Tag: Safety and Ergonomics

Material Handing Solutions Make Light Work of Heavy Loads

Investing in material handling solutions is a way to boost morale among current employees and show prospective employees that you are a forward-thinking employer that gives workers what they need to get the job done.

A number of our material handling solutions have been designed so your employees do not injure themselves pushing or pulling loads that seem simple but will really strain them more than they imagine. We also have material handling solutions for loads that are clearly too cumbersome for someone to move using his or her own strength. Although these loads do require mechanical assistance, any old machine will not do. Please call our Sales Engineers at 800-686-2651 for a recommendation on your proper solution.

For example, the CartCaddyHD cart mover chain drive is a heavy-duty battery powered mover designed to push or pull equipment up to 50,000 pounds. It works well on carts with casters or carts on rails that go straight forward or backwards. Also, heavy trailers with lots of tongue weight can easily be lifted and moved with the CartCaddyHD Cart Mover. Check out this video where two people are moving a trailer using two CartCaddyHD Cart Mover chain drives.

We also offer the RiderCaddy battery powered tug so that a worker can push, pull, or maneuver carts and heavy trailers–either sitting or standing to pull the load. Another advantage of the RiderCaddy is that it allows you to consolidate tasks; carts that previously required the effort of more than one person can now be moved using just one person, freeing up the other workers for other tasks.

Reduce Risk of Food Processing Plant Injury with Industrial Tuggers

A study from commercial insurer CNA that examined the risks associated with working in the food processing industry found that “the types of incidents most likely to cause worker injuries are manual material handling and physical stress; struck by and struck against; and falls on the same level.” The report also noted that while the industry has increased its use of power movers, there was still a reliance on manual transport that lead to injuries that may have been prevented.

As the reports also states, “Profitability in the food processing industry depends on the rapid production of final product and its timely shipment to customers. The continuous rapid movement of large amounts of raw materials and finished products throughout the production cycle exposes workers to injuries resulting from contact with moving objects.”

We know that you cannot afford to slow down operations. We also know that you would like to avoid costly worker compensations claims and the loss of productivity and morale that go along with those claims. So, try using a DJ Products powered mover, like the CartCaddyShorty for example.

The CartCaddyShorty can be used to transport a variety of heavy loads, including things like large quantities of cold cuts or a cart full of cookie dough. This small, but powerful tugger is one the most maneuverable tugs you’ll find today.

While you can continue to allow your employees to push heavy carts because they are ‘getting the job done,’ consider that ergonomically designed equipment will still help them complete their tasks with the added benefit of preventing strains and sprains that can harm your staff and your financial outlook.

Resorts and Hotels: Get Motorized Housekeeping Carts for the Demands of Summer Crowds

Summer vacation will soon be here and at this time of year many families are traveling with kids and pets in tow. These guests will certainly keep your staff on its toes…and you don’t want any unsteady carts running over any toes (staff or guest). We offer powered carts for hospitality environments such as resorts and hotels. Keep your operations running efficiently during this buy season with…

A Powered Housekeeping Cart that can get rid of the need for a staff member to push a heavy housekeeping cart using his or her own strength.

A Powered Dirty Linen Cart that will allow a staff member can transport soiled linens safely through hallways without fear of having an overloaded cart full of things that need to be washed spilling.

A Motorized Clean Linen Wire Cart that can help staff quickly replace linens without having clean linens spill out and needing to be rewashed.

Each of our motorized carts has a variable speed twist grips that allows the operator to travel at speeds of 0-3 mph forward or backward. This helps to ensure that they can be operated safely or moved out of the way if necessary. In a packed hotel of resort, staff may not be able to completely avoid customers but you can reduce collisions with energetic children or other staff members when you provide the right kind of equipment. You can also reduce instances of injury and muscle strain because with the demands of summer, your staff will have more to do and you do cannot afford to lose staff members to preventable injuries.

Rely on a Car Pusher Instead of Human Strength

In the Superman movies, the superhero demonstrates his amazing strength: he manages to push a car up in order to free people who would otherwise be trapped. You can also find a number of real-life accounts of people somehow finding the strength to lift a car off of someone in an emergency. That adrenaline rush is useful in emergency situations but there is no guarantee that a person will have that same power on an average day.

This is where a DJ Products car pusher can come in handy because even though having a stalled vehicle is an emergency, you may not find that you are suddenly endowed with great strength to move that vehicle. And if your workplace requires cars be moved (across lots or showrooms) you probably do not want to have employees pushing vehicles themselves since this is can bring on undue physical strain and can damage the vehicles.

