Chronics

Productivity & Security

The Alltech Group provides solutions tailored to your business needs that: Reinforces security, Improves productivity, Reduce operating costs.

Learn more through our various chronic:

: 16 February 2022

How to avoid or at least limit accidents which implicates forklift and pedestrians?

Forklifts helped improve and facilitate handling tasks. Yet a recent collection of accident statistics indicates that the risks associated with forklift trucks are also very high and that they are the cause of many workplace accidents in several countries.

What behavioural and operational factors can contribute to forklift trucks accidents?

Travelling at excessive speed.
Riding with the load elevated.
Improper backing up techniques.
Improper turning, braking or accelerating.
Improper warnings to others about a forklift in use nearby.
Poor communication during shared tasks, or in shared spaces.
Riding or giving rides on forklift or load.
Parking the forklift improperly.
Improper blocking of wheels on semi-trailers or railway cars.
Horseplay; stunt driving; jerky, erratic driving.
Inadequate servicing of the forklift.

What factors of work organization can contribute to forklift trucks accidents?

Lack of training or improper training of workers who have to operate forklift trucks.
Production factors such as speed or stress.
Lack of proper tools, attachments and accessories.
Improper assignment of forklifts and operators.
Poor maintenance of forklifts.
Age of forklifts.

How can workplace design contribute to forklift trucks accidents?

Narrow aisles.
Crowded, cluttered aisles.
Obstructions at intersections and doors.
Volume of traffic in work area.
Other workplace conditions such as noise, odours, toxic gases, dust, or poor lighting.
Many ramps with different surfaces.
différences de revêtement des rampes d'accès;
Condition of loading dock.

Source: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/safety_haz/forklift/accident.htmll

How to avoid or at least limit accidents which implicates pedestrians?

Separating the forklift zone from the pedestrian zone by making separate aisles one for pedestrians and one for forklifts.
Denying access in the forklift zone.
In any possible mesure, pedestrians must keep a secure distance from the forklift. It is important to make visual contact with the forklift driver thus assuring the driver is aware of your presence in the work zone.
Assure that the work zone is well lit and there are no obstacles that may reduce the driver’s visibility.
Exercise caution around and near blind spots, near entrances and narrow aisles. The driver must apply the horn of the forklift when approaching crossroads.
Wear visible clothing where it’s required.
Set speed limits for forklifts.
Do not walk near forklifts which the forks are lifted neither walk underneath the forks.
Take caution not to obstruct the vision of the forklift driver who is transporting a load.
Avoid operating a forklift where there is an elevated pedestrian zone.

Limit areas of restricted vision

To prevent collisions, a pedestrian detection is necessary. Many types of cameras are recommended in this situation. Simple cameras, radars, ultrasounds or morphological recognition etc. Fo exemple, a pedestrian detection system using a morphological recognition system.

Blue : Field of vision (control screen)

Orange : Danger zone (As soon as a pedestrian enters this area, the driver is warned by an alarm)

Attention, these security systems are tools to assist the vigilance of the driver. The simple fact of installing a system would not eliminate all accidents but would certainly help to diminish some of them. Whatever position we are whether a driver or pedestrian being vigilant is important.

Maximize your vision and security on the work site by installing an industrial camera:

Collision avoidance system for construction equipment

Blaxtair® is an intelligent on-board camera which helps to prevent collisions between construction machinery and pedestrians. Combined with good practice and organizational safety measures, it is the only efficient and reliable answer to meet the safety demands of the construction, road work and mining sectors.

Radar detection system

Collision avoidance system to prevent collisions between machinery and objects / pedestrians. It is mainly used on heavy equipment and commercial vehicles. It provides a visual and audible alert to operators to avoid any potential danger.

Pedestrian detection system (AI Camera)

NBS AI100 Intelligent Pedestrian Detection Camera adopts deep learning technology to detect pedestrians in front of the vehicle, on the side and behind the vehicle in real time, so as to warn drivers of potential risks of collision with pedestrians, and improve the driving safety!

: 25 January 2022

DID YOU KNOW? The Pfreundt scale can be installed on an articulated dump truck?

