Six Telltale Signs You Need To Upgrade Your Storage

Six Telltale Signs That It’s Time To Upgrade Your Storage

disorganized open storage shelvesWhether you operate a large industrial manufacturing facility, or a small power equipment repair shop, your company can face similar challenges related to inefficient tool and parts storage. If your business is suffering from any of the following issues, it may signal a need for upgrades to your storage solutions.

  1. Frequently misplaced and/or damaged tools
  2. Increased incidences of work place accidents
  3. Sub-par productivity
  4. Lengthy work cycles or service turnaround
  5. Poor customer satisfaction ratings
  6. Declining sales

The Ripple Effect of Disorganization

Like the impact of a rock dropped into calm waters, when a work space becomes disorganized, the effects within a business ripple and multiply. A poorly organized work space can lead to serious problems including safety issues, diminished productivity, and ultimately decreased profitability. Inefficient work space design and storage are often identified as the culprits in these cases. More specifically, the use of open shelving as a storage solution is often a major contributing factor for the disorganization.

On the surface, open shelving would appear to provide greater access to tools, parts and accessories. In reality, open shelving leads to higher incidences of parts and equipment being improperly stored, damaged, or stolen. Regardless of the reason, when the necessary parts and equipment cannot be utilized, productivity and turnaround are negatively impacted. The good news is that solutions to these problems are fairly easy to implement, and the return on investment can be significant.

Benefits of Better Organization

Lista Storage WallTo attain long-term efficiency, the proper storage solutions are necessary. Replacing open shelving with high density storage systems is beneficial on a number of levels. Proper storage will:

  • Improve the accessibility of large and small parts and equipment
  • Reduce the overall storage footprint by up to 50%
  • Increase security and inventory control
  • Eliminate surprise stock-outs

Achieve Optimal Organization by Investing in Better Storage

In summary, equipping facilities with the proper high-density storage solutions for tools and equipment will provide a positive return on investment by reducing expenses, improving productivity, and ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience.

Have questions or need a quote? Contact Kurt Hague at (215) 661-0505 or email him directly.

6 Lista Solutions for Optimal Medical Manufacturing

Lista Arlink 8000According to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), “medical manufacturing is a growing industry in major segments such as orthopedic devices and instrumentation, implantable devices, and medical instruments.” SME also reports medical device manufacturing continues to outperform the economy due to innovation and regulation.

If you work in the medical manufacturing industry, you know the importance of having the right medical assembly solutions in place to drive maximum efficiency. The following 6 Lista solutions can greatly enhance the efficiency of your medical manufacturing facility:

  1. Arlink® 8000 Workstations
    Due to their ability to be easily reconfigured, modular Arlink 8000 industrial workstations allow you to accommodate your varied workstation needs (assembly, test and repair, laboratories, etc.) now and in the future.
  2. ESD Workstations
    To provide a static safe environment for the control of static electricity, Lista offers specialty workstations for your workers who handle ESD sensitive components. Lista also offers static-safe accessories such as wrist straps and chords, and grounding blocks.
  3. Workstations with Dust Collection
    Lista’s technician workstations, which come with a downraft dust collection option, not only provide your workers with ergonomic, comfortable work environments but can also help to boost productivity and morale.
  4. Clean Room-Safe Workstations
    The Arlink 8000 workstations have been certified for use in a CLASS 10,000 clean room per the USA Federal Standard 209E and CLASS 7 per ISO 14644 International Clean Room Standard.
  5. Tool Storage Cabinets
    One of the biggest benefits of Lista’s CNC tool storage cabinets is they can be arranged and equipped to suit your manufacturing facility’s specific needs. In addition to different combinations of drawers and pull-out trays, cabinets also feature butcher block or retainer tops to serve as a functional worksurface.
  6. Tool Transporters
    Lista tool holders and trays can be safely and easily transferred from drawers to transporters, allowing immediate access to tools at any time and from any location.

