The Material Handling Blog

When deciding what machine tending robot best fits your application, it is important to look at a number of criteria and weigh the pros and cons of each to figure out which robot is the best fit.

It is often required that hydraulic lift tables stop at precise elevations. However, the phenomenon commonly referred to as lift table “coasting” can allow lift table platforms to continue past the intended stopping point. In this article, we'll discuss the causes of lift table coasting, and how it can be prevented.

In 2009, in an attempt to appeal to a younger audience, Pizza Hut began to market itself as “The Hut.” Now, Pizza Hut themselves would admit that nothing about the company, their pizza, their restaurants or policies had changed. This was simply a way to get into the conversation of the “texting generation.” This rebranding or renaming practice is performed in every type business, and it is currently taking place in the material handling industry.

As government regulations become more stringent, retailer demands continue to increase, and competition intensifies, the need for robots has never been more imperative for success in the food and beverage industry.

By far the most common industrial lift is the hydraulic scissor lift table. This may seem like a complicated piece of equipment, but in actuality hydraulic lift tables are very simple in design. These lift tables are comprised of five major components: the platform, base, scissor legs, hydraulic cylinder, and power source. Read: How Hydraulic Scissor Lift Tables Work

Automatic print and apply units can be tremendously helpful in labor reduction and product throughput if done correctly. They can also cause a lot of downtime and operator headaches if done incorrectly. The intent of this article should be to spark focus and attention to design considerations before implementation. This can be used as a guide and hopefully generate interest in systems of this nature.

Selecting an industrial lift table can be overwhelming. Between sizes and options there are literally thousands of configurations to choose from. When making your selection, it’s important to consider what is being lifted, how it needs to be lifted, how the lift table should operate, and whether any safety features are required. Ask yourself the following questions to ensure you select the best lift table for your operation. Read: How to Select a Lift Table

Ask any warehouse manager how to stock a forward pick area, and you may get one of these two methods--allocate the same amount of space to each SKU or store an equal time supply of each SKU in the area. Here's a look at why either solution might offer the same labor costs.

There are several ways an industrial robot can wear out sooner than intended. On average, most companies plan to get more than eight years of service out of a robot. However, some companies have robots that are still running after nearly 20 years. What causes some companies to get more or less use out of their robots?

With limited fork lift resources, one manufacturer installed a pallet handling system that used a lift table, floor pit, and pallet conveyor to improve cycle times and reduce traffic in a busy assembly area.

Most of us don’t consider our material handling equipment to be among our closest friends. After all, what has a conveyor, cart or pallet jack ever done for you? However, there is one piece of equipment that you might want to consider adding to your Christmas card list – the Southworth PalletPal 360™.

In this month’s product highlight, we are going to focus on a very important aspect of a recent case packing project--the transfer robot. Bastian Robotics developed a robotic case packing system that required the orientation of the product to be changed 90° from the production line prior to inserting it into the case...