The right weighing solution for any dumper

With the scales for articulated dumpers, PFREUNDT offers you the perfect weighing solution for almost all types - manufacturer- independent. During loading, the weight is determined by measuring elements on the rear axles for fast and efficient workflows.

Download the brochure:

Overview

Precise weighing results even under extreme conditions during loading
Simple and intuitive operation through touch display
Comprehensive and customizable master and weighing data management
Exact activity recording
Optimum capacity utilisation
Registration of overloads
LED lights signal loading status

Option

pPrinter (tickets)
Thermal printer (paper roll)
PFREUNDT Web portal connection Your weighing data: Accessible. Any time. Anywhere.

Technical specifications

Alltech Group – The strength of a network!

Our after sales service is our strength. Alltech Group has established a distribution network which insures local services in particular regions. With many distributors across eastern Canada, the Alltech Group puts at your disposal a real network allowing you to ensure service no matter where you are located. Our distributors have highly qualified staff which are trained according to our standards enabling them to perform installations and service calls , as much on the construction sites as within your company.

The experience of each distributor generates our strength of our network . Together we formed a team that is at your service!

: 12 January 2022

How to fill a tire with OKO tire Sealant?

The filling is quite easy, it can be done in 2 ways:

With an adjustable, all-alloy OKO Pump which fits the drum and applies pre-measured OKO at up to 8.5fl oz per downward stroke, against up to 60 psi tire pressure. No assembly or lubrication is needed.
With pre-measured pails or full drums that are poured into the open tire well when fitting a new tire.

For more information about OKO:

: 18 January 2022

Adapt your grease according to the temperature, allows you to have an optimal performance

Grease is the key element to your lubrication system.

The type of grease chosen is particularly important to keep the system running and will impact the efficiency. Thick grease can cause several problems when temperatures are very cold.

Pumpability of a more fluid grease (EP-0) compared to thicker grease (EP-2) in winter, will help your system work at lower pressure and will help achieve optimal performance.

Below 0°C, EP-2 grease will be very difficult to pump in an automatic greasing system. For example, even though it is indicated on the EP-2 tube that it is pumpable up to -10°C, the grease will not be able to move in the automatic greasing system because of the internal width of the hoses and distribution valves which create restriction. Therefore, reduce the viscosity of the grease to get the optimal performance you need.

Should you still use a thicker grease in the winter, use a synthetic grease instead of a mineral grease. We recommend EP-1 synthetic grease or EP-0 mineral grease in all areas below 48th parallel, as well as temperatures up to -40°C. After that, you will have to downgrade or use full synthetic or more fluid grease.

Characteristics

After analyzing the working conditions of your automatic greasing system, here are the recommendations concerning the choice of the grease to use.

Mixing different types of grease may damage your system.

Before changing your grease, make sure the new grease is compatible with the current grease.

Procedures to bleed your system

In order to avoid mixing greases, it is strongly advised to bleed your system. The Alltech Group proposes you a grease replacement procedures in order to avoid damaging your system.

Information and Recommendation about greases

To view our online guide to greases:

: 20 December 2021

Ask the right questions in order to have the greasing system that meet your needs.

Understanding the benefits of the automatic lubrication system (PART 2).

The "PART 1", was mainly about the benefits of using a lubrication system. In this second part, we will rather analyze the purchasing process and focus on the essential questions to ask in order to obtain the system that meets you.

Let's start by asking ourselves the question: What is an automatic lubrication system?

The automatic lubrication system generally consists of five main components:

Controller/timer – activates the system.
Pump and reservoir – stores and supplies the lubricant to the system.
Supply line - the line (generally of 3x thickness of polyurethane) in which the lubricant is transferred from the pump to the distribution valves.
Distribution valves - component that measures/distributes the lubricant to the lubrication points.
Supply lines – lines that are linked to the distribution valves to the lubrication points (generally in steel, polyurethane or polyamide).

Operation starts once the controller/timer sends a signal to the pump to start a lubrication cycle. The pump automatically delivers lubricant through the intermediate supply line to the distribution valves which measures and distributes a predetermined amount via a secondary supply line to the lubrication points.

