Manufacturer of Heating Equipment Finds Success with CC Apex HD

In over thirty years of helping tens of thousands of clients, we've founds some really bad casters in the facilities of some amazing companies. This happens for a variety of reasons. For example, certain casters were spec'd into specific design and were never changed or companies have simply used a given caster for years and have stuck with one company that sells really bad commodity casters. Either way, a company realizes that their company isn't completely knowledgeable about the many caster options out there, so they decide to work with us. This is what happened with LB White, a global manufacturer of heating equipment.

MAJOR CASTER PROBLEM

Before most companies decide to work with us, there are specific issues that companies encounter. In many instances, we discover more solutions as we walk through their facility with them. In LB Whites' case they have a few specific problems they needed to solve.

To begin with, their carts were very difficult to push, so they were looking to greatly reduce ergonomic push/pull. This was having some negative effects on their facility. They were concerned for the health of their employees, and the poor ergonomic casters were greatly slowing down production around the entire facility.

COMPOUNDING PROBLEMS

The solution was not straight forward however. As is the case in almost every situation, facilities have multiple problems, so they need casters that will solve all of their issues. Otherwise you may create new problems trying to solve an original issue.

For example, their flooring was concrete that was chewed up a bit in places. That means that the caster that we chose needed to have the ability to glide over obstacles and rough, jagged concrete. This type of caster will also be excellent with debris.

We also had to increase the weight capacity of the caster and choose the proper fork for the wheel. This had two effects: it gave them the advantages of moving more weight and improved caster ergonomics even more both on the initial push and while moving in general.

SOLUTION

To decrease push/pull force, we have many different casters. In general, the harder and larger the wheel, the better the caster wheel is for ergonomic performance. However, in this case, we also needed to have a caster that would withstand substantial weight loads and navigate over irregular floors and obstacles.

The perfect caster for LB White was the CC Apex HD. This had a donut tread for excellent maneuverability and easy navigation over irregular flooring surfaces. The caster wheel is also quite large and has a substantial amount of polyurethane, which also contributes to these navigation properties. The large diameter contributes to the high weight capacity, but the polyurethane is not as hard as other materials like nylon. In order to increase the caster wheel’s ergonomic performance, the caster must have excellent rebound resilience, which causes the wheel to spring off of the ground when pushed. The CC Apex HD worked perfectly for their unique environment and priorities.

RESULTS

As with all companies we work with, we make sure that the casters will work in the facility, and most of our clients try out some trial pairs of casters to guarantee that the casters have better push/pull and that they will work throughout their operations.

LB White is now replacing all of their casters to the CC Apex line. This is having the exact effect on their company that they desired. Their employees are protected, and therefore they want to continue to work and perform for LB White. Their production speed and efficiency has improved because of the increase ergonomic capabilities and increased weight capacity. Their casters are lasting longer because they are able to navigate over uneven flooring and resist debris. The CC Apex HD is the perfect caster for their facility, and we continue to work with them so that any future changes to their facility will be matched with the appropriate casters.