Tag: material handling equipment

Pot Growers Are Pushing Up Warehouse Rents in Key Markets

Alert - Pot Growers Are Taking Up Warehouse Space
Alert – Pot Growers Are Taking Up Warehouse Space

While the e-commerce boom has caused a major spike in demand for warehouse space, competition has come from an unlikely source. Marijuana startups in cannabis-friendly cities such as Denver and Seattle are driving industrial rent prices sky-high.

Marijuana Industry: A Boon for Industrial Landlords

CoStar Group Inc., a research firm that tracks data on commercial properties, found that warehouse rents in Denver, Seattle and Portland rose 27 to 33 percent over the last three years, compared to 19 percent in other markets. Similar results are expected in Los Angeles, Boston and Las Vegas now that these areas have legalized recreational marijuana use.

“Ganjapreneurship” has also caused a corresponding reduction in vacancy rates. Weed sellers tend to choose smaller, less desirable buildings where it’s easier to control the fire risks that accompany the cultivation of marijuana.

Although marijuana has been legalized in these areas, the industry still carries a stigma due to the federal ban. As a result, landlords are asking for, and receiving, higher rent rates.

No End in Sight

In 2016, cannabis sales exceeded $6 billion. Thanks to the recent legalizations, one in five adults will now live in an area that permits recreational weed. Add the expected development of online pot sales, and it’s clear that the demand for warehouse space won’t be relaxing anytime soon.

State-of-the-Art Warehouse Equipment Movers from DJ Products

No matter what products are stored in a warehouse, streamlined operations are essential to maximizing productivity and reducing expenses. Visit our website to learn more about our CartCaddy5WP and other battery-powered warehouse equipment tugs, pushers and movers.

Pearl Harbor Navy Official Faces Contract Rigging Charges

Confused senior man
Contract Rigging

Taxpayer watchdogs are quick to pounce when military contracts appear to be handed out as sweetheart deals. Case in point: when a Navy procurement official directed $15 million of contracts to his own wife, federal prosecutors were not far behind with conflict of interest charges.

The case involved oil containment booms at Pearl Harbor. William Nesmith, a civilian logistics manager at the naval station, reportedly sent two hefty contracts to his wife’s construction firm.

In their defense, attorneys argued that the conflict of interest did not cost the American taxpayer any extra money. Nesmith is said to have designed the plans on his own.

Ethics of DOD Contract Awards

Regardless of whether contracts are awarded over lower bids, a conflict of interest charge looks bad for contractors and the government. Taxpayers expect that their government solicits bids on a competitive basis, whether it’s a billion-dollar aircraft investment or a run-of-the-mill DOD material handling equipment purchase.

Contract rigging can lead to steep fines and even prison time. In this case, Nesmith faced up to 5 years in jail and a quarter-million dollar fine. Federal prosecutors may choose to settle, but the fallout could include civilian firings and contractors being suspended from bidding.

While it’s hard to say how often DOD contracts are awarded amidst such conflicts, what is clear is that taxpayer groups fight hard against these cases if they ever come to light.

At DJ Products, we are proud to offer GSA-approved solutions including trailers, vehicle pushers, equipment carts, and other DOD material handling equipment. Contact us for more information about our military and DOD applications.

How to Screen Applicants for Your Warehouse

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Quality Warehouse Staff

If you feel like your warehouse is staffed by “warm bodies” rather than skilled workers who will stick around, you’re not alone. Turnover runs high in the warehouse industry, and overcoming churn starts with screening and matching applicants to the right positions.

First you need to look in the right place. Employee referrals can be great because your current workers know what the job takes. Temp agencies also work well because they take care of skills assessment and provide warehouse tips for smarter hires.

Warehouse Tips: How the Best Hiring Managers Screen Applicants

Even with great job advertising and plenty of candidates, the screening process will always be critical. Character and skills need to be assessed above all else.

As one distribution exec recently told CleanLink.com, hiring managers should focus less on the obvious factors (criminal records and drug screening) and more on personality.

Keep in mind that longevity will depend on a worker’s ability to physically and psychologically thrive in the job.

