christopher Harper, Author at DJ Products

Move Waste Out of Sight Safely with a Waste Container Puller

Municipalities across the nation are examining and changing laws with regard to waste containers and recycling. For example, the Daily Iowan recently announced, “the Iowa City City Council will consider an ordinance that would require was containers to be stored out of public view.” We can’t say exactly how that law will affect businesses or apartment buildings if the council does indeed decide to make this a new law but we can imagine that a place that stored waste containers where they can be seen may need to have these containers moved back and forth for collection.

You can get ahead of the curve and anticipate the need to move waste containers more frequently when you get DJ Product’s WasteCaddyLite waste container puller. Even if your area does not require that your move waste containers out of sight, you may want to get a waste container puller because it will lessen that chances that one of your employees will get injured transporting waste from one location to another.

If your employees have been transporting these kinds of containers on their own, you should know that pushing heavy containers greatly increases the risk of employee injury. A DJ Product’s WasteCaddyLite container puller can reduce injuries arising from accidents and from overexertion. It can also make a three or four person job into a one-person job saving labor costs.

And lest you think that getting a WasteCaddyLite means storing something that is as big as an actual waste container, you should know that WasteCaddyLite waste puller has a compact, ergonomic design. Check out this video to see the WasteCaddyLite in action!

Tips for Hiring Extra Summer Warehouse Staff

Extra Help for Summer

Businesses with a summer rush should take cues from the established practices of holiday staffing. Start early, be as thorough as you would with full-time hiring, and plan on empowering your temp workers to succeed.

Tips for Seasonal Staffing

Industry mag Multichannel Merchant rounds up some warehouse tips for seasonal hiring that mesh well with long-term HR strategies:

Start the hiring process at least a month before you need summer workers.

Get cozy with your preferred temp agencies. Use them a little bit year-round if possible, to stay top of mind.

Do contact previous seasonal workers. Many prefer contract work and will be available again.

Offer incentives; promise to make some full-time staffing decisions based on productivity, not seniority.

Show applicants the actual job to reduce the risk of hires changing their minds.

Success Tips for Using Summer Staff

Many warehouse tips for better summer staff performance are just common sense: offer a few dollars above minimum wage and commit to quality training. These investments pay off when your temp workers perform like regulars.

Once on board, make sure your seasonal workers have the tools they need to thrive. Automated materials handling equipment helps everybody in the warehouse, especially those who are less accustomed to the physical demands of warehouse work.

Workers using motorized warehouse equipment only need to know what tasks to perform — the battery-powered cart does the heavy lifting, so the workers can stay more focused and energetic over the course of their shifts.

Preparing for summer rush? Visit DJProducts.com for more info about industrial tugs and cart pullers, and browse our blog for more warehouse tips!

Can Hospitals Fill Shifts by Using Incentives?

Improving Hospital Staffing

Different people prefer different work schedules to better align their off time with that of family members. Some hospital shifts are always easy to fill. Other shifts always seem to operate short-handed and have a high turnover of people. For the best patient care and to maintain a top level team of nurses and doctors, it is important for hospitals to get creative with their incentive programs for covering the traditionally difficult to fill overnight and weekend shifts. Becker’s Hospital Review emphasizes that increased pay is not enough and can lead to staff simply holding out for higher and higher pay.

Problems with monetary incentives

Many people who appreciate the flexibility of having their days or evenings free when working a night shift will simply hold out for higher pay as the shift operates understaffed. Having the hospital operate at less than optimal becomes a benefit to the staff. The worse conditions are, the higher the pay. The increased pay is quickly absorbed by their family budget and underappreciated. An overworked staff and poorly functioning hospital is highlighted.

Other ways to show appreciation

Doctors and nurses rely on a wide array of healthcare equipment to perform their jobs. The motorized Hospital Cart Puller from DJ Products reduces the fatigue of a long shift and minimizes the risks of workplace strains or injuries. Becker’s Hospital Review suggests a rewards program can build enthusiasm in the workplace and increase retention by making it fun to cover typically understaffed shifts.

For the best available line of healthcare equipment to improve the work, safety and efficiency of your hospital, contact DJ Products today.

New Technologies Shake Up Warehousing But Boost Employment Trends

Maximize Efficiency

New technologies are a cornerstone of improving market share and innovation in all aspects of business. As businesses become more effective and creative, one of the least efficient aspects is logistics. In the past, every business that made a product needed a warehouse in which to store it. These warehouses needed to be maintained, stocked and manned. If a business made products, they always had to have space to store them. That was the bottom line.

