Finding new solutions to old ergonomic problems in material handling jobs is a mission for this manufacturer. Read about some of their innovative products.
Customers rely on Knight Global for products that reduce ergonomic risk in their facilities. Knight Global designs ergonomic systems for manufacturing facilities. The Auburn Hills, Michigan, company opened in 1984 as a specialty shop solving manufacturing problems for automotive businesses.
Today, 150 employees produce turnkey material handling solutions for the automotive, aviation, military, food and beverage, construction, and entertainment industries. Customers include Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Procter and Gamble, Caterpillar, Johnson Controls, and General Electric.
Among their ergonomically friendly solutions are rechargeable electric smart carts that allow workers to easily pick up and transport parts. The carts are about 3 by 4 feet and fit easily through doorways. They are outfitted with a mast and a movable chain/arm for picking up parts. A built-in hoist powers the mechanism up and down.
The company also offers tables that lift, tilt, and rotate. They are powered by pneumatic airbags, which fill with air, raising or lowering the table to a comfortable height. Knight customizes the tops of lift tables with specialized equipment as required by the customer.
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Unique Solutions
As a custom design/build shop, Knight delivers unique solutions. One manufacturer was seeking a way to lift a hot, 150-pound part off a cart and place it into a press machine. In the past, two or three workers would pick up the part and manipulate it by hand into position.
Knight developed an alternative based on an inflatable ring, similar to a fire hose. When energized, the hose fills with air and grabs the part, rotating it and placing it into the cart.
Another customer was manufacturing bonded rubber track used on bulldozers and excavators. Pieces from 8 to 18 feet in length and weighing up to 1,600 pounds had to be moved from a press machine onto the ground or a pallet. Operators would wrangle the heavy pieces out of the mold with crowbars and straps.
Knight developed a system that mechanically pries the material out of the press machine, spears it through the inside with a fork, and removes it from the mold.
Many of the custom solutions are part of large, plantwide systems that use Knight Technologies, including carts, overhead rail, and lift assists.
Director of operations Marc Maszara says that every solution is an individualized response to the ergonomic needs of that workplace.
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