Tag: casters

New Tuggers Reinvent the Process of Material Handling

New Tuggers Reinvent the Process of Material Handling
New Tuggers Reinvent the Process of Material Handling

In today’s society where people expect next-day delivery and a large supply of product, the ability to move items quickly through a distribution center or warehouse is essential. Continuing innovations in industrial tugs make this task easier while “increasing ergonomics, productivity and safety for workers on the floor,” according to the article “Casters, carts, and tuggers: Reinventing the Wheel” from Modern Materials Handling.

Specialized casters

Suppliers are finding new, creative ways to improve traditional caster design. These new, specialized casters capable of withstanding the weight associated with high volumes of products can help distributors transport heavier loads more often while reducing noise levels and risk of injury to workers.

These casters include motorized industrial casters that don’t use a shaft and swivel casters that rotate around two separate vertical axes. Using these casters in industrial tugs such as those available from DJ Products, greatly improves efficiency and safety in distribution centers and warehouses.

Industrial tug benefits

According to the Modern Materials Handling article, the use of industrial tugs and carts improves efficiency as “operators can unload products and replace empty containers on the production line multiple times in a single pass.” This is a vast improvement over the use of forklifts that could only transport a single load at a time and it can reduce employee injury while creating better ergonomics and less noise. Tuggers are easier to turn around tight corners than forklifts and this allows operation in narrower areas of the warehouse.

Contact our professionals today to learn how industrial tugs and cart movers from DJ Products can help improve the safety and efficiency of your distribution business.

How Force Affects Pushing and Pulling Activities

Pushing and pulling tasks are among the most common industrial activities. Pallets of goods need to be moved from one point to another and equipment needs to be moved to a usage point. Workers at factories, hospitals, distribution centers, grocery stores and many other businesses engage in pushing and pulling activities numerous times a day. The Ergonomics of Manual Material Handling – Pushing and Pulling Tasks provides a useful overview of the costs and consequences of neglecting ergonomics in common industrial tasks that involve pushing and pulling. Click here to read the white paper published by Darcor, an industry leader in the design and manufacture of ergonomic casters and wheels, and Ergoweb, an ergonomic web resource.

While often taken for granted, wheeled carts and equipment are integral to the operation of nearly all manufacturing and distribution facilities as well as many businesses. Musculoskeletal disorders from pushing and pulling injuries cost American businesses billions of dollars each day in medical, insurance, disability and downtime costs. Ergonomically-designed carts, wheels and casters can significantly decrease the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders.

To be effective, ergonomic design for push/pull tasks must consider:

  • Human factors such as height, weight, age, gender, strength, posture and physiological capacity.
  • Task factors including distance moved, forces required to initiate and sustain movement, direction and nature of movement and task duration.
  • Cart/equipment factors such as size, weight, stability, caster/wheel specification and handhold type, height and orientation.
  • Floor/ground factors including surface characteristics, slope and contaminants.

Contrary to popular belief, horizontal push force is more significant than load weight in pushing and pulling tasks. Proper wheel or caster selection and equipment design can enable workers to move thousands of pounds safely and efficiently. Caster/wheel choice alone can reduce push force significantly. Rolling resistance refers to forces that resist movement and defines the amount of force a person must generate and apply to move wheeled equipment.

This force — called the starting or initial force by ergonomists — is always greatest at the start, just before movement begins. Fortunately, starting force must only be exerted briefly. Once acceleration is achieved, less force — called the sustained or rolling force — is required to maintain movement. The final major force that affects cart movement is turning force which can occur while the cart is in motion or during positioning.

Next time: How ergonomics mitigates force.