The material handling industry standard for discerning the wear on a forklift fork is to measure the fork with a caliper, then calculate the wear levels. It’s a cumbersome process that leaves room for error and negligence.

Terry Melvin, CEO of OE Attachments, said the company saw an opportunity for innovation. When Arrow Acquisition LLC, based in Lenexa, bought OE Attachments in 2012, Melvin said Arrow focused on improving the processes of building equipment like forklifts and tractors.

Along that thinking, OE Attachments sought to create what Melvin called an “interesting, quick and easy way to identify fork wear.”

Those efforts paid off in June with the release of The Fork Wear Indicator.

The Indicator is a stamp on the bottom of the fork, which corresponds with the wear levels of the attachment. A reference sticker identifies the wear zones: green means safe, yellow means caution and red means the fork must be replaced.

“With a quick look, you can know that you’re in the safe zone or in the danger zone,” Melvin said.

Fork wear, as it relates to the overall use of forklifts, is a substantial safety issue. According to OSHA data, there are about 35,000 reported serious forklift injuries each year, mostly caused by untrained operators or unchecked equipment. OSHA recommends forklift forks should be replaced after 10 percent of wear. At that rate, the fork capacity diminishes by 20 percent, meaning the forklift cannot safely hold the maximum weight of an object as it would with fresh fork attachments.

Melvin said the Indicator is only on forks built by OE Attachments, which sells products and applications in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) marketplace. However, he is hopeful to have the Indicator on other forks built by the other Arrow subsidiaries.

Industry response to the Indicator has been positive. Melvin displayed the Indicator at the Modex trade show in Atlanta in April, and others in the industry were “unbelievably accepting at how simple, easy and elegant it is.”

“Based on our initial interest, we are confident the Fork Wear Indicator will become a standard in the material handling industry,” Melvin said.

OE Attachments is a separate business unit of Arrow Acquisition LLC, an umbrella company for companies that handle material handling products and applications like forklifts, skid steers and construction equipment. A group of private equity firms, including several Kansas City-based firms, purchased Arrow in 2013.