is a perfect solution for handling the tight quarters and face paced environment that is faced on a daily basis inside of a hospital.  The power puller from DJ Products is the smallest and most maneuverable tug on the market, but it is powerful enough to handle even the biggest jobs with ease.

Hospital employees can use the power puller from DJ Products to move heavy and fully loaded food and linen carts through narrow, crowded hallways and tight rooms so that patients can be kept as comfortable as possible during their stay and so that other members of hospital staff can go about their necessary duties without having to wait for extended periods of time behind a slow moving cart.  The power puller can also be used to help a single employee easily maneuver a hospital bed for transport or cleaning purposes. 

As with each piece of equipment offered by DJ Products, the power puller is ergonomically designed to make tasks that can often lead to injuries as safe as possible for employees, regardless of physical strength and the power puller runs on a powerful battery that can easily last for an entire eight hour shift on a single charge.  Working in a hospital can be strenuous and stressful, but providing employees with equipment like the power puller from DJ Products will help them to get the job done as safely and efficiently as possible.
 

Increase Productivity with Motorized Retrofit Cart Kits

This time of year is particularly busy for the hospitality industry.  More families are traveling to see relatives during the holidays, which means quite a few more guests in most hotels. 

Increased volume of guests results in a more demanding workload for cleaning crews.  This can cause employee fatigue and lead to either diminished work performance or possibly injury if the proper equipment isn’t available for employees to use.

Hotels that already have an arsenal of manually operated linen and cleaning carts may not be too eager to take on the investment of replacing them all for motorized carts.  By purchasing motorized retrofit cart kits these hotels can lighten the workload on their employees and dramatically increase efficiency without a large burden of cost.

Motorized retrofit cart kits can be installed on just about any manual cart to immediately make it more powerful and easier for employees to use.  The long lasting batteries can keep your linen or cleaning carts running steady for an entire eight hour shift without needing to be recharged.  This means that your employees won’t be forced to face unnecessary interruptions at crucial points during their shift and that rooms will be cleaned and ready for new arrivals.

The motorized retrofit cart kit provides enough power to easily maneuver fully loaded carts weighing up to four thousand pounds across just about any surface.  Your employees will have no problem travelling with a loaded cart on carpets, concrete or tile at speeds of up to about three miles per hour.  A motorized retrofit cart kit gives you the opportunity to immediately make the workplace safer for your employees and increase efficiency, without a large investment.

A Car Pusher Could Make the New Year Easier for Auto Shops

Moving cars and trucks around on crowded lots can be a pretty difficult chore at any point during the year but the cold, snowy and icy weather of winter tends to make it an even more difficult task. 

Injuries are a very common occurrence when auto shop employees are required to manually push automobiles from the lot into a bay for inspection or repair.  If the lot is covered with ice or snow, control becomes an issue and the possibility of injury becomes even greater.

At many auto repair centers, employees will resort to pushing one car with another.  While this practice can reduce the risk of injury and make the work environment a bit safer for employees, it can cause dents and scratches that will require mechanics to perform additional work on the vehicles.

Busy auto shops and car lots can certainly benefit from having a piece of equipment that was specifically designed to safely move vehicles over short distances, like the Car Pusher from DJ Products.  The Car Pusher completely eliminates the stress and strain on employees who are responsible for moving stalled vehicles from one location to another.  The battery powered Car Pusher from DJ Products has plenty of power to move stalled cars, trucks or campers without any extra exertion required from valuable employees.

The Car Pusher is also much safer to the vehicles than other means used to get them from one location to another.  The push pad is constructed of a soft material that is very forgiving and that will not cause the scratches, dings and dents that often come from moving one vehicle with another.

Census Information Shows Many Americans are over Ninety

The US census has found that over 1.9 million people in the United States are over ninety years old. This fact shows that a need for more assisted living centers and other health care facilities is going to continue to increase.

The current amount of this kind of living space has been called inadequate in larger population centers such as New York City. Not only is there a shortage of living space for the future nonagenarians and those who are younger, the number of health care workers will also be feeling the strain. This can already be seen and there doesn’t seem to be any real plans to do much about it.

The average rehab centers, nursing homes and hospitals may be understaffed but that shouldn’t prevent basic care duties like supplying clean bed clothes and towels. One way to increase efficiency in this area is to use motorized carts to help employees move the large carts that carry the folded laundry to the patient’s rooms.

These carts have variable speeds and a smooth operation that makes handling them in tight hallways safe and secure. There is also an emergency stop switch on the handle that ensures both employee and visitor safety when maneuvering in tight hallways during visiting hours. The battery powered cart can work for sixteen hours straight and it only takes one person to handle it.

There is an adjustable customized attachment that can be used to link this motorized cart to any number of different carts and pieces of equipment. The battery powered cart is also designed to look less industrial than other products to make it blend in better with the health care facility surroundings.