Plus, while it may be a common practice to move a stalled vehicle using another vehicle, this can damage both vehicles: they may become dented, scratched, or cracked. In contrast, the front push pad of the CarCaddy car and vehicle pusher is made of a soft, durable, padded material designed to preserve the paint and integrity of the back end of the stalled vehicle while also protecting the car and vehicle pusher.

There are limits to human ability and rather than take a chance, it is better to have the proper material handling solution at the ready so you don’t wind up with a damaged vehicle and injured employees.

Save Money with a Shopping Cart Retriever

We see shopping carts everywhere and think little of them but if you are a retailer who offers them to customers they are one of the many items that you must account for. A DJ Products Shopping Cart Retriever can save you money on to separate fronts:

Reduce Employee Injury
Shopping cart retrievers are great labor-saving devices. Employees that have to round up shopping arts risk possible injury from the physical labor and must deal with weather conditions such as extreme heat and cold, rain, snow and hail. Providing your employees with this mechanical assistance means you lessen the chances that one of them gets injured retrieving carts or calls in sick because of heat exhaustion. And since cart retrieval tends to be the kind of task assigned to new or low-ranking employees, you may not make these employees excited to do this work but you can make this work easier because retaining employees you have trained also saves you money.

Lose Fewer Shopping Carts
The other way that a shopping cart retriever can save you money is pretty simple: The faster you get cart rounded up, the less likely it is that stray carts will be removed from your property. You may lose some carts here and there, but overall you do not want to see a number of your shopping carts either abandoned or being pushed around other parts of town. Retailers have been used to absorbing the loss of shopping carts but you can be proactive and see to it that your carts remain on your property for your customers to use.

Call 800-686-2651 to speak with one of our Sales Engineers about cart retrievers and other material handling solutions.

Increase Efficiency and Safety with a Car Pusher

If you own a car care center or car dealership that offers repairs or then you probably already know that vehicle manufacturers use car pushers to help keep things moving during the assembly process but you may not have considered how a car pusher can be an asset in your business as well.

Streetdirectory.com explained why a car pusher could be a good investment:
“A good car pusher is not very big and it is compact, thus allowing pushing and even pulling wheeled equipment. Such a pusher is a good investment because it allows a business to save workmen hours. Imagine for example working in a car repair center and having to push cars around all day long. Your body will be tired and you will have aching muscles or even worse strained muscles.”

A CarCaddy car pusher from DJ Products makes it much easier to move cars, trucks, buses and even RVs. This makes things so much safer for your employees and your customers as well. Your employees will not feel as strained and even if you don’t allow customers near the work area, your facility will be safer overall because our car pushers can help move vehicles even in tight quarters. Workers who experience muscle strain that does not require them to stop working may be reluctant to speak up but their work will suffer and you want your workers at their best.

Call us at 800-686-2651 to learn more about the CarCaddy and other material handling solutions such as electric carts that can make your workplace more efficient.

Powered Movers Can Take on a Starring Role in Your Operations

DJ Products makes motorized carts and powered movers that eliminate the strain and pain that can result when workers try to push heavy carts loaded with items like dirty linens or cleaning supplies.

The industrial application of motorized carts demonstrates just how useful these carts can be. However, motorized carts have been showing up on TV lately—with mixed results.

The New York Times and The Huffington Post did not think very highly of a routine on Betty White’s new show that used a motorized cart (“How is an old woman in a motorized cart driving up behind pedestrians and rudely blowing her horn to scare them even remotely clever or funny?”)

Reality television star and expectant mother Tori Spelling found a motorized cart to be useful while she planned a charity baby shower. With her due date very near, Spelling was not going to have an easy time walking around and getting things ready. She solved this problem by using a motorized cart. And since television requires people to entertain, she also found a way to keep the audience entertained by not operating the cart very well and crashing into walls.

Rather than being designed to transport people, motorized cart solutions from DJ Products are made to help people who need to transport heavy loads. They are less costly, smaller, and more maneuverable than traditional electric equipment such as motorized riding tugs.

Our carts for hospitals and the hospitality industry are designed to help make certain tasks easier and reduce the possibility of injury. For example, the Ergo Power electric cart has a variable speed handle bar twist grip that allows it to maneuver in tight aisles.

If you aren’t sure of exactly what you need, you can call our Sales Engineers. They will also be happy to explore custom applications and recommend a solution.

