Yoder Lumber Improves Forklift Efficiency, Cuts Costs with LRS Butler XP and Forklift Staff Pagers

ADDISON, Texas, Jan. 23, 2017 -- Founded more than 70 years ago, Yoder Lumber is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturer of top-quality Appalachian hardwood products. Yoder Lumber began using the Long Range Systems Forklift Staff pagers and Butler XP pagers in 2015 in their Hardwood Components plant. According to Tony Yoder, Chief Production & Technology Officer at Yoder Lumber, the paging system saves employees 1-2 minutes per forklift call, which comes to an extra 15 minutes of production per day, saving roughly 3 percent more production time.

“An issue that kept coming up in our Hardwood Components plant was the wait time on forklifts to move material in and out of machines,” said Yoder. “We were originally using radios to call on forklift drivers, but they just weren’t the right solution for that task. The radios created excess chatter on the floor and sometimes drivers couldn’t hear the call.

“We decided to explore a paging system, and when we searched online LRS was the first to appear,” said Yoder. “The products were a natural fit.” Yoder Lumber installed the Butler XP, which when pressed, activates the Forklift Staff pager for a specific driver, delivering them with customized directions. “Now, instead of searching for a radio and flagging forklift drivers down, our plant employees can just push a button and the forklift arrives within seconds.”

Not only did the Forklift pagers improve communications, they also helped Yoder Lumber save costs. “With radios floating around the plant, we found that they had more of a tendency to get lost or damaged,” said Yoder. “We rely on radios in other areas of our business, but in this case the Forklift and Butler XP have more durability and save us the cost of replacing radios.

“In addition, by installing the pagers we’ve actually created more standardization in the way we do things at the plant,” said Yoder. “The pagers are affixed to specific work centers, so our employees have ended up keeping materials in the same place and it has helped us to develop lanes for our floor plan. Standardizing traffic is always a good thing for safety.”

Leadership at Yoder Lumber view LRS pagers as a part of their ongoing mission to refine and optimize plant processes.

About Long Range Systems, LLC
Since 1995, Long Range Systems has been dedicated to developing technologies that help service-based businesses provide a better customer experience. Businesses need simple solutions that streamline communications between guests and staff. From messaging devices to guest management applications, LRS provides a better means for managing customer flow.

About Yoder Lumber
Founded more than 70 years ago, Yoder Lumber is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturer of top-quality Appalachian hardwood products. Products are made in Yoder Lumber’s Ohio and West Virginia facilities and then distributed to warehouses, factories and stores nationwide and internationally. Discover why so many hardwood buyers and landowners trust Yoder Lumber.

Media Contact:

Christen Lazarcheck
Marketing Manager
Long Range Systems, LLC
[email protected] 
914.500.3187