Day: May 27, 2016

“Where do you get off …?” Why DJ Products Talks About Economy, Politics

We cover a lot of ground in the DJ Products’ blog: general material handling news, business and production tips, product specifications and applications, industry trade shows, ergonomics, government regulations, and manufacturing forecasts. To the apparent annoyance of some of our readers, we also discuss the economy and politics.

It’s our view that today’s astute business person is interested in a broad view of the business world, as opposed to a narrow, industry-specific perspective. Because he/she realizes that American business does not exist in a vacuum, the savvy business person is interested in not only what’s in front but what’s coming over the horizon. It’s the economic and political landscape of our country that shapes that future view.

One of the purposes of this blog is to provide a forum for discussing those broader forces that affect U.S. business. If our readers just wanted to learn about DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed carts, tugs and movers, they could visit our website. But we think they want more, and we’re not the only ones. Many industry bloggers stray off their own narrow subjects to address the greater concerns of business. And, like us, they get the occasional reader comment, “Where do you get off ….” talking about the economy or politics or whatever annoys the reader. 

Mike Botta addressed this issue in his March 2 post on the Industrial Equipment News blog. Botta labeled it “Stimulosis Psychosis,” which he defined as “a rare disorder that causes people to temporarily lose touch with today’s economic, political and business realities.” Botta has run into the same issue we have: Blog readers complaining that they prefer to get their economic and political news from other sources. It seems to be a question of bona fides. While we agree that we are not national experts in the field of economics or politics, who better to discuss how the broad concepts bandied about in Washington will actually affect the businesses forced to apply them than the business owners tasked with the job?

An excellent case in point is national ergonomics standards. Ergonomics standards have waxed and waned with Washington’s shifting political winds: in with Clinton, out with Bush, coming in again with Obama. While business owners generally support ergonomic measures because they increase production, lower overall costs and improve worker health and safety, the state of the economy has many worried about the expense of implementation and reporting procedures if the feds get involved.

Politics and the economy are all part and parcel of doing business in America. It’s like Botta, who writes about industrial equipment, says in his blog, “No Industry = No Equipment.” Without a viable U.S. industrial community, material handling firms have no market for their equipment. A healthy industrial community is dependant on a healthy economy and, right now in particular, a healthy economy is dependant on politics.

2010 Applied Ergonomics Conference Slated for March

Scheduled for March 22-25, the 2010 Applied Ergonomics Conference (AEC) to be held in San Antonio, Texas is slated to be North America’s biggest and most impressive gathering of ergonomics experts, applications and equipment providers. What sets AEC apart from other ergonomic conferences is its emphasis on the practical application of ergonomic principles and discoveries to real world industrial problems. This is not an esoteric meeting of high-brow academics, though you’ll find the more practical of their ilk in attendance. This is a working man’s conference. A meeting of industrialists, ergonomic experts and others involved in day-to-day efforts to improve the health and safety of American workers through the application of ergonomics to real world problems.

 The 2010 AEC conference will be held at the Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa with early registration discounts available through January 15, 2010. Ergoweb is offering a special 50% discount to its followers until this Friday, December 18 on registrations for the conference and host hotel. (Click here for registration form and more information from ErgowebM [Expired].)

Keynote speakers scheduled include Y. Ian Noy, vice president and director of Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, and Guy Fragata, senior advisor for Ergonomics Patient Safety Center of Inquiry. Multiple educational tracks and numerous informational exhibits by leaders in the ergonomics industry will also be featured at the conference.

As a leader in the design and manufacture of ergonomically-designed material handling equipment, DJ Products is intimately involved in solving daily ergonomics problems in a wide variety of U.S. industries including manufacturing and heavy industry, hospitality, hospital and health care, automotive and commercial retail. We understand the critical need for ergonomic systems and ergonomic material handling equipment that protects the health and safety of American workers. To find our more about our full line of ergonomic motorized carts and tugs, visit the DJ Products website.

How to Hire Only the Very Best Matches for Your Business

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Hiring the Very Best

People with the right job skills for your warehouse may not already work in a warehouse. They might be office managers, bartenders, auto mechanics, community college students, or something else altogether.

Risk management expert David Leng has tips for sourcing better job applicants:

  • Ask HR and marketing to work together on job ads
  • Use an employee referral program
  • Promote from within as a motivator for everyone

How Do You Know Who to Hire?

Be thorough, track applicants throughout the process, and keep your eyes open:

Loyalty should be valued. Avoid workers who change jobs frequently. Give full consideration to workers with a disability or other hindrance to finding another job — as Leng says, they may actually miss work less and work harder.

Character matters when you need hard workers, self-starters, and team players. Conduct personality tests and other assessments.

Insight from current employees helps hiring managers to understand who will be a good fit for each position.

Get More Out of Existing Employees

The expense of hiring — HR, training, payroll — makes it very attractive to get more out of current employees. You can rely on overtime and even less-skilled temporary workers if you provide the right tools to maintain energy levels, morale, and job performance.

Industrial tugs that remove physical strain can let your best warehouse employees get more done, with fewer injuries and lost work time. It’s more cost-effective to outfit your workers with ergonomic tools like industrial tugs than to add additional employees to an injury-prone job involving manual labor.

For information about cart pushers, platform carts, and other kinds of motorized industrial tugs, visit DJProducts.com.

Power Tugger Helps Greenhouses Grow Their Bottom Line

In an interesting online article on Nursery Management & Production, John Bartok, Jr. schooled nursery and greenhouse owners in the value of using material handling equipment to streamline their operations. Faculty emeritus of the University of Connecticut’s Department of Natural Resources Management and Engineering, Bartok noted that labor is the biggest cost in plant production. He recommended “incorporating material handling techniques and mechanization into a growing operation” to improve nurserymen’s bottom line.In selecting material handling equipment for nursery operations, Bartok cautioned growers to consider the following to which we’ve added our comments based on DJ Products’ years of experience in the material handling business:

  • Consider available production space. Small spaces require small-scale equipment like DJ Products’ CartCaddy power tugger that maneuver easily in narrow aisles and can pivot loads a full 90 degrees without jackknifing.
  • Select equipment that will reduce peak labor requirements. Manually transporting plants uses valuable personnel resources. DJ Products’ power tugger and electric carts can transport loads of heavy plants quickly and easily, eliminating the need to hire additional workers during peak seasons.
  • Bartok said growers can save by reducing walking. By his calculations, at a labor rate of $10/hour, each trip to the end of a 100-foot greenhouse adds 15 cents to a grower’s costs. Using DJ Products’ power tuggers to consolidate trips and maximize productivity can keep costs down.
  • Bartok recommended purchasing standard equipment that is expandable. Good advice, but we’d add versatile. The more tasks a single piece of equipment can perform in your operation, the more productive it is.
  • Ensuring employee comfort increases productivity. Ergonomically designed DJ Products’ CartCaddy power tuggers and movers are built to eliminate musculoskeletal stress and strain.

Ergonomically designed, compact material handling equipment like DJ Products’ CartCaddys power tugger can help nurseries and other retailers and wholesalers increase production and decrease costs.