Critical Work Safety Tips Engineers Must Know

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Everyone knows that worker safety is essential when it comes to jobs that deal with complicated equipment and potentially dangerous workspaces.  

Following safety precautions won't just help you; it will also help your fellow employees and the business as a whole. Workplace safety is a group effort, and working as a team is essential.

Follow these safety tips for work to ensure the safety of yourself and your teammates when you're on the job.

Have Good Posture and Form

Good posture doesn't only apply to the workers who are lifting heavy things and doing complex movements all day. Posture also involves properly sitting while doing desk work to avoid putting excess strain on the back or neck and learning the correct way to use assistive equipment. 

It's essential that you're learning how to move your body correctly in the workplace, especially when you're managing equipment.

Don't Take Shortcuts

Taking shortcuts could land you in a dangerous situation. Going through the correct processes for all of your tasks and machinery is essential if you want to avoid damage or mishaps. 

When you think you have a better and quicker way to do something, this needs to be tested in a safe environment, not just demonstrated on the job. You can end up putting yourself or your other employees in danger by trying to save time. 

Wear Personal Protective Equipment 

While playing or working with dangerous materials, personal protective equipment (or PPE) protects you from damage. 

Even if you think you know your work inside and out, PPE is a last line of defense against physical and chemical dangers that can come about as a result of your engineering work. 

Be Attentive to Your Surroundings

When you're working, it's essential to know what's going on around you. This doesn't just apply to your work setting, but also the people working around you.

Be careful of the dimensions of your workspace and any other employees that may be close by. Your workspace doesn't exist in a vacuum, and you may put other people in danger if you're not attentive.

Keep a Tidy Workstation

Having a clean workspace is one of the easiest and most essential parts of workplace safety. 

While it might seem silly, it's easy to run into accidental damage just from having a mismanaged workspace. Any water or food left somewhere can easily become a hazard, as well as any office debris that could be on the floor and left as a tripping hazard. 

Keeping a clean workspace is an easy way to help increase your safety at work dramatically. 

Following Safety Tips for Work Is Essential

If you're in the workplace, following workplace safety is important. Being attentive to your habits and the habits of those around you will keep your workplace safe and efficient. 

For more safety tips for work like this, or to get equipment for your workplace, contact us today.

Benefits of Having a Good Inventory Management System

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A small business inventory management system can help productivity. 

If you’re trying to determine solutions to benefit your inventory management and to make your company as efficient as possible, keep reading. In this guide, we will let you in on all the fantastic things the right inventory management system can do for you. 

Elevate Efficiency and Accuracy 

Inventory inaccuracies can have severe implications for your business. These inaccuracies can result in over ordering a product or thinking you have many products that you actually don’t have at all. 

Having an accurate inventory system can assist in enhancing your order accuracy. If you currently use an employee to track your inventory numbers, you may want to omit this job role. Not only does this allow room for human error, but you’re also adding unnecessary dollars to your payroll.

Make sure that you’re using your employees for more necessary efforts with an inventory management system instead. This system will prove to be a high return on investment. You will find that it will save your time and money, as well as avoiding fallbacks due to inventory inaccuracies. 

Provides Professional Systems  

If the system you currently have in place for your inventory management is messy and inconvenient, it’s time to consider an inventory management system. Many inventory management systems provide you with helpful solutions for every step of the process. This can lead to cost and time effective solutions throughout your company.  

Many inventory management systems are complete with barcode maker and scanner technologies. This will resolve the tedious and time-consuming process of recording the ins and outs of inventory. Giving your products a barcode that will connect to your inventory tracker has many benefits. 

This will allow for a more convenient flow throughout your workday. Your employees can scan a product to adjust inventory rather than trying to find it in your system.

This adjustment may seem small but can allow your employees to move onto more valuable tasks. This switch can increase overall company productivity. 

Allows for Growth 

Does your company have multiple locations? Or are you hoping to grow your company in the future? An inventory management company can help you track your inventory across various sites. 

This will allow you to know the inventory status at both individual locations. It will also give you an overview of your companies inventory numbers as a whole.

