Material Handling Management articles from August 2007

Material Handling Management archives from August 2007

Working with "temps" is not a temporary job: while many warehouse and DC managers think of temporary employees ("temps") as an afterthought, assuming that the full responsibility for their selection and performance rests with the local temp agency, managers who reap the best results are ones who devote a great deal of time to selecting and managing temporary workers.(Labor Management)
August 1, 2007... If you visit some warehouses and DCs around the country early in the morning, you may see prison busses pulling up and unloading convicts, who enter the warehouses and spend the next eight hours working inside, being picked up at the end of the...

Project management: hire a temporary asset: working with a project manager is similar to handing your child off to a school teacher. You must trust your instincts and believe the teacher has greater knowledge.(Leadership)(Cover story)
August 1, 2007... When you're responsible for distributing dreams--hundreds of thousands of dreams--you want to be sure you do it right. That's the day-to-day business of David's Bridal. This national retailer of virtually everything to do with weddings (You add...

Going beyond sustainable packaging.(Transport Packaging)
August 1, 2007... Sustainable packaging is on the minds of a lot of people. Recently, a call came pouring in from a reader vexed with having to create a report for her boss. What could her company do to create more sustainable packaging? I think her words were...

The challenge of finding new talent.(Guest Column)
August 1, 2007... Success is a double-edged sword. On the one side, business is good. Profits are up. So, what do you do to grow your business to the next step? For the solution providers of material handling equipment, their sales and engineering teams are...

Phone sales (it's not what you think).(Data Intelligence)
August 1, 2007... It may seem like a giant leap backwards to be talking about phone sales when we have all the modern tools of XML, browser-based applications and Internet connectivity. But, in fact, the use of all these modern tools is exactly what I'm going to...

New program promotes industry. Advocating the material handling industry by conveying its strategic value to students is MHEDA's goal.(Industry Excellence)
August 1, 2007... The Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA, www.mheda.org) is in the process of launching an effort to bridge the gap between academia and industry. It's called the Gateway Program and it's designed, as the name implies, to...

Got rollers?(Industry News)(City Museum)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The City Museum in St. Louis (www.citymuseum. org), located in the 600,000-square-foot former International Shoe Co., is an eclectic mixture of children's playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique,...

Not for bean counters only.(Industry News)
August 1, 2007... This news is from the United Soybean Board on projects you might have missed. The first soy foam seats for use in an automotive application have been developed as a result of collaboration between Ford Motor Co. and Lear Corp. with initial...

Quick poll results for July.(Industry News)(survey on temporary employees)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... In July, at our Web site, www.mhmonline.com, we asked how companies find temporary employees. More than half (62%) of the respondents said they use private employment agencies. The next largest group (26%) use their company's human resources...

All mouth, no ears.(Industry News)(survey on presidential candidates are not addressing workplace issues)
August 1, 2007... Are politicians so busy talking they are not listening? A new national survey has found that 38% of U.S. workers feel that presidential candidates are not addressing workplace issues, including healthcare, retirement and pay. Another 23% of...

Stage Stores builds third distribution center.(Industry News)
August 1, 2007... Stage Stores Inc. (Houston) has selected Jeffersonville, Ohio, as the site for its third distribution center. The company said it will lease approximately 200,000 square feet and expects to invest more than $12 million on machinery and...

Manufacturers lower revenue projections.(Industry News)
August 1, 2007... PricewaterhouseCoopers' (New York) Manufacturing Barometer reports that U.S. industrial manufacturers lowered their average revenue growth projections for the next 12 months from 6.8% (as reported in Q1 of 2007) to 5.7%, a 16% reduction....

Material handling equipment to cross $113.5 billion by 2010.(Industry News)
August 1, 2007... Global material handling equipment market is projected to reach US$113.5 billion in sales by 2010, according to the report, "Material Handling Equipment: A Global Strategic Business Report," published by Global Industry Analysts Inc. (San Jose,...

Robot sales jump 39%.(Industry News)
August 1, 2007... New orders received by North American-based robotics companies rose 39% in the first half of 2007, according to new statistics from the Robotic Industries Association (RIA, Ann Arbor, Mich.), the industry's trade group. A total of 9,208...

Center for education opens.(Vendor News)
August 1, 2007... FKI Logistex (St. Louis, www.fkilogistex.com), a provider of integrated material handling solutions, has opened its multi-million-dollar FKI Logistex Technology & Education Center (TEC) in Cincinnati. The 31,000-square-foot training and...

Ingersoll-Rand sells Bobcat business units.(Vendor News)
August 1, 2007... Ingersoll-Rand Co. Limited (Hamilton, Bermuda) announced that it has agreed to sell its Bobcat Utility Equipment and Attachments business units to Doosan Infracore for cash proceeds of approximately $4.9 billion. The sale is subject to...

SICK, OCS Checkweighers form North American partnership.(Vendor News)
August 1, 2007... SICK (Minneapolis), manufacturer of sensors, safety systems and automatic identification products for factory and logistics automation, has announced a partnership with OCS Checkweighers (Snellville, Ga.), a manufacturer of dynamic...

