Employees at Power Curbers, which shapes steel into more than 1,000 different parts used in 80 countries, were lifting as much as 10,000 pounds in a single day.

Workers hauled each individual piece of steel from a shelf, hooked it to an overhead crane and carefully balanced it as the steel was brought over to a saw to be cut and used for on-site molding of concrete, commonly used in curbing and sidewalks.

A solution (Southworth Products, 800-743-1000, www.southworthproducts.com) was needed, to save labor and increase safety. A conveyor system, installed at the beginning of the assembly line includes a series of three parallel roller beds—mounted on lift tables—between the plant's three metal saws and 6-foot high storage rack, allowing easy transfer. The new rack holds 197 different lengths of steel, about 20 feet long and weighing between 50 and 1,500 pounds.

The new system eliminated most of the lifting and walking needed previously to bring the steel to the saw. Project engineer Mark Vanhoy estimates a labor savings of 3 hours for every 8-hour shift, 35% overall for the operation.

The roller beds are mounted on lift tables and can hold up to six lengths of steel at a time. Two of the new roller beds can be moved both vertically and horizontally, able to line up in front of specific shelves.

With a streamlined transfer from shelf to saw, just one employee was needed to do the job, in a significantly safer environment. An operator uses a single control panel to move the platform into position in front of the right shelf, grab the required piece and pull it across the rollers to the saw. A system of 18,000 rollers allows a single operator to move even the heaviest pieces.