The Tray™ Issue #30 – 2021 The Year of Efficiency: Solutions to Bring More Efficiency, Organization, and Production to Your Facility and Warehouse Locations
This is a Special 4-Part Series for 2021. Read: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Creating an ergonomic workspace increases efficiency and productivity for your employees and customers. Additionally, improving ergonomics also improves the comfort for your employees, which reduces fatigue. At Shelving + Rack Systems, Inc., we offer several equipment options to maximize the ergonomics in your warehouse or business space. Ergonomic workspaces also help meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.
>Lift Tables
Scissor lift tables use a hydraulic system to reduce the physical stresses placed on employees so they can work longer and be more comfortable. Lift tables are fully adjustable for each employee and their specified tasks.
Lift tables reduce the need for repetitive bending, which can cause strain on the spine and joints, and wear your employees out more quickly. In severe cases, a wrong bend or turn can cause serious work-related injuries that lead to permanent disability, sick leave, or even litigation. Lift tables improve workplace safety standards and reduce the risks associated with frequent bending and lifting of heavy items.
>Floor Sweepers
The surface space of large warehouses, service areas, public spaces, and other commercial and industrial facilities take an enormous amount of time and resources to thoroughly clean. Floor sweepers reduce the need for extended manpower and provide a more ergonomic solution to keeping areas tidy and maintained.
Floor sweepers pick up an immense amount of dust, dirt, combustible dust, metals, and debris to effectively clean a space. The waste is collected in self-contained waste containers that are easy to empty.
Mechanical and walk-behind floor sweepers also reduce the need for bending, straining, and harsh pushing, which can cause fatigue and injuries to employees’ backs and knees. Additionally, employees’ risk of inhaling allergens, dust, and toxic materials are lessened with a floor sweeper.
>Pallet Tilters
Pallet tilters tip and carry large pallets, crates, and boxes without the need for workers lifting and carrying these large items. Pallet tilters can lift and move up to 4,000 pounds, making the transportation of these items more efficient and improved ergonomic work tasks for all employees.
Additionally, the thin arms that slide easily beneath these items prevent the risk of injury from workers moving the items onto the pallet tilter.
Industrial guard railing is essential to workplace safety. Whether you’re protecting equipment from surrounding machinery or you’re helping your employees work safely and efficiently, a guardrails system helps to maintain easy access in the workplace, even in high volume or heavy-duty areas.
>How Industrial Guard Rails Work
Industrial guard rails act as highly visible reminders of hazards and absorb the impact of collisions by flexing and distributing the force along the line of the rail or rails, depending on whether you have a single or double rail system. Engineered to withstand a 10,000 lb load at a 4 mph collision with proper installation, a guard rail system protects the workplace with a defensive wall of steel. Warehouse guard rails are a must for any high volume work environment.
>Double and Single Rails
Your choice between single or double rails depends on the busyness, volume, and traffic in the workplace. Single rails are 18” high, whereas double rails are 44” high, and they’re the bread and butter of industrial guard railing.
>Drop-In and Lift-Out Rails
Drop-in or lift-out rails allow you to reconfigure the walk-way, aisle, pallet areas according to your needs. They provide excellent solutions for high-volume areas where frequent access behind rails is routinely required. Highly visible lift-out rails do two primary things: they provide easy access to those who need it while reducing any unnecessary extra wear-and-tear of heavy-duty machinery.
>Fixed Barriers
Fixed barriers allow employers to delineate areas where forklifts and other heavy machinery should never be used. By fixing barriers where you intend for no heavy machinery to ever venture, you also help to increase the longevity of the flooring, shelving, and other equipment in that area by preventing unnecessary wear-and-tear. This helps to eliminate the risk of added expenses due to damage or employee injury.
>Other Industrial Guardrails System Options
Machine robot guards protect your workers from preventable accidents and injuries, while pedestrian handrails provide you with a low-cost way of increasing the safety and productivity of your employees. Safety netting is another option for additional protection, especially for areas where an extra measure of prevention could mean the difference between a minor annoyance and a serious, life-altering accident.
Consider installing a system of industrial guard railing and safety netting in order to maximize the efficiency and security of your workplace, your equipment, and all who work for you.
Ladders and stairways are integral to warehouse safety and accessibility and can help you maximize your space. At Shelving + Rack Systems, Inc., we offer four types of ladders and stairways, each of which can help you meet specific warehouse needs.
>Alternating Tread Stairways
Alternating Tread Stairways help you save space and maximize safety. They help to make potentially sharp and dangerous descents shallower and in more of a direct line. This makes them safer for workers carrying heavy boxes or moving equipment while also navigating the stairway. They also come with handrails, which exponentially increase the safety of the stairway for both you and your coworkers.
At the same time, because these stairs have only half of the tread space when compared to other stairs, they are much lighter and less space-consuming than typical stairways. It’s actually this half-tread design that enables them to make otherwise steep descents shallower.
>Industrial Stairways
Industrials stairways allow you and your coworkers to safely access mezzanine and upper-level areas. We also offer landing areas to help you make upper levels more accessible. Landings are mandatory for stairways taller than 144 feet.
We offer five subtypes of industrial stairways:
Straight stairways:
Offer clear visibility and direct access from the top of the stairway all the way to the bottom.
Top landing right-angle stairways
This design enables the stairway to be situated parallel to the point of access.
L-shaped stairways
These stairways feature a landing area at the turn in the stairway, giving workers a chance to catch their breath or resituate products they are carrying. They’re also a useful design for corner areas.
180-degrees U-shaped stairways
These, like the L-shaped stairway, offer a resting point for workers. However, due to the U-shaped design, they use much less linear space.