Purchasing a system:

When purchasing a system, make sure to ask the right questions, in order to have the system that meet your needs

The first thing you need to know is that there exists different principals of function in which the automatic lubrication systems are designed. The two most common used on mobile equipment is progressive and parallel.

For a progressive system, a pump delivers grease to the greasing points via progressive distribution valves. The grease flows through a primary distribution valve which redirects towards secondary valves and finally through supply lines towards the lubrication points. The nature of the system is that if a line/a bearing does not take grease, the whole system stops and there are (in a system that is designed properly) a visual indication that there is a problem. This permits the operator to inform the foreman that there is a problem.

For a parallel system, the grease is pumped through single supply line towards many injectors. The injectors operate simultaneously but are independent from one to the other. Each injector serves as a greasing point and can be adjusted to supply the precise quantity of grease or oil. On a parallel system, the only pressure observed is on the main line so if there is a supply line or bearing that is not taking grease, the rest of the system will continue to function normally, but the bearings that do not receive grease will be damaged in the long term if the operator does not resolve the problem.

Once you decided on the type of system you want, here are other questions you could ask:

1. Does the pump consist of a high pressure grease filter for filling?

The filter prevents contaminants to enter the pump that could cause breakdowns, replacements parts and labor costs. This option is not standard – It needs to be requested. This type of filling option is done via the base by a barrel pump.

2. Does the system have a pressure gauge (electric pressure switch)?

A gauge permits the surveillance of the pressure in the system. It is always a standard option.

3. Does the system have a low level sensor?

This device sends a signal to the operator when the reservoir is empty, it also prevents to the pump to send air in the supply lines that can create many problems and a service call. This Is an option and needs to be requested.

4. Are the distribution valves equipped with grease nipples to permit greasing manually in case of an automatic lubrication system breakdown?

The fact of having a grease nipple on every distribution valve permits to easily lubricate manually, the verification of the system in manual and to bleed the system when necessary. When there is a service call on a system not equipped with grease nipples on the distribution valves, the lines have to be disconnected to perform numerous tasks which increases tremendously the labor costs.

On a parallel type of system, the injectors function independently from one another and the pressure is only controlled on the main line which means there is no indication (related to pressure) on each secondary supply line or bearing that does not receive grease, the only visual indication of the level of grease missing to a point is dependent of the operator.

5. Does the system require a special grease?

The system generally used for on road vehicles has a maximum low pressure switch with a pipe/tube of a small diameter and can only push the grease of grade 000 to 0 (honey like consistency).If the temperatures drop to -10C, The ‘’0’’ type grease becomes too difficult to pump and a thinner grease needs to be used. In warmer climates, less thick grease will drain, causing potential damages to the bearings and environmental problems. Systems with higher maximal pressure function’s (Progressive) take type 000 and EP2 grease. In addition some manufacturers require that you use a moly grease to ensure the operation. Others have no restrictions on the make and type of grease, which permits you to use your standard grease and considerably reduces stock and costs.

6. Is the system equipped with reusable fittings and not a pressed hydraulic hose?

This type of fitting permits for a quick repair, wherever the machine is located. It consists of having stock of fittings and hoses on hand in order to repair quickly.

7. Are they compression fittings on the lubrication points?

Many systems during installations use ‘’push-lock’’ fittings. This type of fitting costs less and is commonly used in pneumatic. It does not do the job on hydraulic, in the long term it will leak and will have to be replaced A compression fitting once installed could be good for the entire lifespan of the machine unless it’s damaged or ripped off.

In conclusion

Successful businesses are constantly seeking new solutions and technologies to reduce costs, minimizing down time and maximizing productivity. Could automatic lubrication be a solution?

An automatic lubrication system is an important tool to reduce direct and indirect costs resulting from inadequate lubrication. It is important to understand how it works, the different types of systems available, and which type is the best for your business. When buying an automatic lubrication system, ask the right questions and you will have a tool that will help you maintain your equipment, lower your costs, and increase your productivity for years to come.