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System in Motion is proud to pass on the Hytrol System in Motion Company\’s plan to open a second facility to expand production capacity. Hytrol Conveyor to Establish Second Facility to Expand Production Capacity Today, Hytrol conveyor announced a second facility to open in June 2021. System in Motion is very proud to pass on this announcement to our customers. 10-19-20 –  Hytrol To Establish Second Facility to Focus on Parcel Production.   As we all know, 2020 has been a UNIQUE year (at least we hope so). The entire globe, our country and economy have faced threats and challenges none of us have ever experienced. Hytrol has been blessed and proud to play a key role in providing solutions to keep our country moving forward despite these unprecedented times. We are grateful for our integration partners and their customers for the opportunity to contribute to that effort, which follows several years of strong growth. We are especially thankful to all of the first tier Hytrol Family Members who’ve answered the call to design, build, ship and maintain the Hytrol conveyors that help keep products flowing to companies and doorsteps across this land. As you know, this confluence of increased demand in the midst of a pandemic has not come without problems. Our response has sometimes not met the high standards Tom Loberg laid out for us over 75 years ago. We’ve created uncomfortable strain on many of the relationships that we have worked hard to cultivate over the years. We don’t expect any let-up in demand and recognize we must respond with substantive measures to enhance our abilities. This message provides details regarding a significant step forward in resolving these issues and demonstrating our core value of commitment to everyone in the industry and community who trusts Hytrol. We are excited to announce that we will be setting up a second production facility outside of Jonesboro. We are investing $20M to create this new operation, and we expect to establish 200 full time jobs by the end of the first year of production. Over the last several months, many of our leaders worked diligently with the assistance of outside experts to develop a plan. They conducted an in-depth analysis of capacity constraints, growth projections, potential site locations, equipment needs, staffing requirements, and a timeline for operational effectiveness. That analysis led to the conclusion that a new location was the best option. Our Board of Directors and the Loberg Family have approved this plan, and our team has begun the work of implementation with an anticipated start date of the first part of 2021 with a rapid ramp-up. While we know the “what” and the “when” we haven’t made a final decision on the “where”. We anticipate announcing our final choice before the end of the year. We want to emphasize this new facility is in addition to Jonesboro, which will remain as our headquarters. We love Jonesboro – it’s our home. This is about growth, not shuffling jobs around. Our expectation is that the number of employees in Jonesboro will remain the same or even continue to grow. The focus will be to streamline operations in both locations and give our home facility the ability to leverage its strength in building our standard product. The second facility is being purposely designed for our parcel product line in order to have the capacity to meet the growing demand. Hytrol would like to thank all of our integration partners, customers, suppliers, and community members for the continued support. We are always working on improving our entire business and living out our core values. We believe the addition of this second production facility will greatly enhance Hytrol’s ability to continue providing the best solutions to the material handling industry through the largest network of industry experts. Sincerely, David A. Peacock President Hytrol System in Motion Company, Inc.  

Is your Receiving Area an ongoing issue? Does the thought of staffing a container to be unloaded, sorted, organized and staged for storage keep you up at night? Unloading Solutions Over the last 24+ years we have helped our customers improve their receiving operations.  We started to see trends in some basic common solutions.  Although each actual solution has some individuality, they can basically be broken down into 4 levels based on product, volume, and cost. Contact one of our knowledgeable Sales Engineers to develop a solution specific to your needs.

With all the changing targets and ideas, We have developed our TOP 10 list of specific actions to implement to help return to work safely. As some states start to loosen their “lock down” status in response to the pandemic we find ourselves getting back to work in a much different environment.  We realize we must get back to work to jump start the US economy and provide for our families.  There are a lot of questions in regards to how we get back to work.  Where do we start in regards to allowing us to be productive but still adhere to social distancing requirements?  Here are the top 10 ideas (actually 11) based on our experience in the industry to help you get back to business in this “new norm”.  Each item is a link to a more in-depth blog on each action. Safety and Hygiene Reconfigure your Production lines Workstation Barriers Goods to Person Order Fulfillment Automated Materials Delivery – Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) Automate Repetitive Tasks – Collaborative Robots (Cobots) Manage Operator Pick Paths or Re-slot your SKUs Facility Entry Cage Hands Free Operation Technology Conveyor Rentals  Dividing Shifts to reduce density of workers –  Dividing shifts can be a complex process based on each facilities processes. If this can be done and remain efficient, your process will direct you for the unique steps to take. We can help you implement any of the ideas above to get your operation back up and running!  System in Motion, Inc. is dedicated to making our customers successful.  We do this by building our team around our core values: Integrity Optimistic and Growth Oriented “Make It Happen” Passionate and Enthusiastic “Own It” Creative Problem Solver Systems in Motion Purpose: “Building Relationships One Solution At A Time”