The above medical manufacturing solutions can help you drive efficiency and productivity increases across every facet of the organization.

Article source: http://www.listaintl.com/resource-center/news-and-events/press-releases/features-release

Engineered Tool Sales — A Proud Member of MANA

migs_logoWe recently received our certificate of MANA membership. MANA stands for Manufactures Agents National Association. This non-profit trade association helps member businesses network and stay abreast of the latest industry trends. In addition to helping manufacturers connect with representatives, MANA also provides educational resources, marketing tools, legal counseling and more. Most importantly, all MANA members agree to subscribe to a Code of Ethics. In short, MANA membership is a strong indicator to manufacturers, sales agents, as well as their clients, that the member company is a professionally run organization that adheres to industry best practices.

Engineered Tool Sales has been a MANA member in good standing for 37 years. We are proud to be a member of this group and look forward to many more years of contributing to the MANA community.

Engineered Tool Sales Now Offering Stanley Vidmar Cabinets

Stanley Vidmar CabinetsEngineered Tool Sales announced today that they are now an official distributor of Stanley Vidmar high density cabinets. According to Kurt Hague, owner of Engineered Tool Sales, he is excited to be representing their brand: “The Stanley Vidmar brand is synonymous with quality and we are very pleased to be representing their product line.”

Hague further shared that adding Stanley Vidmar to their stable of products was a strategic move. “These products compliment our existing menu of cabinets by adding a wide array of vertical storage solutions. Having Stanley Vidmar in our product mix makes us better equipped than ever to meet the needs of our clients.”

Follow this link for more information on Stanley Vidmar high density industrial cabinets, or contact Kurt Hague directly at (215) 661-0505.

How Lean Manufacturing Can Improve Quality, Eliminate Waste, and Speed Delivery

Lista is at the forefront of lean manufacturing initiatives, which help to eliminate waste, improve efficiency, and create the highest-quality products available. Our value stream mapping process allows us to create a current state and future state, using industry best practices to streamline manufacturing so that our customers receive their workspace solutions in an efficient, effective and timely manner.

For a closer look at how Lista helps businesses implement the 5S system by maximizing the available space and improving the overall organization of their facilities, we sat down with Peter Lariviere, former President of Lista International North America. The following video provides Peter’s perspective on Lista’s adoption of lean manufacturing concepts and strategies:

Here are a few of the video’s key takeaways:

  • In order to stay competitive in today’s marketplace, a company must understand its customers’ wants and needs and design processes to meet those expectations
  • Lista’s lean manufacturing tool kit starts with a value stream mapping process, which can be used in the 5S process to analyze the material, process, and information flow (i.e., determine how things have been done in the past vs. opportunities for workplace organization and housekeeping improvements)
  • Lean manufacturing is designed and developed with the intent of work space efficiency and effectiveness

Eliminating waste and improving efficiency for our customers is always a priority for Lista. Has your company explored the many benefits (i.e., reducing part retrieval and error times, improving safety, lowering manufacturing costs) of lean manufacturing and 5S workplace organization methodology?

Lista Shelving Systems

Lista-shelvingShelf storage walls are suitable for every industry as well as for every workplace and ensure optimum use of space and smooth handling. They can be individually configured thanks to various shelving depths, unit widths and shelving heights. LISTA shelf storage walls meet every requirement with shelves in various designs, dividers, shelf dividers, drawer inserts and doors.

Lista Pharmaceutical Solutions

Lista-PharmaceuticalWhether it is for the small-scale pharmacist outlet, the large-scale centralised pharmacy unit, the general practitioner or hospitals, LISTA has suitable products. Different medicines need different types of accessibility. For this purpose LISTA supplies all systems from a single source. Different locking systems, such as the code lock, fingerprint or password, can be used for each access control system in different product fields. This provides protection against unauthorised access and fulfils the statutory safeguard and removal controls for sensitive drugs.