St. Onge Company’s Bryan Jensen was quoted in a recent Modern Materials Handling article about exoskeleton technology. The article details the present capabilities of exoskeletons, and how to determine if they’re right for your facility. Bryan discussed what factors to analyze when weighing the pros and cons of using exoskeletons.
Right now, exoskeleton adoption remains in its early stages, says Bryan Jensen, chairperson and executive vice president at consultant firm St. Onge Company. “Exoskeletons are doing some great work,” he says, “and adoption of passive suits is moderately prevalent.”
Still, the United States remains behind its European counterparts in getting on board with the devices. “Exoskeletons are not being embraced as they could be here,” Jensen says. “In Europe, the governments are more protective of their employees, so they’re ahead of the curve.”
To determine if exoskeletons are right for your operations, Jensen recommends considering the cost of a back injury versus your investment in an exoskeleton.
“If you’re avoiding three to four back injuries, you’re paying back that investment,” he says. “But doing a comparative analysis can be hard, because it’s conditional. How do you know if you’ve avoided a back injury?”
Jensen adds that in many warehouses, companies still haven’t embraced a $50 back belt, so getting buy in for a far more expensive exoskeleton—often in the tens of thousands of dollars—can sometimes be a hard sell.
Click here to read the full article on the Modern Materials Handling site!