RFID reader shipments increasing.(Vendor News)
August 1, 2007... The global market for RFID readers and reader modules grew to more than 35,500 unit shipments in 2005, according to new metrics released by ABI Research (Oyster Bay, N.Y.). In addition, the analysis reveals that reader unit volumes grew nearly...

What's the big idea?(Vendor News)
August 1, 2007... Two material handling companies brought home awards from this years' International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). The awards, created by Industrial Designers Society of America, are dedicated to fostering business and public understanding of...

International Paper closes Terre Haute mill.(Industry News)
August 1, 2007... Following its original mill closure announcement in May, International Paper (Memphis) announced it will officially close its Terre Haute, Ind., containerboard mill on Oct. 1. The decision to close the mill was the result of the company's...

Understanding RFID, Material Handling.(Industry News)
August 1, 2007... Accu-Sort Systems Inc. (Philadelphia) is making available its new handbook, "Auto ID in the Material Handling Industry." The 36-page publication is a comprehensive overview of the different technologies used in auto-ID systems, from barcodes to...

Veri-Tek acquires Noble Rough-Terrain Forklift.(Industry News)(Veri-Tek International Corp.)(Noble Rough-Terrain Forklift )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Veri-Tek International Corp. (Bridgeville, Ill.), a North American manufacturer of engineered lifting equipment, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of the Noble Rough-Terrain Forklift business from GT Distribution. "We...

FedEx Kinko's escalates expansion efforts.(Vendor News)
August 1, 2007... FedEx Kinko's (Dallas), an operating company of FedEx Corp., has announced an aggressive expansion plan to open 300 new office and print centers in the United States throughout fiscal 2008. The company also will redesign 110 existing centers...

Integrating software boosts bottom-line performance: software integration is easier and is taking warehouses and DCs to new levels of performance.(Process Excellence)(Company overview)
August 1, 2007... Software is becoming easier to integrate thanks to programs based on service-oriented architecture that eases communication with other hardware and software systems on networks and in facilities. Now, companies like AET Films, Blue Bell...

Becoming lean.(Process Excellence)(lean manufacturing)
August 1, 2007... Lean's growing popularity with manufacturing companies in recent years is due largely to Lean Thinking written by James Womack and Daniel Jones in 2000 as well as continued competitive pressure from globalization. For decades many of us solved...

Addressing the man/machine interface.(Product Focus: Manual Material)
August 1, 2007... Based on statistics from the National Safety Council (NSC), in 2005 the U.S. had 142,946,000 documented workers. The total cost of work related injuries and deaths in the U.S. was estimated at $160.4 billion. Manual material handling work...

Navigation leader unveils enhanced fleet communications technology.(Product Focus: Info Tech)
August 1, 2007... Navman Wireless Business Solutions (Lake Forest, Ill, www.navman.com) a global provider of vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions, has introduced its Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) 860 as the latest enhancement to its innovative asset...

Restricting vehicle access pay.(Product Focus: Info Tech)(Shockwatch)
August 1, 2007... ShockWatch (Dallas, www.shockwatch.com), a developer and manufacturer of damage prevention products, has released ShockWatch StartManager, its newest addition to its line of innovative equipment monitors. This device restricts equipment access...

DFV Wines uncorks WMS.(Product Focus: Info Tech)
August 1, 2007... Accellos, Inc. (Colorado Springs, Col., www.accellos.com), a provider of warehouse, 3PL, logistics, transportation and mobile fleet management solutions, has installed its WMS product at DFV Wines' 126,000-square-foot warehouse in Manteca,...

Software integration of material handling devices.(Process Excellence)
August 1, 2007... Material Handling Equipment (MHE) has been in use for decades in large, complex distribution environments. These custom systems--along with the customized Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) that drive them--have long been the showpieces of...

Bring those inventories down: with more capacity in the modes, price and service rule shipper attitudes.(State of Logistics)
August 1, 2007... The logistics environment may be undergoing a subtle change. Fewer shippers reported inventories in line with forecasts in the first quarter of 2007 vs. the same period a year earlier. The number reporting inventories below forecast and those...

It's never been done before.(Witt's End)
August 1, 2007... "There's never been anything like this," exclaimed Brian McNamara, president, Southworth International Group. He was speaking in his capacity of executive chairman, MHIA. And he was referring to the Material Handling and Logistics Summit, held...

Leading change without authority Part II: how to deal with three of the most challenging aspects of change initiatives and optimize your project's success.(Guest Editorial: Leadership)
August 1, 2007... How do you accomplish a major change initiative when you have authority over few, if any, of the stakeholders involved? Whether you're in materials handling, supply chain, IT consulting, product management or other roles that have more...

Risking business value.(Real World)(asset management to avoid business risk)
August 1, 2007... Poor asset management is undermining business integrity. Growing risk awareness and recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, may have prompted an increasing number of companies to invest in disaster recovery as part of the business...