Material Handling Management articles from December 2007

Material Handling Management archives from December 2007

Wow! Material handling gives retailer the edge: high-speed material handling system helps Internet shoe and apparel retailer offer customers fast shipping and a superior online shopping experience.(2007 Year in Review: Automation)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nick Swinmurn was walking around a mall in San Francisco in 1999, looking for a pair of shoes. After an hour going from store to store, he finally went home empty-handed and frustrated. Eight years and more than...

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.(2007 Year in Review: Automation)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 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...

Eat your broccoli.(Transport Packaging)(Viewpoint essay)
December 1, 2007... With the advent of the Internet, I get more than my share of requests for information, help, financial assistance or medical advice. While filtering through this unsolicited mail, I find queries from students at least twice a year. November is...

2007: good riddance.(Data Intelligence)
December 1, 2007... Usually, year-end columns look back on the high points of the previous 12 months. And, there have been enough of those to have merited such a column. However, there have also been more than enough lingering misconceptions that I'd like to see...

It takes two to tango: how to make 3PLs dance to your tune.(2007 Year in Review: Facility Operations)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Third-party logistics is a complicated dance in which no one wants to get their toes stepped on, and everyone wants to go home happy. Getting to the dance, however, is more than just answering the door when someone...

Working with temps is not a temporary job.(2007 Year in Review: Facility Operations)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 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...

Workplace injuries, illnesses decline.(Industry News)
December 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers in 2006 occurred at a rate of 4.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers--a decline from 4.6 cases in 2005. (See Chart 1.) Similarly, the number of...

Stranger than fiction.(Industry New)
December 1, 2007... Sometimes, we see news stories that are almost too strange to be true. MHM will begin an irregular feature in our News Section that will be a kind of material handling version of the famous Darwin Awards. Each year, the Darwin Awards are given...

Global RFID Consortium formed.(Industry News)
December 1, 2007... WILMINGTON, Del. -- A new RFID Consortium organized by seven companies will license ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID patents to encourage widespread adoption of RFID standards and technology. 3M Innovative Properties Co.; France Telecom; HP; LG...

Pallets fuel controversy.(Industry News)
December 1, 2007... SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Ethanol refineries typically run on natural gas, but the nation's top producer of the alternative fuel plans to use discarded wood pallets to help power one of its plants, as reported by Dirk Lammers, an Associated Press...

Penton Media names new publisher.(Industry News)
December 1, 2007... CLEVELAND -- This month, we welcome David H. Colby as the new publisher of Material Handling Management. Dave comes to MHM with extensive publishing, advertising agency and ad management experience. Most recently, he was group publisher at...

St. Onge announces retirement.(Industry News)
December 1, 2007... YORK, Pa. -- The St. Onge Co., a supply chain engineering firm, announced that Art St. Onge, one of its four founders, who led the company for 22 years, will retire from day-today activities at the end of 2007. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Major RFID study goes to field trials.(Industry News)
December 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The largest and most widely supported industry field test of RFID technology on reusable transport packaging is underway, according to the Reusable Pallet & Container Coalition (RPCC). The groundbreaking study is supported by...

OSHA renews alliance with equipment associations.(Industry News)
December 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) renewed its alliance with the Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA), the Hoist Manufacturers Institute (HMI) and the Monorail Manufacturers Association (MMA)....

3PL receives National Awards.(Vendor News)
December 1, 2007... ATLANTA -- 3PD, one of the country's larger last-mile logistics providers, has received two of Best Buy's top honors for home delivery excellence: Best Buy's Top Quality Home Delivery award and its Top Customer Loyalty award. In addition, 3PD...

William Taylor.(Industry News)(William Alexander Taylor)(Obituary)
December 1, 2007... William Alexander "Bill" Taylor Junior, 76, died at his home in Louisville, Miss., on Nov. 22. Mr. Taylor was Taylor Machine Works' board chairman and former president. Born on Feb. 17, 1931, Mr. Taylor was the son of Ruby Leon Turner and...

Pallet vendor expands manufacturing facilities.(Vendor News)
December 1, 2007... NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Millwood Inc., a Girard, Ohio-based provider of unit load and packaging products and services, has opened a Nashville (La Vergne) facility, as part of its expansion efforts into the southern regions of the U.S. Millwood...

Layoffs at Crown.(Vendor News)
December 1, 2007... NEW BREMEN, Ohio -- On Nov. 2, Crown Equipment Corp. told a "significant" number of manufacturing employees that they would be laid off as of Nov. 9, according to the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. The affected workers were employed at...

Fuel cell maker cuts staff 20%.(Vendor News)
December 1, 2007... MISSISSAUGA, Ontario -- Hydrogenics Corp. announced it will cut 50 jobs, equivalent to 20% of its workforce, according to Canada's The Globe and Mail. It's the second round of cuts for the fuel-cell manufacturer. The first, announced...

Grainger enhances presence in Pittsburgh.(Vendor News)(Grainger Industrial Supply plans to enhance services)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... PITTSBURGH -- Grainger, a local business-to-business distributor of facilities maintenance supplies, announced plans to enhance service to area customers by investing in its local operations. As part of a multi-year expansion program, the...

Bitter pill: California's new electronic pedigree regulation will force every link in the pharmaceutical supply chain to rethink material handling.(2007 Year in Review: Information Management)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Big pharma has a big material handling problem. Make that several. Criminals are infiltrating the nation's pharmaceutical supply chain with knockoffs and diverting legitimate drugs to the black market. Although...