Using a few simple components, you can easily reconfigure your production layout to help keep workers at a safe distance 2. Reconfigure your production layout Using flexible extendable conveyors allows you to quickly and efficiently rearrange your production floor to spread out operators and allow for social distancing.  This style of conveyor is relatively inexpensive and can be redeployed for other uses at a later time.   In stock materials are available at TheFlexibleConveyor.com. Another option is to distance operators on production lines you already have in place by lengthening or reconfiguring your existing conveyors and/or workstations.

Keeping operators at safe distances is not always easy. Using barriers will help improve the ability to keep workers safe. #3 Workstation Barriers If rearranging your layout is not a good option, see-through barriers can be added to your work area to help isolate operators from each other.  Several different styles of barriers exist from ones that mount to conveyors or workstations as well as portable panels that can be deployed throughout the plant.  Wirecrafters has a product developed for this specific application. Portable Panels Link  

Renting conveyors for a short term fix   10. Conveyor Rentals – temporary reconfiguration of production line What if you have a new temporary production line you would like to add – have you considered renting conveyors on a month to month basis?  Sometimes simple portable belt conveyors can allow you to quickly set up a new operation.  The beauty is that if business conditions change you can return the conveyors when you are done with them!   View your options at SysteminMotion.com or contact us to request the list of equipment in our fleet.

Interesting in reducing the handling of material in your supply chain? 9. Hands Free OperationsAre there manual processes in your operation that could be automated to take the “personal touch” out of the equation? Manually applying labels?  Consider adding automatic label applicators PANDA is an acronym for Print and Apply. Print and applying labels by using automated equipment will reduce at least one touch point for your operators. As your company starts to get back to work, reducing the touches on product in your facility helps in many ways. The reduced contact helps your employees stay safe and healthy as well as reducing the risk of spreading any contagious virus to your customers. KVK Inc. has multiple years of successful applications of PANDA to manufacturing, Distribution, and Fulfillment operations. KVKnet.com Vacuum lifters – machine touches the product, not human hands so less contamination Schmalz is a leader in the use of vacuum to reduce the ergonomic need to touch the product.  Multiple products offer simple one-hand operations with one-finger/two-finger controls for right or left hand operators. Automated bar code scanners vs. hand operated scanners Although bar code scanners are not new, the use of these robust devices allows operators to effectively work with less touches of packages or totes during the pick process. Contact us today to review how we can add touch-less Print and Apply label systems. Vacuum lifters, or Scanners to your process.

By actively managing the pick path of the operators you can limit the contact and effectively promote social distancing. #7 Manage operator pick paths and/or reslotting Here are some ideas to reconfigure your order picking area to promote social distancing: Spread out High volume SKUs over greater area to maximize distancing and minimizing pick path cross over Provide MULTIPLE slot locations for high volume SKUs ZONE Picking / Pick -n- Pass Use Technology to rethink Pick Paths to improve and control operator distancing Add Pickup & Delivery (P&D) stations to REDUCE employee interaction Use software to control how orders are initiated.

Securing your facility is important to eliminate untested visitors. Common uses are for Trucker waiting areas or Visitor entrances. Do you have entrances where visitors can gain unsupervised access to your facility?  Installing a building access cage is an inexpensive way to add another level of security.  If the visitor is scheduled to be there this would be a great place to have the questionnaire and thermal temperature reading taken, along with a sanitation station prior to entering your building.Wirecrafters offers a wide range of products for this application.  www.wirecrafters.com