Outsourcing

Today, if you are a small business with local demand for your product, and you don’t have the storage space, you can outsource a warehouse. If you’re a large business with a world-wide demand for your products, and you want to cut costs, you can outsource a warehouse. This is called third party logistics, or 3PL for short, and it takes away the warehouse management needed from both small and large business owners.

Warehouse Equipment

3PL’s are the new wave in warehouse problem solving. They can provide warehousing, transportation or even raw material provision. The key to this modern type of warehousing is called containerization, where products are stored in like sized containers that can be stacked and transported efficiently. This has opened up an entire new industry, with the needs for new and effective warehouse equipment to support it.

For more information on warehouse equipment for any job, contact DJ Products, makers of trailer movers, dumpster movers and even rail car movers. We have the mobile solution to your warehouse floor management.

Improvements by Railways Drive Increased Use

Cargo transportatio with Trains and Railways

When people think about railroads, they typically do not think modern and high tech. Perhaps, railroads deserve that perception. As the internet began taking root in many businesses and the lives of most people in the mid-1990s, North American railroads were slow to adopt new ways of doing things.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags for packages, and eventually rail cars, were the extent of advancement for most rail companies. However, as mentioned in Progressive Railroading, increased use of technology for data collection and analysis by railways is improving efficiency and safety for both freight and passenger trains.

Railways should accelerate investment in new technology

Just this past year, the FAA allowed BNSF Railway Company to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to collect video of derailments and for bridge inspections in what would otherwise be unsafe environments. According to Progressive Railroading, major rail lines are investing in remote, real-time monitoring sensors that measure rail-car and locomotive health. This helps predict failures before they occur.

The Rail Cart Caddy from DJ Products is another way rail companies can protect their employees as they efficiently complete necessary work. It uses a 36 volt 3-battery power system, can push or pull up to 200,000 lbs, and is great for use indoors or outside. The Rail Cart Caddy is just one of the many industrial movers available to improve safety and efficiency on surfaces like asphalt, concrete and gravel.

Rails have always been one of the most cost-effective methods to move freight and people. To reduce injuries and improve efficiency, browse the full line of American made movers that are available from DJ Products.

Healthcare Workers Report Feeling Less Valued

Healthcare Workers are Under Valued

It’s no secret that healthcare workers have tougher jobs than many other people. A recent poll sheds light on the difficult situation: healthcare employees are about as happy with their jobs as anyone else, yet feel less valued and struggle with work-life balance.

For healthcare employers, job satisfaction impacts the bottom line most directly in the form of employee retention rates. Those in healthcare fields are 35% more likely to leave their job for a small raise, compared to workers in other industries. Improving morale often costs far less than the churn of training new employees.

The poll, conducted by TINYpulse, found:

Healthcare workers rate how much they feel valued at 10% lower than the general population.

Work-life balance is rated at just 5.87 on a 10-point scale.

Healthcare workers are less likely to say they would be a customer of their employer than workers in other industries.

The data suggests that healthcare workers like their jobs and enjoy helping patients, but are dissatisfied with workplace conditions and employer communications.

Supporting employees with communication and organization-wide tools appears to be the solution for improvement and worker retention.

Suggestions include:

Open communication with employees about job satisfaction

Provide healthcare equipment that makes the job less physically demanding

Address issues related to coworkers and the organization, not just individual performance

Healthcare equipment from DJ Products includes motorized hospital carts for moving linens, janitorial supplies, dialysis machines, and other heavy items that are otherwise pushed or pulled manually.

Ease the burden of healthcare workers who exert physical energy moving healthcare equipment — morale and worker retention may depend on it.

Rail and Trucking Industries Face Off in Freight Hauling Rate Battle

The Trucking and Train Industry are at Battle

Price wars are shaking up the shipping industry as rail lines lower prices to keep and attract customers. Following a turbulent 2015 that was impacted by the west coast labor disputes, BNSF and other railways are offering significantly reduced spot rates for 53-foot containers on routes across the country.

JOC.com reports that 17 out of 18 major lanes have roughly 20% lower rates compared to one year ago. Many lanes now cost about $300 less.

These aggressive price reductions have spurred high enough demand that the rail lines may not be able to sustain the competitive advantage. Logistics and investment experts predict that prices will level out, but the rail companies are enjoying the price battle in the meantime.

Rail Freight in 2016

Warehousing and distribution companies looking to take advantage of the rail rate cuts can expect rates to eventually level off or increase. However, the high rates of early 2015 were due in part to port congestion so the rates are likely to stay lower than they were during that time.

For a company switching to rail or increasing their volume of rail freight, new equipment can facilitate the process. A rail cart caddy has the ability to maneuver and move rail cars indoors or outdoors with a battery-powered motor.

One employee can move a rail car at up to 3 miles per hour. The rail cart caddy connects with a coupler and the employee then steers the car with a twist grip handle.

