Ergonomics has become a staple in most industries, and it’s an essential consideration for those that involve a lot of manual labor, such as manufacturing and logistics. Ergonomics impacts both the safety and the efficiency of workers, and without it, your workforce is a lot more likely to suffer from injuries that reduce productivity and cut into your bottom line.

From workers’ comp payouts to increased insurance premiums, it does not pay to ignore the health and safety of your workers. Ergonomics ensures that each employee is in the best possible position to do their job without injuries from repetitive tasks and heavy lifting that aggravate the body and eventually lead to muscle strains and other injuries.

How We Use Ergonomics at American Manufacturing

At American Manufacturing, we practice what we preach! Through riser stands and tilt tables, we make loading and unloading parts ergonomics-friendly for our welders and other workers by keeping parts off the floor and within easy reach. These simple ergonomic adjustments are effective for reducing the repetitive strain of bending down and lifting parts. Even if the parts themselves aren’t particularly heavy, this constant motion can put strain on the back and other parts of the body over time and lead to injuries.

Another way we incorporate ergonomics is through the many automations we use. From cobots to bending cells, each automation we implement reduces repetitive strain and takes the burden of heavy lifting off our workers and puts it on the shoulders of robots and automated systems.

How We Help Our Customers with Ergonomic Systems

Everything we make at American Manufacturing is built with the specific customer and their plant’s ergonomic limits in mind. We work closely with the safety team of each client to ensure we provide the best custom ergonomic solutions to increase efficiency and safety in the workplace. This may involve fully custom builds, standardized industrial ergonomic equipment, or a combination of both.

Reducing Physical Force and Strain

In labor-intensive environments like manufacturing plants and warehouses, ergonomics needs to happen on a large scale through the everyday tools that help accomplish tasks. For example, we have a large inventory of ergonomic carts and dollies designed with different casters to minimize push-pull force on the operator. This makes our carts and dollies easier to push, pull, and maneuver around without unnecessary strain. We also have container stands, tilt tables, and custom adjustable stands that help operators to set bins at different heights that will be more comfortable for them.

Ergonomics for Humans AND Robots

Ergonomics extends beyond the human element. With the introduction of so many robots and robotic cells into manufacturing processes, any ergonomic adjustment needs to account for the needs of both humans and machines. For many of our customers, their bins and containers will eventually go into a robotic cell, where an automated robot will pick and pull items from the bin to move them along through the manufacturing process. These same parts will often be loaded into the bin by a human, so the ergonomics need to work for both.

Incorporating Ergonomics in the Process

Ignoring the value of ergonomics can be a costly and unsafe decision. The healthier your employees, the less likely you are to have unexpected injuries or even simple things like a sore back or wrist slowing their productivity. As an owner or operator of a manufacturing business, the best thing you can do is work closely with your industrial equipment provider from the start to take a look at your processes start to finish and incorporate the right ergonomics rather than plugging in a random piece of equipment that isn’t designed specifically for your needs.

If you’re in the market for a trustworthy manufacturing partner to build you ergonomic equipment, contact us at American Manufacturing to get started!