Move a Trailer Safely and Efficiently with a DJ Products Trailer Mover

You wouldn’t think of pulling or pushing trailer on your own but with a powerful, ergonomically designed trailer mover from DJ Products you can do just that. Our TrailerCaddy trailer mover is capable of pushing and pulling RVs. campers, equipment trailers, and boats. You can use it to transport these items short distances, such as across a show room or down an assembly line. In other words, a DJ Products trailer mover is perfect for moving boats and trailers in tight spaces where a wheeled trailer will not fit. Our trailer movers let you move these kinds of large items in small areas and if used properly, you can minimize the chances that there will de damage to the vehicle you are trying to move or to the items that surround it.

Why take a chance that human effort alone can move a trailer a short distance without damaging it? Our trailer movers can be made to your specification. We can easily customize the electric mover to work with any style trailer and the electric braking system can hold a trailer on an incline to stop the runaway trailers and the accidents that can result when a trailer slides away.

It comes with 3 deep cycle batteries for long run times and extended use between charges, making it perfect for your business, whether you have a rental center that needs to stage rental trailers on a regular basis or a marina where customers occasionally need help preparing their powered boats before launching them.

Check out this video to see our trailer mover in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVVUfxZwQMI&feature=player_embedded

A Heavy Duty Cart Mover Gets the Job Done Safely

You would think that a cart itself would be enough to transport loads that a person cannot carry on his or her own, but when it comes to industry, sometimes even the carts need a little help. This is when a cart mover can come in very handy. The CartCaddyHD from DJ Products has been designed to push, pull, or maneuver carts or equipment up to 50,000 pounds.

If you’re wondering just why someone would load something up with that much weight, think about how long it would take if you were to break that 50,000 pounds in to smaller, more manageable loads—the kind that one person could carry comfortably. It would take a very long time to transport the kind of load or move a very heavy piece of equipment that has been broken down in that way. Sometimes transporting goods and machinery in these large quantities just makes sense.

So while many warehouses, factories and other places have seen the logic in having weighty loads to make things more efficient, they haven’t examined another factor in efficiency and that’s human capacity. There will be times when it is necessary to transport loads that are quite heavy for efficiency’s sake but you do not want to overburden workers. Have an uninjured workforce is also a key component in keeping things running smoothly and you don’t want workers with overtaxed musculoskeletal systems continuing to work until they become injured.

Try the CartCaddyHD—this battery powered cart mover offers a variable speed twist grip that allowed the cart to move forwards and backwards, allowing smooth movement and protecting the operator from carpel tunnel syndrome.

Welcome to the DJ Products, Inc. Blog

Welcome to the DJ Products, Inc. blog! We specialize in ergonomic material handling products geared to take the pain and strain out of moving heavy carts, equipment and materials. We pride ourselves in providing material handling solutions that are maneuverable, safe and cost effective. Our goal is to minimize the wear and tear on your personnel, your product AND your bottom line.

Our products are used in manufacturing and distribution settings including heavy and light industry, warehouses, fulfillment centers, the automotive industry pushing stalled vehicles with our Car Pusher and more. Our products can be used to pull RV’s, trailers, boats, generators, wheeled equipment — anything with a ball coupler or pintle hitch tongue called our Trailer Mover. You’ll also find our products in use at car dealerships, hospitals, the hospitality industry, groceries, big box stores and the retail industry.

DJ Products cart pusher, cart mover, caddies and lifts offer superior operating flexibility, allowing them to be used in a greater number of applications than standard material handling equipment. Our products are battery powered “walk-behind” units that provide maximum operator control, even in tight, difficult spaces. Our ergonomically designed products reduce employee injuries, promote easy and frequent use, and eliminate the use of more costly and cumbersome equipment ill-suited to the task.

Join us in this space for news, discussion and insight on topics that impact your business, including:

  • How you can improve the ergonomics and safety of your workplace when moving products and materials.
  • New products and trends in material handling.
  • OSHA regulations and how they impact your business and employees.
  • Innovative material handling solutions to common problems.
  • New ergonomic findings and trends in material handling.
  • Pallets vs. carts: parameters for making an informed decision.
  • Benefits and information on implementing an ergonomic health and safety program.
  • Safety tips for manually moving objects.
  • Evaluation of market products including carts, casters, caddies, etc.

If you’re looking for up-to-date, useful information on material handling solutions, bookmark the DJ Products blog and check our new posts frequently. DJ Products: Changing the way you move materials and equipment.