A centralized database can help business owners and inventory managers track each branch’s progress. It can also help to make bulk reorders if both of your offices require certain products. 

Smarter Small Business Inventory Management 

If you don’t already have a small business inventory management system, you should consider one for your company today. As you can see, there are so many ways that a successful inventory management system can assist your small business.

Increase your efficiency, accuracy, and payroll dollars with an inventory management system that will allow you to grow your business with ease. 

Are you looking for a reliable supplier to get your companies reorders from? Contact us today to see how we can help!

7 Amazing Technology Trends to Shape Future Engineering

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The engineering industry is continuously evolving. New technologies are being utilized more than ever in various sectors, and it’s easy to be left behind. Here are seven top technology trends in engineering – keep reading to explore them!

1. 3D Printing

Perhaps the most notable trend in technology, 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is really changing the engineering industry. Quick, efficient, and cost-effective, the technology is frequently utilized in engineering design and can be used for everything from isotopic printing to producing prototypes.

2. Digital Twins

Creating a virtual replica of a design before you build the real thing can be a life-saver, as it allows you to iron out any issues without wasting time and money on physical resources. As digital twins use algorithms, you can get information about how your design will operate before you make it.

3. Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a major upcoming technology trend both inside and outside engineering, and for a good reason too. Smart technology can increase efficiency and productivity in the design stage and helps to improve safety also. The use of smart devices in engineering forms part of the IoT and is vital in creating smart designs.

4. Generative Design

By using artificial intelligence (more on this below), the generative design creates solutions that humans alone would not be able to come up with. Generative design algorithms set specific parameters, and every possible combination is generated for human engineers to look at. It’s used in the production of regular everyday items as well as designs like aircraft, so you’re sure to find a place for it somewhere.

5. Artificial Intelligence

 Artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us. Collaboration between humans and AI leads to better designs and production, and AI invites changes like natural language processing, automation, and robotics. It may take some time to get used to, but AI can bring significant changes to your work.

6. Robotics

As a trend, robotics is on the rise, as robots bring so many advantages to engineering. Robots can be programmed to do more than you might expect, helping you with both physical and mental tasks. Increase safety and productivity by using robotics, as robots can now think intelligently and independently through the use of AI.

7. Sustainable Architecture

Environmental awareness has been more prominent recently, and it encompasses the engineering industry. Eco-friendly technologies like embedded sensors and intelligent electrical grids can now be used to produce more sustainable, eco-conscious designs that are also smart. 

Making the Most of Top Technology Trends

These are the top technology trends to consider for the future if you’re hoping to stay ahead in the game and keep on innovating. How are you able to utilize them for the best results?

If you’d like to find out anything else from us or get in touch, you can contact us today.

 

Top 5 Tips for a Spare Part Warehouse Management

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Do you run a warehouse that deals in spare parts? Are you struggling with ways to run it more efficiently?

Perhaps you feel you’re not organized enough and often losing track of things.

You can streamline your spare part warehouse to make it run smoothly and become more successful. Read below to learn five great tips.

1. Operations Strategy

Safety should come first with your operation strategy, but after that, you can do some things to help your spare part warehouse run better.

You can run your spare part store from a reactionary or predictive position. You don’t want to fall into the reactionary category. This will put you behind the eight-ball, so to speak and slow down your operation.

You want to come from a predictive point of view to set yourself up for success. Sure, there can be things that come up, and you have to react, but predicting problems before they happen is a better way to deal with it.

A great way to use predictive spare part inventory management is to collect and analyze your data. Then, you’ll see the entire scope of your operation and be able to make decisions on a broad scale first. Then narrow it down to specifics.

2. Control Your Inventory

The best way to do this is to have two categories for your spare part warehouse. You should have a critical and non-critical category. If a part is critical to a machine’s operation or function, then choose always to have it on hand.

If the part is not, you don’t always have to have it stocked. This will cut down unnecessary overhead and give you better inventory control.

Review the two categories every three or four months. Also, make sure you store the spare parts in the correct sections.

3. Stockout

You can’t eliminate stockout issues, but you can identify the major cause of it and fix it. Make sure you record out of stock parts when they happen.

