January 22, 2017 - DJ Products

Consumer Demand is Driving Changes in the Auto Market in 2017

Continued Demand Expected to Mean Another Good Year for Automakers

When the books are closed on 2016, auto sales are expected to actually improve slightly on 2015’s record numbers of 17.5 million vehicles. So what does this mean for 2017? Industry experts have some surprising answers.

What’s Behind the Boom in Auto Sales?

Over the last few years, robust auto sales have been driven by falling gas prices, available credit and increased demand. Thanks to a lower unemployment rate, more and more Americans are in need of reliable transportation.

What goes up must come down, and some analysts think that sales have plateaued, but many others argue that signs are indicating continued strong sales, with any possible downturn being relatively minor.

Keeping Up with Changing Consumer Demand

While automakers are pleased with sales, it’s the product mix that’s causing concern. When SUVs were introduced, their popularity and profits caused many auto companies to leave smaller cars behind, a strategy that backfired when gas prices skyrocketed.

Enter the newer high-quality compact SUVs, often referred to as crossovers, which combine the appeal of trucks and larger SUVs with the driving ease and fuel economy of cars. As sedans and sports cars continue to lose market share, automakers are exercising restraint as they adjust their product mix to meet consumer demand while avoiding the pitfalls of going all-in.

Car Pushing Equipment from DJ Products Solves All Your Needs

No matter what type of vehicle is on your lot, our battery-powered car pushing equipment can easily move loads up to 20,000 pounds. Visit our website and let one of our sales engineers help you find the right solution for your company’s needs.

Save Manpower Hours, Stop Injuries with the WasteCaddy

Pushing Dumpster up an Incline can cause injury and be a 2 man operation.

Trash rooms may be fairly low-tech, but they’re the site of most injuries that happen to maintenance employees. Improve workplace safety and conserve manpower with an electric WasteCaddy dumpster pusher from DJ Products.

Here are the top reasons why you need a WasteCaddy for your workplace.

1. Increased Efficiency

It takes a minimum of two people to move a dumpster manually, so using a dumpster pusher automatically boosts efficiency by 50 percent. As one of our clients puts it, “It’s like having another employee on staff.”

2. Ease of Operation

• The WasteCaddy quickly attaches to a dumpster’s existing bracket, or you can fasten one of ours. Can’t attach items to your dumpster? We’ll work with you to create a method that suits your needs.

• Does the dumpster need to be moved through narrow passages and around sharp corners? Our WasteCaddy pivots a full 90 degrees to negotiate the most awkward areas.

3. Cost-Effective

• Our clients estimate that they save 16 man-hours per month.

• With the average workers compensation claim averaging more than $40,000, the WasteCaddy provides an 8-to-1 return on investment.

4. Lower Risk of Injury

Workplace injuries are frequently caused by overexertion from lifting heavy weights or stress from repetitive movements. With the WasteCaddy, an employee of any size, age or gender can move dumpsters weighing up to 5,000 pounds, because the ergonomic design reduces stress on muscles and joints.

We have a full line of dumpster pushers to solve any of your workplace needs. Visit our website and use the handy online chat feature to learn more from our friendly and knowledgeable sales engineers.

Minimize Lifting Injuries with Dumpster Movers

Prevent Accidents From Happening!

How much time and money did workplace injuries cost you over the past year? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one-third of injuries involving lost time were the result of lifting.

Shoulder and back injuries are most often caused by overexertion and repetitive motion strain. Using a dumpster mover from DJ Products reduces injuries by eliminating these risk factors.

Do You Have Lifting “Best Practices” in Place?

There are currently no federal regulations for lifting standards, so it’s up to you to establish safety criteria for your workplace. The National Institute for Occupational Safety has created a “lifting equation” based on weight of the load, distance traveled by the lift, and physical motions of the employee.

Difficult Nature of Lifting Injuries

Most back injuries, such as pulled muscles or fractured vertebrae, occur to the lower spine. Recovery can take months, and it may involve surgery and physical therapy. Even with treatment, back injuries can result in chronic pain.