Spiral stairway
Brilliant space-savers, spiral stairways offer permanent access to upper levels.
>Rolling Ladders
Rolling ladders come equipped with caster wheels and are crafted from lightweight metals, such as aluminum, for portability and ease of access. They’re also non-magnetic and specially treated to resist corrosion. They give access to areas up to 19 feet above the floor and are versatile for all types of warehouse spaces.
>Track-Mounted Ladders
These ladders have their wheels on the floor while the top of the ladder is mounted to an overhead track. This helps to keep them secured when employees climb up and down to store or retrieve inventory, while also allowing the ladders to be moved with safety and efficiency. Track-mounted ladders can even be mounted directly onto shelving, depending on the type of shelving used.
For moving, storing, and protecting materials in your warehouse or business, there are several system options to keep your inventory and employees efficient. At Shelf + Rack Systems, Inc., we offer equipment for handling your materials throughout the production and distribution process.
>Die Carts
Die carts provide easy transportation for die materials up to 50,000 pounds and as little as 1,000 pounds. Depending on the needs of your facility, there is a solution to your specifications. Walk-behind motorized carts are the best choice for transporting large dies. Manual carts are best for small dies that weigh 1,000 pounds or less. Hydraulic lifts make raising and lowering the platform simple.
For metal-forming industries, die carts let you move your die or other materials to any space in your manufacturing warehouse so that you can cast your products in the die and press. The efficiency of moving a die quickly and effectively is imperative to ensure that a business meets the demand of its customers. Set up times are drastically reduced, and workplace safety is vastly improved.
>Service Carts and Shelf Trucks
Service carts and shelf trucks provide quick and easy mobility to a wide range of materials and supplies in your warehouse. With ergonomic designs and durable wheels, these mobile carts and trucks can withstand years of use and heavy items. Whether your materials need to travel a long or short distance, service carts and shelf trucks are an effective material handling equipment choice.
Service carts and shelf trucks make moving supplies between stations more efficient and provide a safe storage space for supplies when they are not in use.
>Stronghold Carts
Stronghold Carts are excellent choices for tools, small parts, or other delicate items needed in a shop, hospital, or pharmacy. Drawers keep items secure and protected during transport and from dust and light damage.
Maple Top carts provide an excellent option for cutting and small projects, while the Mobile Tool Cart with a pegboard provides space for oddly-shaped items. Both feature drawers which hold up to 400 pounds of materials. Other Stronghold Carts include the multi-use maintenance cart and the Tool and Maintenance cart.
>Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors
Vertical reciprocating conveyors provide a cost-effective and safe solution for transporting goods between levels of a facility. If your warehouse has balconies, mezzanines, and other raised storage areas, vertical reciprocating conveyors move materials efficiently and safely.
Vertical reciprocating conveyors require less floor space, providing a more ergonomic workspace for employees. Additionally, goods can be moved while in the upright position, which is necessary for some materials. We offer mechanical and hydraulic options, depending on the type of material and unit load you require.
Platforms are an essential part of a warehouse’s operations. Platforms for equipment and mezzanines that are sturdy allow for optimization of space and effective workflow. At Shelving + Rack Systems, Inc., we offer a wide variety of equipment platforms, mezzanines, work platforms, catwalks, and accessories to optimize your warehouse space.
>Equipment Platforms
Equipment platforms are handy for when you have large pieces of equipment that do not need to be used every day. By placing them on a platform and providing access with a stairway or landing, equipment can be raised and placed out of the way, optimizing the floor space in your facility and improving safety for your employees.
Equipment platforms are specially designed for the size and concentrated load of your equipment. Equipment that needs water, electricity, or compressed air can also be fitted to the platform.
>Mezzanine Platforms
Moving inventory and work in an industrial or commercial facility upward can save floor space, increase overhead space, and improve efficiency. One of the most effective ways to do this, without building a whole new facility, is to create multiple levels of inventory with mezzanine platforms on each level.
Mezzanine platforms are free-standing steel structures that are installed and designed according to the layout of your warehouse. Most mezzanines can be designed around existing columns, machinery, windows, and sprinkler systems. In most cases, installing a mezzanine does not require revamping your existing HVAC system, which provides further savings.
Many businesses use steel mezzanines for office space, tool cribs, employee break rooms, or for sorting operations. Wherever you need more floor space in your facility, a mezzanine is an excellent solution.
Mezzanine decks can be ordered in engineered steel diamond tread plate, diamond grip, concrete, resin deck, bar grating, and galvanized plank grating.
Accessories for mezzanines include structural steel stairways, handrails, ladders, gates, vertical reciprocating conveyors, spiral gravity chutes, and standard conveyors.
>Shelving Mezzanines and Catwalks
For warehouses that need additional storage space, or to maximize existing storage space, modular mezzanines and catwalks provide customizable options for your workspace. Shelving mezzanines double or triple existing floor space by allowing inventory to be stacked vertically.
As you build inventory, shelving mezzanines can be expanded. Catwalks allow easy access between levels, and stairs, handrails, and other supports provide safeguards for employees moving between floors.
>Work Platforms
Work platforms raise and lower employees between areas they need to access, or for unloading trucks without a back-lift or dock. Common work platforms include stock pickers, rolling staircases and ladders, one- or two-person maintenance lifts, hydraulic and pneumatic scissor lifts, and tanker top lifts. All raised platforms are outfitted with safety equipment according to OSHA standards.
Work platforms can be outfitted with light bulb and fluorescent tube caddies, stock picker shelves, and side and sliding tool trays. These customization options help.
Contact us today to help show you how. Call us at 800-589-RACK, that’s 855-358-7591.
Cover Image Licensed from: 123rf.com / Wavebreak Media Ltd.