Keep a tight log of these and evaluate it regularly. Things have to be organized correctly. Also, keep in mind that the biggest reason for stockout is a delay in the supply chain.

4. Lead Time

If you want to run your stock operation successfully, you’ll need a comprehensive understanding of lead times. This will help you figure out which parts you need to stock. If you don’t run this properly, you can suffer financial losses from downtime.

Determine which of your parts have extended lead times and make sure they are stocked at all times. Keep in mind off-brand parts can save you here.

These can often be obtained quicker. As long as the machine can use substitute parts, then you’re all set. 

5. Calculate

Occasional equipment failure is perhaps inevitable. However, you can soften this blow be calculating your downtime. You should know this down to the hour. For example, one hour of downtime will cost you say $5,000.

If the part takes one day to arrive, that’s 24 hours times $5,000. This needs to be taken into consideration and incorporated into your books.

The Spare Part Fix

These five tips will make you a successful spare part warehouse manager. You’ll have an efficient, streamlined warehouse that will make your life easier and business much more successful.

Click here to contact us for products and services.

5 Eye-Opening Tips to Extend the Life of Your Industrial Brake Pads

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Accidents, downtime in production, increased costs, and more are all results of poorly maintained industrial brake pads.

But with such important technology often located remotely, it can be challenging to keep your brake pads in good condition. 

Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to extend the life of your industrial brake pads. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Start With Quality Brakes

First things first, as in anything, the adage, “you get what you pay for” applies to your industrial brakes as well. If you’re purchasing second-rate brakes, they are not going to perform as well. They’ll also wear out much quicker.

The last few decades have seen significant improvements in disc brake technology. This has resulted in increased brake torque, lower costs, and longer life.

Still, industrial brakes are often subject to very rough conditions. They are also often remotely operated, making their maintenance tricky.

In marine, oil, and gas sectors, this can be overcome by selecting a newer disc brake design and making sure to maintain those right brakes from the start. Luckily, remote maintenance with these newer disc brakes is simpler. 

So, if longevity is valuable to you, it’s worth the investment to begin with quality brakes.

Choose the Right Friction Materials

If your industrial brake pads are located somewhere with a high risk of explosion, you can maintain the life and safety of your brake pads by avoiding sparks. This is usually done by installing multi-plate friction brakes in the gearbox.

Wet brakes like these may not be as effective as dry brakes, but for jobs where sparks may occur, they are a good compromise.

Choosing brake pads that circulate hydraulic oil behind them will also work to preserve your brake pad life. The oil will help keep the actuation mechanism from freezing over.

When choosing friction materials for your industrial brakes, testing should play a big role. Only select materials that have gone through 100% testing before being despatched.

While asbestos hasn’t been used as a friction material since around 1970, it’s still essential to ensure that the materials you purchase have been reviewed and tested in-house before applying them. 

Use Remote Monitoring

Nowadays, some brakes (like those in cranes), provide real-time monitoring. This means fewer problems with your brake pads going unnoticed and untreated. 

While not all brake pads come with remote monitoring, having some kind of system set up to check on them regularly is vital.

The more access you have to view your brake pads and how they’re functioning, the better you can maintain their functioning and arrange for repairs when needed.

Preserving Your Industrial Brake Pads

Industrial brake pads are vital to maintaining correctly for the safety, efficiency, and functionality of your projects. Assessing them regularly, checking fluids where applicable, and working with professional manufactures to get your questions answered will help you maintain the life of your brake pads.

If you think it may be time to have your brake pads checked or replaced, contact our professionals today. 

 

 

Plant Engineering: Four Best Practices in Spare Parts

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Running a plant or production line is similar to building a machine; each part and piece needs to be in order, or nothing will work. 

Refining your practices for handling spare parts can be overwhelming. With so many shifts in markets or changes in demand, you need flexibility and good management. You need a drive always to improve your methods.

There are lots of ways to manage your spare parts in production. Some shine above the rest. Let’s break down some of the best practices in spare parts.

Getting the Most Out of Spare Parts

Spare parts are a big part of industrial work. You never want too few when you need them, but too many, and you have potential money lying around doing nothing. 