While you have a legal duty to maintain a safe workplace, negligence is not a requirement for filing a workers compensation claim. This fact increases the need to be proactive regarding injury prevention.

Maintain Efficiency and Reduce Injury Claims

Our popular WasteCaddy dumpster mover lets a single employee of any size, age and gender move loads of up to 5,000 pounds. The pivoting fifth wheel arm makes it easy to maneuver bulky dumpsters around corners and through narrow passages.

We have a full line of battery-powered dumpster movers to fit your needs. Visit our website and let our sales engineers help you find the best solution for you workplace.

Can You Effectively Manage Winter Weather Delays in Your Warehouse?

Snow and Ice Can Impact Logistics.

It’s said that time is money, and nowhere is that more true than in a warehouse. Now that winter is here, do you have contingency plans to minimize inbound and outbound shipping delays caused by bad weather?

How Do Winter Weather Delays Impact Your Bottom Line?

Cold temperatures, snow and ice affect all modes of transportation, including trucks, planes and trains. Here are just a few of the ways weather delays can disrupt your operations.

• Generous lead times mean lower shipping costs, but unpredictable weather seriously hampers the ability to provide good lead times.

• As shipments back up, higher volume creates higher demand, which in turn causes higher rates due to routing guide substitutions.

• Late inbound shipments of supplies result in production slowdowns and missed deadlines.

• Accessorials, such as greater fuel consumption and more pick-ups and drop-offs, also drive rates up.

Dealing with Winter Weather Setbacks

• This is no time to pinch pennies. Choose shippers that provide a high level of service to gain an advantage over your competitors.

• Look for consolidation opportunities that you may not have considered previously.

• Examine any links between inbound and outbound transportation strategies that may have some overlap.

• Make sure your budget has built-in wiggle room to allow for weather emergencies.

• The best answers may come from the most unlikely sources. Brainstorm with members of marketing, sales, IT, finance and other company departments for creative solutions.

Industrial Tugs from DJ Products Stand Up to Any Type of Weather

Our battery-powered industrial tugs can easily maneuver carts and heavy equipment across snow, ice and other difficult surfaces. Visit our website for more information.

Top Trends/Predictions for the Auto Industry for 2017

Car Sales Trends

While technology has made incredible advancements over the last few years, scientists have still not come up with a reliable way to tell the future. But there are plenty of knowledgeable experts who are willing to weigh in on what they see happening in the auto industry during 2017.

Car Sales Will Remain Healthy

In 2015, an astonishing 17.5 million light vehicles were purchased in the United States, and 2016 numbers are expected to top out at 18 million for an astronomic increase of 73 percent over the last seven years. Experts believe that the growing population will continue to boost sales, which could reach 20 million annually before hitting a natural slowdown.

Intuitive Dashboards Will Continue to Develop

Today’s cars are increasingly integrating touch screen along with voice and gesture control to access features, but don’t expect old-school buttons and knobs to disappear completely just yet.

Avoid Cars with Self-Driving Capabilities

If you truly can’t tear yourself away from your phone or tablet, self-driving features may be the way to go. But if you’re a normally attentive driver, these systems can become more of a distraction than the devices themselves.

Put That Tesla Model 3 Order on Hold

While Tesla has promised to roll out the new Model 3s in late 2017, their past track record shows regular delays of roughly two years. Look for the Model 3 in fall 2019.

State-of-the-Art Car Pushing Equipment from DJ Products

Are workplace injuries affecting productivity at your dealership? Visit our website and talk to our sales engineers about our battery-powered car pushing equipment such as our popular CarCaddyVP.

Insulate Your Supply Chain from Bad Weather with Good Planning

Insulate Your Supply Chain from Weather Events

No matter how carefully you plan your operations, weather is a factor you can’t always predict. Use these tips to keep your supply chain running smoothly through rain, snow, sleet and hail.

“Weatherproofing” Your Supply Chain

1. It’s not enough to check the weather forecast in your immediate area. Monitor ongoing weather reports along the routes of incoming and outgoing shipments so you can adjust accordingly.