Warehouse tips for screening include:

• Use personality tests that can tell you which people will thrive in various positions, e.g. fulfillment versus management.

• Conduct multiple rounds of interviews, discussing in between and afterward.

• Look for good communicators. Even if the position is somewhat solitary, everyone should be comfortable interacting with coworkers, supervisors and customers.

• Don’t guarantee future raises or promotions. Workers who accept jobs under pretenses that never materialize are more likely to leave.

After screening, avoiding turnover still requires more work. Compensation should be competitive and job conditions reasonable. Warehouse tips for retention would include performance-based raises and automated material handling equipment to relieve physical stress.

Hazards in the Workplace

Many things located in your workplace; things that you use every single day without a second though, things as common as pallets, ladders, hand trucks can all prove to be dangerous if not used properly.  Many of the pieces of equipment that you use on a regular basis, the things that you come in contact with so often that you take their necessity for granted, can pose a serious health risk to you and others if they aren’t in good condition or if they aren’t properly used.

Regular inspections of all equipment should be made to ensure that everything is in good working condition, regular maintenance should be performed on any equipment that contains moving parts and you should ensure that all of your employees are educated on the proper use of the equipment.

The equipment that you use everyday needs to be: properly used by your employees, in good working condition and capable of handling the work that you are using it for.  Many workplace injuries can be avoided simply by the use of the right equipment for the task at hand.  The electric carts and lifts offered by DJ Products are easy to operate – your employees can be trained quickly to operate these lifts properly, safely and efficiently.  They are quiet – the rest of your employees won’t be distracted by excessive noise while DJ Product’s equipment is operating.  They are highly efficient and have long battery life – your employees won’t be stuck with an unfinished load of material in the middle of your warehouse due to the fact that their cart died.  All of these attributes will make your warehouse more efficient and much safer for all of your employees.

Safety should be a prime concern when you work in material handling – and safety starts with the right equipment for the job and properly trained employees.  You can make your operation as safe as possible and dramatically increase your company’s efficiency by using the right equipment for the job.

Reducing Strains, Aches and Pains

The biggest danger in the workplace may not stem from the loudest crash or ugliest fall, though these instances can cause injury they are pretty rare when compared the injuries relating to the use of poorly designed material handling equipment.

Many distribution center managers understand that the use of forklifts and powered carts makes their workers jobs easier, but they fail to realize that easier may not always be safer.  In order to prevent overuse and repetitive stress injuries the equipment that your employees are using needs to be ergonomically designed.

All of the battery powered lifts and carts offered by DJ Products are designed to move without putting any undue stress on your employees’ bodies and they also put the material in the best possible position for lifting.  This keeps nagging aches and strains, which can ultimately result in the need for time off, to a minimum at the same time as increasing the staff’s overall productivity.

Operating your facility with equipment that forces your employees to strain to get the job done or that puts their bodies in uncomfortable positions while completing everyday tasks puts everyone at risk for injury.  This can lead to more absences, lower productivity and higher rates of workman’s compensation claims costing your operation quite a bit of money in the long run.  By upgrading to the highly efficient, battery powered equipment from DJ Products you can all but eliminate these risks from your workplace and you can greatly improve the physical portion of the job for your employees.

Outdated equipment can put your employees and your productivity in jeopardy, and though a material handling equipment upgrade will have an initial investment – the benefits of healthy and more productive employees are well worth the cost.

Eliminating Overhead the Smart Way

The economy is still lagging far behind what it was a few years ago and though some industries are beginning to see some promise, logistics and third party warehouses are still struggling to stay out of the red.  In order to keep the doors open, many businesses are being forced to find a way to cut overhead because the customers just don’t have money to spend.

Many businesses are moving to smaller facilities, cutting down the inventory they stock and even cutting employees just to lower spending enough to remain profitable.  If you slash inventory, move to a smaller facility or cut employees you could be hurting your company’s ability to provide adequate service, but there is a way that you can spend less money while at the same time improving your ability to serve the customer.

Propane powered equipment may seem like the most convenient and efficient way to move material, but when you calculate the cost of fuel and tally up the frequent maintenance and repair costs you’ll see that quite a bit of your budget is being spent on this equipment that is supposed to be saving your company money.  A much more economic way to move material is with battery operated carts and lifts.

