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Over the past several decades, “Just-In-Time” has become the battle cry in many American industries, as the Internet raises consumer expectations and mass customization requires an increasingly flexible production base. Consumers want their grocery stores to have the freshest produce available regardless of the local growing season. Automobile owners needing to repair their vehicles are no longer willing to wait an indefinite amount of time for their parts to arrive. Home remodelers expect to purchase a dishwasher today that exactly matches their cupboards and have it delivered tomorrow. Online shoppers assume whatever they order is sitting in a warehouse ready to be shipped.
At the same time companies are fielding requests for increasing flexibility and decreasing lead-time, the global marketplace is forcing companies to find new ways to decrease costs while maintaining (or increasing) their level of quality. While from a traditional mass-production perspective these demands seem to be in conflict with one another, shifting to lean systems unifies lead-time, cost, and quality as key performance indicators. Keeping people, and thus ergonomics, at the heart of the lean philosophy helps assure that the company is not removing waste in the process by creating new wastes of overburden on the workers.
Finding appropriate countermeasures involves a systematic consideration of the entire set of process. Unfortunately, all too often when a company decides to invest in material handling equipment, ergonomics and lean concepts are often not at the forefront of the thought process. This seems surprising considering that material movement is essential in lean concepts and is at the heart of ergonomics. More importantly, by strategically using material handling products and keeping the worker at the center of the process, companies can also experience improved quality along with ergonomic and lean benefits.
When contemplating the purchase of material handling equipment, keep in mind that the benefits outweigh the costs in the long run. Benefits to keep in mind include:
- • Increased production,
- • Decreased worker fatigue,
- • Decreased workers’ compensation costs, and
- • Increased worker morale.