No matter what each part is for, there are sound ways to keep track of them. Try and integrate these four best practices into your spare parts management. 

1. Using CMMS Technology

In this digital age, there is little need for the older analog methods of categorizing and managing. CMMS, which stands for computerized maintenance management software, are various management software bundles.

These hosts of applications organize your stock, schedule resupplies and keeps a central location for all your documents. This type of software has made massive engineering plants possible.

Finding the best CMMS technology to use can come down to preference, but learning and integrating one into your system will be vital to your spare parts organization. 

2. Performing Reviews of Essential Parts

Nothing changes as fast as technology. As new equipment comes out and industry priorities shift, you will need to alter the spare parts you deal with.

Sometimes this will be gradual while other times it will be in dramatic changes. Either way, performing periodic reviews will let you adjust your needs as they come. 

3. Counting Stocks to Keep Discrepancies in Line

Even with the powerful CMMS technology, discrepancies will happen. Whatever the oversight is or why it came to be, doing periodic counts of stocks will help to minimize them.

Timing your stock counting right before deliveries of new items can help you integrate the new items into the system faster. If discrepancies keep happening, then that is a strong sign that a bigger issue may be to blame with incoming and outgoing orders.

4. Maintain Proper Parts Storage and Care

The final practice to keep your spare parts in a manageable position is storage and care. Each part should have organization and protection so that it is never lost or broken. 

You can do this in any number of ways. Dedicate storage areas for each different piece is a great start. For fragile pieces, add padding to the storage area.

Make sure everything has clear labels, and whoever interacts with your spare parts needs to place them in the right container every time. 

Keeping Your Production Moving

Dealing with spare parts takes an eye for both management and detail. With the right software and an aim for constant reevaluation, you can keep all the pieces together.

Kor-Pak has a variety of industrial parts for any number of machines and pieces. Keeping your own pieces running is key, so when you need quality parts, you know where to head. Contact us today for more information!

How Does an Engine Clutch Work? 3 Facts About Clutches

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In 1861, German engineer Nikolaus Otto developed the first gas-powered engine, providing an alternative to the steam engine. The world of engines would never be the same. Part of the power of the modern engine comes from the clutch. 

Most people associate the engine clutch with manual-transmission cars. However, a clutch is an essential component in all kinds of engines, from cars (even automatic ones) to industrial machinery. 

If a clutch isn’t just limited to manual cars, what do they do? You’ll understand every engine a little bit better once you know how a clutch works. Here are some basics to should know about the engine clutch! 

What Is a Clutch?

Most mechanical devices that you might use today have a clutch. There are lots of different types of clutches, so everything from chainsaws to motor vehicles uses some sort of engine clutch. 

A clutch essentially exists to help control the speed or movement of a motor. A clutch disengages a motor’s driveshaft, allowing you to pause an engine without actually turning it off. 

In a car, the clutch lets you stop or change speed without shutting the engine off. It briefly breaks the connection between the engine and wheels to achieve this pause. In industrial equipment, the clutch lets you make necessary pauses while the machine’s still operating, such as by halting the movement of a conveyor belt. 

How Does a Clutch Work?

As you can see, the clutch is an essential engine component. But how does it work, exactly? 

A clutch operates in engines that use two rotating shafts. These shafts link the motor to the moving parts of the device. The clutch connects the rotating shafts, allowing them to either move together or to separate. 

When the clutch separates the shafts, the motor is still moving, but the device’s movement stops. For example, the conveyor belt’s motor will stay on, but the belt itself will stop moving when the clutch is engaged. This allows for more efficient work without starting and stopping the engine each time a pause is needed. 

How Many Types of Clutches Are There? 

This question is actually impossible to answer with a specific number. There are many different kinds of clutches out there since the word “clutch” has a very broad meaning.

For example, the clutch of a car is very different from the clutch that some power drills have. Industrial clutches are designed to serve certain purposes, but also to handle specific torque requirements and load types. The right kind of clutch for each machine is essential for getting the job done. 

How to Use Your Engine Clutch Knowledge 

Knowing more about the engine clutch will help you keep your industrial machinery running smoothly. Now that you understand how a clutch works and what it does, you can see why clutch maintenance is so important. 