2. When bad weather hits, transportation providers can be stretched thin trying to handle the demand. Use providers that are large enough to accommodate greater amounts of freight.

3. Harsh weather creates a ripple effect that carries through the length of your supply chain. Make sure there is open and regular communication across the entire network so each part can devise alternate plans during slowdowns or stoppages.

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You may want to diversify the modes of transportation you normally use to gain additional flexibility.

5. Provide as much lead time for loads as possible so all options can be explored. As an added benefit, you may even end up with enough time to complete deliveries before the bad weather arrives.

Industrial Tugs from DJ Products Stand Up to Any Type of Weather

When time is of the essence, you can’t afford to have your employees struggling to move heavy loads. Industrial tugs like our popular CartCaddy can operate across rough surfaces and up and down inclines. They’re also ergonomically designed to prevent repetitive motion injuries.

Visit our website to learn more about how our industrial tugs are the solution for your supply chain needs.

Strap-On Body Enhancements May be in the Future for Warehouse Workers

The Future: Wearable Body Enhancements.

Today’s wearable technology puts information such as your heart rate and your pet’s whereabouts right at your fingertips. Now warehouse employees can don a flexible exoskeleton suit that turns them into “superheroes.”

Meet MAX

The Modular Agile Exoskeleton, or MAX, is the brainchild of suitX, a robotics company based in Berkeley, CA. MAX uses assistive bionics technology to reduce the amount of muscle power needed to complete physical tasks in the workplace.

Separate modules protect the shoulder, back and legs, and they may be worn individually or in any combination. The modules are passive, so there are no motors to malfunction.

Increase Workplace Safety and Efficiency

In a press release announcing the arrival of MAX, suitX founder and CEO Homayoon Kazerooni said the suit was intended for jobs “where no robot can work as efficiently as a human.” In addition to warehouses, MAX has applications for delivery services and construction.

Each year, workplace injuries caused by overexertion and stress cost companies billions of dollars in lost productivity, insurance claims and higher premiums. Employees with physically demanding jobs can use MAX to boost lifting power and reduce the stress of repetitive tasks performed in awkward positions.

Maximize Your Workforce Effectiveness with Industrial Tugs from DJ Products

Your employees don’t need superhuman strength to operate our battery-powered industrial tugs. Movers like our CartCaddy 5WP allow a single person to move loads of up to 10,000 pounds, and they’re ergonomically designed to prevent repetitive movement injuries.

Don’t wait until injuries get out of hand. Visit our website and let our sales engineers help you find the right industrial tug for your needs.

Manual Handling Injury Prevention with WasteCaddy Products

Staff Injuries are Costly to All Parties Involved

Preventing worker injuries is more than just the right thing to do. As one of our clients described to us, temporary staff replacements for injured regulars are “more expensive, and worse, they are really inefficient because they are not familiar” with the job’s demands. This client was a property manager who also said that staff injuries directly led to dissatisfied tenants.

Whatever industry you’re in, you can protect human resources and property by using WasteCaddy products to prevent injuries from manual tasks like pushing dumpsters.

From Small Trash Container Movers to Large Dumpster Towing

WasteCaddy products simply use a battery-powered motor to push or pull heavy loads at up to 3 mph. Even on ice or inclines, the employee keeps firm and precise control over the direction and speed.

These are powerful little haulers — even the WasteCaddyLite can haul dumpsters weighing up to 10,000 pounds, and we have larger options as well.

Our dumpster pushers prevent injuries in multiple ways. Primarily, the automation takes away thousands of pounds of stress and exertion. Ergonomics run down to the small details as well, such as the comfortable steering grip design.

OSHA recommends ergonomic programs for retail, grocery, and other businesses with employees who need to use manual force to push and maneuver heavy equipment like dumpsters. WasteCaddy can be the central component of reducing injuries among your workers such as lower back strains, rotator cuff injuries, tendonitis, and other musculoskeletal disorders.

If you have employees moving dumpsters by brute force, you are at elevated risk of worker’s comp claims. Talk to the ergonomics experts at DJ Products for help choosing automated equipment.

Day: January 22, 2017