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Production speed is an important part of many industries’ ability to turn a profit. You may already know that the equipment you choose to use can have a huge impact on that productivity, as well. Believe it or not, choosing the wrong casters can significantly hurt your productivity in more ways than one. Here are some ways in which switching them out for the right ones can significantly boost your output.
Caster maintenance is just a part of life for many companies, but it doesn’t have to be. Many of today’s best casters are constructed in state-of-the-art facilities using today’s most innovative technologies, including precision-sealed bearings that require no real maintenance. Though standard inspections are still required to ensure that casters are in good shape for operation, companies can save countless hours when they no longer have to disassemble, lubricate, and reassemble caster wheels. What’s more, because there’s less maintenance, fewer carts are out of commission, which means production can keep moving right along.
If you choose the wrong caster for the application – a caster that is too light-duty for the load, casters that are not designed to withstand their environments, and casters that cannot withstand side or impact loading, for example – this can cause a failure. Caster failures are more than just time-consuming, too; they are also dangerous. If someone happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the caster fails, this will result in a potentially serious injury and slow production even further. By choosing the right caster in the first place, you can reduce failure risk and keep your production line running smoothly.
If you need to move heavy loads frequently in your industry, then there’s a good chance that some of those loads require multiple operators for safety’s sake. It may be worth considering replacing typical heavy-duty casters with drive casters, instead. A cart that may take three or four operators to safely move with a traditional caster may only require one or two with the drive caster, and this helps to ensure that everyone uses his or her time as wisely as possible. Though a drive caster system can be an investment, this is quickly recouped through enhanced productivity.
Of all the risks associated with using the wrong caster wheel in your industry, the risk of injury is the most concerning. Injuries in the workplace hurt productivity in numerous ways. Not only can injured employees not work until they have healed, but regular injuries can also hurt employee morale, which also affects productivity. By switching to casters designed to reduce push force and noise, for example, you reduce injury risks substantially, thus reducing injuries, boosting morale, and enhancing overall productivity.
Production is a key performance indicator in most industries, so if yours is suffering, there are many things you can do to find the reasons why. Don’t forget to consider the casters you are using because they are often a bigger part of the equation than many companies truly believe.
