The Balance Between Productivity and Safety

This Canadian manufacturing arm operating a fleet of 6 lift trucks all 3-wheel electric counterbalance, participating in various stages of the manufacturing process the strategy is to maintain the balance between productivity and safety. Simply put the company realizes that efficient and productive processes lead to a competitive edge but without a safeguard for employee safety the risk is too high. Therefore, they were looking for a vehicle safety management system that would integrate with their productivity cycle, increase the level of employee safety awareness, and provide detailed reports on events that contribute or hinder this strategy.

With space at a premium for this manufacturing site the entire production cycle of the forklift is like an obstacle course. From tight aisles in the manufacturing area, to the small shipping and receiving area as well as the quick turnaround racking of the inventory storage area throw in the battery charging station it provides a challenge for any operator. Not only was the operation of the lift truck a concern but also the protection of employee and asset before it even enters the operation at the beginning of the shift. The consensus among operation managers at this plant was that the current process of filling out MOL/OSHA pre-shift safety checks was that they had become a formality with operators just checking boxes and submitting the paper. Without doing the due diligence this could expose the plant and the operation manager to a risk of liability, even worse the operator driving the forklift could be headed for danger.

Safety Begins and Continues with the SkidWeigh Plus ED4-IM3

With a new fleet of 6 3-wheelers arriving the installation of the SkidWeigh Plus ED4-IM was a simple process. The system installed in less than 2 hours per unit by the servicing dealer.

The Base Station communication hub, which communicates with the onboard vehicles using RF technology in real time required no technical support other than IT providing network coordinates and clearing a pathway, just like a digital copier. An IP address, an SMTP mail server was all it took to support an LAN webpage portal and the ability to receive email event notifications as they happen.Another advantage of the RF communication technology is that no monthly fees are required.

Going live was easy with each operator having an RFID card programmed into the system. This ensured that vehicle operation was only performed by a certified operator and the ability to access the right vehicle. This also provides accountability as the assigned asset is noted to is operating the vehicle in the event of a collision or the pass or fail of a safety. Once access control is initiated by an accepted card/operator a Pe-shift safety check is required. There are multiple settings with regardsto how the safety is required but the standard MOL/OSHA requirement for the beginning of each shift was set.

A unique option about this the SkidWeigh Plus ED4-IM is that it has a weighing suite included that allows them to weigh skidded product as well as detect overloading and provide a warning to the operator. The system when powered on also provides accident and impact detection that provides notifications on a multitude of data channels which include, real time email event notification, USB back up, and LAN web page for instant visibility. All selected events such as impacts, and failed safeties can be received on a smart phone and other data channels with identification data.With the SkidWeigh Plus ED4-IM system in place giving the management team access to exception reporting as it happens allowed this manufacturing company to create safety metrics to share with the operators based on who and what vehicle. In addition, it allowed the company to realize their safety strategy by creating benchmarks all could relate to.