The lifts and carts offered by DJ Products are quiet, efficient and incredibly reliable and the cost of operation is far less than that of a propane powered forklift.  A single employee can easily maneuver around tight spaces with heavy loads of inventory and not ever have to worry about wasting time changing an empty fuel tank – the lifts and carts from DJ can last an entire shift on a single charge.

You don’t need to sacrifice the quality of your service, your capacity to store product or your number of employees to get back into the green – you may be to be able to cut costs and provide better service by running your operation with the right equipment.

When Do You Need To Replace Your Forklift With A Tugger?

Forklifts have been a mainstay of warehouses and manufacturing facilities for decades. Lately, though, you may have found yourself wondering if it’s time to update with equipment tugs. You’ve heard about the improved efficiency they offer, but are they really worth the investment?

Equipment tugs can definitely add value to your operation, and many of the benefits may be ones you never even realized. Here are some questions to ask about your material handling needs that will demonstrate specific improvements tugs can provide.

  • Are you finding your inventories slowly increasing? Lift trucks work better with full cases and pallets, which results in excess inventory stacked in the aisles. Tugs allow you to replenish materials as needed, keeping inventories lean and floors and aisles clear.
     
  • Are your customers ordering in smaller quantities? Tugs offer a great solution for split-case and direct-to-consumer picking.
     
  • Are you seeing a lot of forklift accidents and workman’s comp claims? On-site safety is enhanced with the use of tugs. Their smaller size makes them less obtrusive on the work floor and they’re equipped with safety features such as alarms and power-stops. In addition, tugs are ergonomically engineered for maximum ease of operation.
     
  • Does the work flow frequently become slowed down by bottlenecks? Easy maneuverability of tugs means a smoother flow of materials throughout your facility.

Whatever application you require, DJ Products has your solution. We offer a wide variety of tugs for warehouses, manufacturing plants, containers, automobiles and aircraft. Call 800.686.2651 to speak to one of our Sales Engineers.

Material Handling and Distribution Heats Up in the Summer – Literally

Warehouses are generally poorly ventilated buildings with no good source of circulation, many with metal roofs that absorb the heat of the sun, and certainly no provisions for air conditioning.  So as the temperatures of the Summer rises, so does the temperature of the workplace.

Open dock and receiving doors let in the Summer heat and the fast pace of the employees and the bustle of the machinery just forces the temperatures even higher throughout the course of the day.  In this type of environment it’s critical to have safe and reliable material handling equipment, because the extreme heat will only add to the dangers of manual material handling.

Having the proper equipment to assist in the transport of heavy loads gives your employees the opportunity to complete their work according to (or even ahead of) schedule without having to over exert themselves inside of the scorching warehouse environment.  Old, outdated propane forklifts can throw hot exhaust, which can also work to drive up the temperature in an already borderline dangerous environment making a very uncomfortable workplace practically unbearable.

Just because the temperature has risen outside, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to slow down your operation or that you have to compromise your employees’ safety.  Reliable, battery operated carts and lifts help to ensure that your employees will have the assistance they need with heavy materials, minimizing the risks involved with manual material handling.  Battery operated carts don’t tend to get as hot as propane operated lifts and they also don’t release hot exhaust into the already stifling air.

Your warehouse or distribution center is most likely going to be hot – even with ceiling and floor exhaust fans running it’s difficult to keep temperatures down.  It’s up to you to do whatever you can to keep your employees safe and one of the best ways to do that is to operate with the most reliable battery powered lifts.  Lifts and carts from DJ Products will help minimize unnecessary excess heat while ensuring that your employees can safely perform their regular duties without the fear of over exertion.

