How to Select the Best Industrial Work Surface for Workstations and Modular Structures

Choosing the right industrial work surface affects safety, productivity, and long-term costs. This guide breaks down the most common surface materials used in lean manufacturing—HDPE, UHMW-ESD, honeycomb, aluminum composite, and foam—so you can confidently select the right option for your workstations, racks, and modular structures. The Importance of Selecting the Right Industrial Work Surface With … Continued

Optimize Battery Production with These 8 Modular Material Handling Structures 

The battery industry is growing at an incredible annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.63%. However, with that growth comes numerous challenges. Constant battery design changes, the demand for more efficient, longer-lasting batteries, cost control, safety, maintaining electrostatic discharge (ESD) compliance, and the need to continually increase production mean that battery manufacturers must embrace lean, modular … Continued

Complete Guide to ESD Protection in Material Handling

Whether your company is a manufacturer in the medical device, electronics, automotive, or aerospace industries or manage critical environments like cleanrooms – at some point you’ll need to familiarize yourself with electrostatic discharge (ESD), adopt ESD protection processes and may need to become ESD-compliant. What is ESD and Why Does it Matter? Electrostatic discharge occurs … Continued

Industrial Caster Selection Guide for Lean Manufacturing

Industrial casters are wheel-mounted, solid, durable circular rings or discs that are positioned at the bottom of material handling carts. Casters ensure manufacturing, shipping, inventory, order fulfillment, and warehouse employees can easily move push carts, order fulfillment carts, kitting carts, finished product carts, and trolleys from one location to the next.   Without industrial casters, employees … Continued

Top Lean Strategies for Optimizing Your Warehouse Layout

Running a lean and efficient warehouse provides endless benefits for warehouse managers and employees. Warehouse waste reduction lowers costs, improves employee morale, simplifies material handling, and ensures a seamless workflow. With the right warehouse layout optimization strategies, inventory damage is minimized. However, getting there requires a plan, one where your warehouse layout is maximized for … Continued

5S and Kaizen: Real Examples and Tangible Gains

When manufacturers think of Kaizen, they think of the Toyota Production System (TPS). Kaizen is actually a combination of two Japanese words. The first portion of the word Kaizen – “kai” – translates to “change.” The second portion – “zen” – translates to good. Ultimately, Kaizen means “good change” and its principles like 5S allow … Continued

How to optimise material Flow with a Tugger Cart system?

When companies need to safely move loads, equipment, or machinery from one location to another, they often turn to tuggers. Some tuggers are simple hand-held carts or trolleys that allow operators and employees to drag, pull or tug raw materials, consumables, and finished goods. Other tuggers are heavy-industrial machines capable of pulling upwards of 100-plus … Continued

Critical Steps to Choosing Material Handling Systems

Different types of material handling solutions, equipment, and machinery are used within supply chains to move, store, protect, control, and handle materials. The goal is to ensure that materials are readily available and that parts and finished goods are properly protected during transit to and from warehouses. Material handling is a critical component for manufacturers, … Continued

Why you should use AGVs on your assembly line

LISTEN: Audio Interview with Bruce Buscher In this interview, Bruce Buscher, VP of Daifuku’s AGV group answers all the questions you may have about all the benefits of having an AGV in your facilities. Your browser does not support the audio element.   An automated guided vehicle (AGV) is a computer-controlled vehicle used to carry … Continued

Borrowing Lean Manufacturing Concepts from the Automotive Industry

Jerry Collins – a mechanical engineer with 28 years of experience in the automotive industry – uses the pre-production stage as the critical first step to managing future production costs. It’s during this pre-production stage that Jerry uses modular piping systems as a way to layout his production floor and design material handling systems. This … Continued