Renken offered another example of a customer who needed to move large, bulky items from a parts room to a mezzanine. A new platform lift designed for the safe transport of both materials and humans enabled the worker to ride with the load, instead of sending it up, walking up stairs, meeting the load, and walking back down. “They now move product in half the time with half the effort,” Renken says.

In years past, the required effort was often neglected, says James Galante, director of business development for Southworth. In the case of lift-mounted turntables, it’s now ideal for the turntables to spin with friction less than 1% of the load, so a 4,000-pound pallet should require the worker to exert about 40 pounds of pressure. “It wasn’t until about five years ago that anybody even cared what the turning force was,” Galante says. “Now, turntables are much more popular. Twenty years ago, maybe 10% of our lifts were fitted with turntables. Now it’s three times that.” Whether lift- or floor-mounted, turntables can also cut the time spent walking around a pallet by as much as 30%, he says.

In a workstation with fixed heights, it’s important to take the size of individual items into account. “I often see conveyor heights designed for only the smallest or largest carton size,” says Schaefer’s Halket. “If the conveyor top is at 32 inches and you have a 6-inch carton, it’s now 38 inches to the top of the carton. If it’s a 20-inch carton, now you’re at 52 inches. The design should be a compromise somewhere in the middle.”

In a goods-to-person setup—where minimal walking already provides an ergonomic benefit—software could take this one step further. “If an associate always seems to be picking from the center and putting to the left,” says Halket, “you can design the system so that products are staggered from left to right, preventing the associate from wearing down one side of his body.”

By ensuring that all associates who use a station will enjoy the same levels of comfort, Halket says it’s possible to see productivity improve by as much as 15% to 20%.

Well-equipped for ergonomics
From lifts to overhead handling equipment to lift trucks, a transition from pneumatic to electric systems is a key trend in improving performance, safety and comfort. Even simple scissor lifts for palletizing and depalletizing can communicate with the conveyor, anticipating the dimensions of coming items or automatically indexing by layer. “An operator might simply press a button once to lower the lift by a fixed amount, instead of using a foot pedal to guess the ideal height,” says Coleman. “Integration with software and controls will only continue to grow.”

Intuitive controls are also migrating away from fixed stations to make workers more mobile. In addition to improving comfort, tablets and wearable systems can provide more information for order fillers or managers about the status of the work. Intelligrated’s Reese says these technologies will also help attract and retain a younger generation of employees who are more accustomed to multitasking. “They’re used to dealing with more input and output. It keeps them productive and keeps them intrigued day in and day out.”

New employees will also have little trouble acclimating to a new generation of lift trucks, which takes cues from automobiles for things as simple as the placement of turn signals, headlight switches and brake pedals.

“There’s been a pretty major change and advance in lift truck ergonomics over the last 10 years,” says Niels Ostergaard, sales, product, parts and customer support and solutions representative training manager for Toyota Material Handling USA. “I attribute it to businesses beginning to recognize that the operator compartment is their office. That’s where they conduct their business. Ergonomics is important both for productivity and a happier, more content associate. I’m convinced that it does reduce turnover.”

The goal is to keep an operator as comfortable and productive at the end of the shift as he or she was at the beginning, according to J.B. Mayes, manager of product management for counterbalanced products for Yale Materials Handling Corp. In a lift truck, this is no small task. Much like a cross-country flight, simply sitting in a forklift all day can be exhausting. And that’s assuming the operator is sitting the whole time. Some applications require the operator to mount and dismount the lift truck 40 or 50 times in a shift.

“It may seem minor, just entering the cabin, but in years past there was a huge step and you had to pull yourself up with your upper body,” Ostergaard says. “Now the steps and hand grips provide a much more natural movement.”

Once inside, the operator of a newer lift truck can expect a highly adjustable office space. Seats, available in eight or nine combinations of cushion type, seat covers, and swivel capabilities, might shift front to back by 6 inches. Mini-lever, fly-by-wire controls have often replaced direct linkages from the operator’s hand to the hydraulic valve, minimizing the effort required. In the near future, says Mayes, an access card might automatically load an operator’s preferred settings for the seat and steering column.

Mayes says ergonomics is all about a detailed understanding of the application. “If they’re reversing a lot, add the swivel seat and rear grip with horn,” he says. “If they are lifting above 30 feet, use a fork-mounted laser or camera to help them put and pull loads without craning their necks.”
Mayes also encourages plenty of operator input in the equipment selection process. “Some customers put a very high value on operator input, all the way to veto power,” he says. “They realize operators are not numbers, but people who help me do business.”

Whether evaluating lift trucks or any other equipment, Cynergy’s Shannahan stresses the importance of operator involvement from day one. “These people have great ideas. They are a fantastic asset and resource,” he says. “And the success rate is off the charts when they are involved.”