Without a clutch, many machines simply can’t work. To keep your clutches in good working order, check out our full list of brake and clutch accessories! 

3 Forms of Industrial Machinery Lubricants

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Industrial machinery is responsible for a significant part of society’s functioning. And, it’s incredible to realize that all of that relies on one often overlooked detail: machinery lubricant.

Without proper lubricant, those billions or trillions of dollars worth of machinery holding up our society would quickly shear themselves into disrepair and uselessness.

Read on to learn about three kinds of industrial machinery lubricants and how they work!

Types of Lubricants and Their Uses

There are essentially two classes of lubricants — oils and greases. Oils come in synthetic, mineral, and vegetable categories. Greases can also be made with various base oils, but are thicker.

Vegetable oil lubricants are less commonly used in the industrial machinery field. We’ll look primarily at synthetic lubricants, mineral lubricants, and grease lubricants, starting with synthetic lubricants.

Synthetic Machine Lubricant

Synthetic oils cannot be found in the natural environment. Instead, they are created by scientists and engineers to fulfill extreme need purposes.

Some industrial processes create incredible extremes in heat and friction. Natural oils may be able to cut it for ordinary purposes, but they won’t provide the extremely high flash point, fire resistance, and other qualities of synthetic oils.

While synthetic oil would be perfectly functional for everyday use, it’s probably best to stick to natural alternatives in such cases. Synthetic lubricants can be highly toxic and require a great deal of effort to dispose of properly. On top of that, they can be costly.

Mineral Oil Lubricant

Mineral oils are created out of crude oil. Depending on the level of performance you need out of them, they can only partially processed, or they can be highly refined.

Within the mineral oil category, there are various types, like naphthenic oils, which are suitable for processes that create only moderate temperatures.

Due in part to their natural occurrence in nature, mineral oils are far less toxic than synthetic oils. They are also far cheaper. Plus, mineral oils can provide just as high a level of performance as synthetic oils.

As long as you use them for standard industrial applications that don’t create extreme environments, a mineral lubricant can provide top tier performance.

Grease Lubricant

While oils can come in different levels of viscosity, or thickness, they are all essentially liquids. Grease is closer to a solid, which gives it several pros and cons.

If a contaminant touches oil, the oil may pick it up and allow it to float throughout the rest of the lubricant. Grease, on the other hand, will seal contaminants out.

Oil leaks are a fairly common occurrence, while grease sticks to the surfaces it’s applied to, so it can’t fall away.

On the other hand, grease’s greater thickness means that it creates more friction than oil. This leads to higher heating and lower speeds in industrial processes.

Find the Best Machinery Lubricant For Your Needs

For more information on all the products and services that we offer to help your workplace run as effectively as possible, check out our other pages.

7 Crane Functions You Need to Know About In the Construction Industry

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To ensure you can complete a task right, and stay under budget, learn the many uses and varieties of construction equipment. One of the biggest and most important varieties are cranes.

There are dozens of different types of crane functions. These functions depend on the way the crane is built as well as the crane’s intended purpose.

To get a better grip on what you need from a crane, let’s look at seven of the primary crane functions and the cranes that provide them. 

1. Crawler Crane

The crawler crane switches out the standard wheels of the other varieties for sturdy tracks. This is to navigate soft and uneven terrain, which is common in many dig sites.

To help increase its adaptive style, some crawler cranes even include a telescopic boom. These help to change the height and angle of the pulley system.

2. Floating Crane

Floating cranes are additions to boats, either built-in or linked next to. This function helps to build and repair oil rigs as well as the occasional ship stranded at sea.

The floating crane is a highly specialized crane. It will often need an extra set of skills and demands to deal with the boat setup. 

3. Rough Terrain Crane

For the more solid terrain, the rough terrain crane has four massive, rubber tires and four-wheel drive. This allows it to move over rocks and debris to get where it needs to. Due to the uneven ground, it often has the most adjustable crane system. 

4. Truck-Mounted Crane

Truck-mounted cranes have the critical advantage of being able to travel on highways and other paved road locations. 