Speaking up: Awana Clubs uses a voice picking system to reduce errors and speed returns and replenishment.(2007 Year in Review: Information Management)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Order errors were having a direct impact on Awana Clubs International's bottom-line performance. Its error rate averaged 9% and could climb as high 40% during its busy season providing youth and children's ministry...

Onboard computers lift data management burdens: you can't manage what you don't measure. Managing information is what computers do best.(2007 Year in Review: Information Management)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Devices mounted to lift trucks to help manage inventory have been around 20-plus years and have only improved with age. Computers on-board lift trucks to measure the activity of the vehicle, however, are a relatively...

Top products of the year.(2007 Year in Review: Most Viewed Products)(V. Mariotti Co. contracts with MH Distribution Co.)(Worksman Trading Corp.'s tricycles)(Crown Equipment Corp. releases lift trucks)
December 1, 2007... Along with the top feature stories of the year, we asked Jason Washburn, our e-market media development manager, to crank out the products that received the most attention (hits) on the Web in 2007. Here are those items as they appeared on...

LED displays enhance productivity.(2007 Year in Review: New Product Spotlight)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IPdisplays is a developer of customizable, intelligent LED displays that accommodate both graphics and text-based messages in multiple, configurable formats, without the need for a PC. These smart LED displays are...

Fork-style pallet dispenser.(2007 Year in Review: New Product Spotlight)
December 1, 2007... This fork-style pallet dispenser/stacker from Columbia Machine requires little or no adjusting to accommodate a wide range of pallet sizes. This unit uses an electrically operated carriage lift and forks to allow pallet dispensing and/or...

Stretch hood pallet wrapping.(2007 Year in Review: New Product Spotlight)
December 1, 2007... Arpac's new COVER-PAL 6000 Stretch, stretch hood pallet covering system provides versatility in storing palletized products, while minimizing risk of environmental damage from dust and water. This end-of-line packaging system provides...

Lean case packing.(2007 Year in Review: New Product Spotlight)(Lantech Inc. (Louisville, Kentucky))(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Based on the company's line of proven case erectors, the new Lantech C-300 automatic case erector with a product indexing/delivery conveyor and a CS-300 case sealer is a custom-configurable system under a single control located at the...

Hi-Speed checkweigher.(2007 Year in Review: New Product Spotlight)(Mettler-Toledo Inc.'s new product)
December 1, 2007... Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed's new X-series controllers combine the field-proven reliability of Conerstone's mechanical foundation with new modular high-performance control platforms. The enhanced Cornerstone checkweighers deliver exceptional...

Metal detector, checkweigher system.(2007 Year in Review: New Product Spotlight)
December 1, 2007... Eriez, in cooperation with Thompson Scale Co. (TSC), provides fast and efficient metal detector and in-motion checkweigher systems to ensure superb production quality control. These systems, available in numerous configurations to suit...

Manage the fleet, control the budget: managing a fleet of lift trucks can be like herding cats. Here are three examples of how companies are getting the job done today.(2007 Year in Review: Powered Vehicles)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are less-difficult ways to manage a fleet of material handling equipment vehicles than with a pencil and clipboard, a not uncommon practice, even in today's highly computerized distribution centers. Turning the...

Warehouse & lift truck safety.(2007 Year in Review: Powered Vehicles)
December 1, 2007... Employers work hard to avoid the costs, damages and injuries that may occur with warehouse and lift truck equipment operations, and to meet standards set by the U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration.) In...

Is fast charging for you? Yes, if you operate lift trucks at least 1.5 shifts per day, have ample charging opportunities, and can allow a full shift for batteries to be finish charged and equalized once per week.(2007 Year in Review: Powered Vehicles)
December 1, 2007... Fast charging of industrial batteries is poised to become a mainstream charging technology due to the operational savings and the increased productivity and safety that this technology offers. Users are realizing the benefits of fast charging,...

Big boxes without big bucks: managing an inventory of returnable bulk containers can be expensive. Container pooling can reduce those costs.(2007 Year in Review: Transport Packaging)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Many companies currently using one-way transport packaging products such as intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) could benefit from container pooling, says Mike Brunhuber, vice president, A.R. Arena Products...

Stretch wrapping ices six-month payback: safety is important, and money talks when adding new equipment to the end of the packaging line.(2007 Year in Review: Transport Packaging)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Can one stretch wrapping machine be safer than comparable equipment, while still being less expensive, miserly with materials, smaller and more convenient to use? Kisko Products (Markham, Ontario), maker of some of...

Taking security to the next level.(2007 Year in Review: Transport Packaging)
December 1, 2007... When it comes to handling narcotics, there is no such things as too much security. Schedule II narcotics, the kinds of things used in life-sustaining medicines, are a storage and transport packaging challenge for pharmaceutical manufacturers....

There is still some good news.(Witt's End)
December 1, 2007... As we near year's end, it seems that good news and not-so-good news are constantly fighting for our attention. It's as if the last story you read will be the harbinger of what next year will bring. The economy is so-so. Material handling,...

Your new short list.(World Difference)(Worthington Steelpac, a subsidiary of Worthington Industries Inc. acquires Lefco Industries)
December 1, 2007... Whether you're shopping for equipment or evaluating a business partner, there's always a short list of criteria. Is the price right? Does the offering fit your application? Those kinds of questions stand the test of time. Price, service,...