Benefits of Ergonomic Design in Material Handling Equipment

Life lessons come in all kinds of packages and often from unusual sources. Astute businessmen are quick to take lessons learned in other industries and apply them to their own operations. That’s why we’ve been talking this week about a three-year study of musculoskeletal injury risk factors in the trucking industry (see our April 27 and 29 posts). Any time workers are forced to work in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time or repeat uncomfortable actions over time, undue strain is placed on the body’s sensitive musculoskeletal system, increasing the risk of serious injury. The result is the same whether you drive a long-haul truck across country or spend your shift moving material back and forth across a factory floor. The trucking industry study only serves to remind us that material handling operators face the same physically-challenging, musculoskeletal risk factors, just in a different setting.

Musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace account for the greatest number of worker’s compensation claims in the U.S. each year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which places the annual price tag of such injuries at more than $60 billion. But the true cost of back injuries, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other stress and repetitive motion injuries is far greater than the direct medical/insurance cost. Poorly designed material handling equipment that forces workers to stretch and strain decreases productivity, negatively impacts product quality, lowers morale, and increases absenteeism. The true annual price tag for workplace injury and illness is estimated in excess of $171 billion.

A national leader in the design and manufacture of ergonomic solutions to material handling applications, DJ Products specializes in making the finest, most versatile, electric and motorized cart tugs in the industry. Ergonomically designed to take the stress and strain off workers, our products have earned as many kudos from customers for their role in increasing production efficiency as they have for improving worker health and safety. Here are just some of the ergonomic design features that make DJ Products’ material handling equipment stand out from the competition:

  • Exactingly-engineered ergonomic controls place operating controls at the precisely optimal position for easy use and maximum operator control while eliminating carpal tunnel injury.
  • Versatile adjustable tug arms allow carts to securely attach to the bottom of any cart or load, even those loads that overflow the cart bed.
  • Our scissors-lift option allows each worker to raise or lower materials to his personal, optimal work height.
  • Safe, smooth 180-degree pivoting is ensured with our unique tug arm, eliminating the risk of dangerous jackknifing while maneuvering heavy loads.
  • Energy-efficient electric battery-powered operation guarantees safe, quiet, green operation through two full shifts before recharging.

For complete information on the full line of DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed material handling equipment, visit our website today.

Teens Searching for Summer Jobs Must Think Outside the Box

If you have a teenager looking for a summer job, you know how grim their prospects are this year. Some employment experts are predicting that this will be the worst summer job market since the 1950s. Jobs usually held by teen-aged workers have been snapped up by laid off, furloughed, out-of-work adults looking for any way to make ends meet until the economy turns around. Tomorrow morning when you pick up your cup of coffee, take a look at the person manning the drive-through. You’re more apt to see a mature face than some fresh-faced high school kid — and the money-hungry collegiate workforce has yet to hit the summer job market. With traditional summer employers cutting back, teens and collegiates will have to think outside the box to earn money for tuition, car parts, clothes and dates this summer.

This is definitely a summer where teens and college students will have to look beyond the mall and local fast food franchises to find employment. It’s time to think outside the box! In years past, employment experts might have suggested that teens look for jobs in manufacturing. Unfortunately, the economic crisis has slowed U.S. manufacturing production, sending home thousands of U.S. workers and glutting the manufacturing workforce. There’s little opportunity in manufacturing this year for unskilled, part-time, summer laborers. But there is potential opportunity in fulfillment, distribution and warehousing, job experts say.

Not only do businesses benefit from cheaper labor when they employ teens and collegiates, but there can be advantages to building early working relationships with tomorrow’s prime workers. Summer jobs provide an opportunity for college students to try out potential careers while giving employers a chance to size up future workers. Many teens and collegiates return to a company summer after summer and eventually seek full-time employment. Savvy employers use these opportunities to pre-train future staff and benefit by gaining educated, top-notch employees ready to hit the ground running as soon as they earn their degree.

Distribution, fulfillment and logistics companies that utilize DJ Products’ highly-adaptable, ergonomically-designed material handling equipment won’t have any trouble giving this summer’s hungry teen workforce an opportunity to grow their work skills. Ergonomically-designed to adjust to the physical size and abilities of any worker, DJ Products equipment can be successfully used by male or female teens and college students without risk of injury. Intuitive controls, superior safety features, adaptable design, and premium construction make DJ Products’ motorized carts and electric tugs easy to use, minimizing training time and maximizing production — the perfect combination for summer workers!