For more info on the rail cart caddy and other material handling solutions for the logistics industry, contact DJ Products.

Reviews and Ratings, Even Hospitals Have to Worry About Them

Can the Medical Experience be Improved

Ratings systems and online review sites have hospitals under the magnifying glass more than ever. Healthcare organizations must worry about their reputation with the government’s Hospital Compare data and organizations like Leapfrog.

As Leapfrog recently explained to The Sentinel, every rating system has differences by design. Reviews and ratings judge hospitals not only on outcomes and safety, but also on more subjective matters like employee responsiveness and patient satisfaction.

Across the variety of review systems, the key factors are:

Safety: Leapfrog places a special emphasis on safety scores, aggregated from various surveys.

Patient Experience: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) relies heavily on critical aspects of patient experience (as opposed to “satisfaction,” which is more subjective).

Communications and Responsiveness: How quickly and effectively staff responds to questions and problems greatly affects customer satisfaction.

Discharge Experience: Communications upon discharge and follow-up protocols also matter heavily.

How Can My Hospital Get Better Ratings and Reviews?

Hospitals should respond to surveys and provide data whenever possible. Transparency always helps.

Be proactive and ask patients about their experience during and after care. It’s easier to solve problems before negative reviews are left online.

Focus on communication and meeting patient expectations:

User-friendly inpatient forms

Educate staff on communication skills

Emphasize a comfortable and clean environment

Use modern equipment, software, and apps as applicable

Powered hospital carts can help improve patient care and satisfaction. Employees can respond to patient calls more quickly and effectively, and janitorial staff can perform their duties most efficiently.

For help expediting patient care and providing a safe and clean environment, visit DJProducts.com for information about hospital carts.

Warehouse Smart Systems and Software Boost Efficiency

Maximize Efficiency

As automation takes over your warehouse processes, the old warehouse management systems may be insufficient. A WMS can help direct people, but you need a warehouse control system (WCS) to direct the machines. A smart system provides the data you need, while also optimizing with some adjustments automatically.

Warehouse “smart systems,” like a modern WCS, can boost efficiency through real-time alerts and automated decision making. When one piece of equipment malfunctions, the manager can see that on the WCS and immediately take action to prevent a domino effect on the rest of the process.

When you manage a variety of industrial warehouse tugs, conveyor belts, scissor lifts, and other automated and manual equipment in one place, you need a single overview and command center to keep them working in harmony. That’s the beauty of a warehouse smart system.

Scott Stone of Cisco-Eagle describes the benefits of a WCS:

Efficiency: Maximize the potential benefits of automated materials handling by letting a WCS automatically monitor and adjust equipment in real-time.

Maintenance: The WCS serves as a proactive tool to detect equipment problems faster than a chain of human communication.

Real-time Data: Make better warehouse efficiency and performance decisions by using data on specific equipment and the entire process, all in one place.

Every step to bridge together manual and automated processes helps. Automate what you can, and use ergonomic equipment to help partially automate human tasks. Motorized equipment like our industrial warehouse tugs makes more of your processes efficient and reliable.

Explore our industrial warehouse tugs including the PartsCaddy electric platform cart and the RiderCaddy motorized tug at DJProducts.com.

Handling Peak Demand in Warehouse Fulfillment Operations

Managing Peak Fulfillment

Warehouse efficiency often centers around getting the job done as well as possible, as often as possible. Failing to master peak demand, however, can be disastrous — when orders are high, your business can’t afford to drop the ball.

In the age of internet ordering and globalization, many warehouses are struggling with small waves of peak demand throughout the year. Gone are the days of back-to-school, Christmas, and construction season dictating the peaks.

Supply chain experts weigh in with tips for handling fulfillment waves:

Use the data: SDC Executive stresses the importance of analytics to predict and plan for peak waves. Warehouse execution software helps develop historical insights that can be used for layout and staffing decisions.

Cross training: Ideally every worker will be a master of their task, but the presence of staff members who can be deployed in various capacities helps whenever various waves cause spikes in packing or sorting for a few hours.

Separate stock: Maintain a section for the most common items and another section with everything, suggests Logistics Management. Or keep separate online and B&M fulfillment areas.

Automation is a must: Every expert on fulfillment efficiency agrees that automated solutions are necessary to keep up with modern demand and to stay flexible. Industrial warehouse tugs speed up stocking and picking, while also keeping employees fresh for better productivity.

If peak demand causes trouble at your warehouse, invest in automated materials handling solutions to tackle the core of the problem. Then start using data and managerial insights to fine-tune and look for ways to stay flexible.

Visit DJProducts.com for more information on industrial warehouse tugs.

Author: christopher Harper