The crane mounts into a bed of a small truck. The truck comes with counterweights and outriggers to help keep a strong stabilization while the crane operates.

5. Bridge Crane

Bridge cranes are one of the fixed cranes. Its name comes from its shape, where it has two massive steel beams supported by structures on either end. 

The crane hoist is in the middle and slides along the beams to reach anything beneath it. This is a common crane for industrial stations with fixed places in the production line. 

6. Bulk-Handling Crane

Instead of changes to the crane set up and support structure, bulk-handling cranes have a big difference at the end of the pulley system. 

Bulk-handling cranes have a large and unique grabbing mechanism that opens wide to cover a large amount of material and clamps shut to move it elsewhere.  

7. Tower Crane

The common crane of the skyscrapers, tower cranes, have an incredible advantage of height. It also provides some power in the lifting department, using an entire hydraulic system to pull items up along its vertical post using its horizontal crane arm.

Due to the height of tower cranes, construction crews build them alongside the buildings they serve. This can mean extra hours of construction and maintenance. 

Getting the Most out of Crane Functions

These seven crane functions will cover most of the essential encounters you may have to deal with on a construction site. 

Once you have the core of what you need out of a crane, it will make buying parts and rentals easier. Contact us today for information about crane parts and services.

5 Key Crane Safety Tips You Should Never Forget

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Approximately 3 million workers were injured or suffered from an illness in the construction industry in 2018. This showcases the importance of following safety procedures.  

Below we’ll review some crane safety tips to help reduce the number of injured employees at worksites. 

1. Inspect the Crane

Before operating a crane, it needs a thorough inspection. Review your safety checklist/card to make sure all safety procedures are followed.

Inspect the components of the crane and cables for any damage (e.g., cracks, worn down parts). If there is damage, you’ll need to get the crane repaired before you can operate it. 

Make sure it’s the right crane for the job. Each type of crane can hold a different amount of weight.

Check the load weight capacity for your lift to make sure it can handle whatever you’re lifting. If you don’t, the crane could tip if you try to pick up too much weight.

Find out when the last time your crane was inspected. If the annual inspection is overdue, don’t operate the crane until it has been done.

2. Familiarize Yourself With the Controls

Once you’ve been adequately trained and certified, it’s essential to know what you’re working with.

After you’ve inspected the crane, you’ll need to test it to make sure all the controls are working. This is especially important if it’s your first time operating a particular crane.

Learn where all the controls are as not every crane keeps the controls in the same location. You should test the controls every day to ensure everything is in working order.

3. Examine the Worksite

Ensure all workers know when and where the crane will be operated. Before you begin working, do a scan of the area to make sure no one is in the area.

Furthermore, you should check the weather conditions. How you operate the crane, or if you can use the crane, will be determined by the weather (e.g., rain, high winds).

Next, you’ll want to inspect the ground. Make sure whatever surface you’re working on can handle the weight of the crane.

Check the soil to make sure your crane won’t sink. If you’re on another surface material (e.g., concrete or asphalt), make sure it won’t break under the weight. Don’t just check the weight of the crane, learn if the surface can handle the force of the outriggers.

Finally, you’ll want to make sure there are no obstructions in the air (e.g., cables/wires). You don’t want anything attaching to the load while you’re working.

4. Don’t Rush

Make sure there is enough time to inspect the equipment, the worksite, and get the job done. Moreover, when operating the crane, don’t make quick movements. You could end up dropping the load all over the place.

Rushing or flying objects can increase the chance of someone getting injured.

5. Be Alert

Always pay attention to the surrounding area and know where everyone is. Be in radio contact with everyone. If you can’t get in contact with people, try using an air horn or hand signals to alert others in the area.

Check with OSHA’s guidelines on how to communicate.

Furthermore, remove all distractions while you work. At no point should you eat or drink (especially alcohol), talk on the phone, smoke, or be under the influence of drugs.

Crane Safety

Now that you know more about crane safety, it’s time to use these tips the next time you work. Spend ample time making sure everything is working correctly. This will create a safer environment that will help keep your workers safe and happy. 

Review our services if your cranes require repairs.