Material Handling Management articles from January 2006

Material Handling Management archives from January 2006

Working outside the box: how to begin working with a logistics service provider.(Outsourcing 101)(Cover story)
January 1, 2006... When the practice of outsourcing logistics to an outside or third-party company began to grow in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the few service providers in existence at the time offered basic services such as warehousing, customs clearance...

Manage inventory better.(Light Lifting)
January 1, 2006... "Would I had phrases that are not known, utterances that are strange, in new language that has not been used, free from repetition, not an utterance which has grown stale, which men of old have spoken."--Inscription attributed to...

TNT to exit logistics.(Industry News)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... In early December TNT N.V. (Netherlands) announced that it plans to sell its contract logistics business, which represents over $4 billion in annual revenues. Logistics contributed 31% of the company's total revenues and 11% of earnings in its...

NATO to upgrade RFID network.(Industry News)(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)(Radio Frequency Identification Device)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... The NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) has awarded Savi Technology (Sunnyvale, Calif.) a new contract to upgrade and sustain operational support of the radio-frequency identification (RFID) network that Savi built last year to...

IKEA to build facility in Savannah.(Industry News)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... In mid-December IKEA, a home furnishings retailer based in Almhult, Sweden, announced plans to build a 1.7 million sq.-ft. distribution center on 115 acres in the Savannah International Trade Park. The facility will allow IKEA to receive goods...

QVC to build warehouse in South Carolina.(Industry News)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Television shopping network QVC announced plans to build a $75-million, 1 million sq.-ft. distribution center in Florence, S.C. The facility will eventually employ 400 people said company officials, who expect it to open in the middle of 2007....

Build-A-Bear to build new DC.(Industry News)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (St. Louis), a retailer of customized stuffed animals, plans to build a 350,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Groveport, Ohio, 10 miles southeast of downtown Columbus. The $24-million center will serve as the...

REI to build second distribution center.(Industry News)(Recreational Equipment, Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI, Seattle), a national retail co-op that sells outdoor gear and apparel, announced plans to build its second distribution center in Bedford, Pa. The company selected Bedford after considering various sites in...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared all of the Lemelson bar code and machine vision patents unenforceable due to an unnecessary delay in filing.
January 1, 2006... * The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared all of the Lemelson bar code and machine vision patents unenforceable due to an unnecessary delay in filing. The ruling may finally signify an end to the six-year legal battle between...

President George W. Bush recently appointed James F. Dicke II, chairman and CEO of Crown Equipment Corp. (New Bremen, Ohio), as a private-sector member of his Export Council.
January 1, 2006... * President George W. Bush recently appointed James F. Dicke II, chairman and CEO of Crown Equipment Corp. (New Bremen, Ohio), as a private-sector member of his Export Council. The announcement, made by Secretary of Commerce Carlos M....

Voxware, Inc.
January 1, 2006... * Voxware, Inc. (Lawrenceville, N.J.), a supplier of voice-based technology, announced a one-for-150 reverse stock split effective December 12. "This reverse stock split represents the achievement of the next milestone in Voxware's overall plan...

Sealed Air Corp.
January 1, 2006... * Sealed Air Corp. (Saddle Brook, N.J.) completed the acquisition of Nelipak Holdings B.V. Based in the Netherlands, Nelipak designs and manufactures rigid packaging for medical, consumer and industrial applications. Nelipak's net sales in 2004...

Intermec Inc.
January 1, 2006... * Intermec Inc. (Everett, Wash.), an RFID, mobile computing and data collection systems company, completed its name change from UNOVA Inc. The company's stock now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IN, rather than...

CHEP.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... * CHEP (Orlando), the global supplier of pallet and container pooling solutions, officially commenced operations at its latest Automotive European Pool Service Centre in Gebze, Turkey, a suburb of Istanbul. The 24,000 sq. ft. service center...

Tractor Supply Co.(OPEN FOR BUSINESS)
January 1, 2006... Tractor Supply Co. (Brentwood, Tenn.) opened a new 425,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Waverly, Neb. The facility currently employs about 45 employees working two shifts (9:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) to fill the orders for...

Helen of Troy Limited.(OPEN FOR BUSINESS)
January 1, 2006... Helen of Troy Limited (El Paso), a supplier of personal care and household consumer products, opened its new distribution center in Southaven, Miss. The facility increases the company's presence in Southaven to 1,200,000 sq. ft. from 619,000...

Liquidity Services.(OPEN FOR BUSINESS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Liquidity Services (Washington, D.C.), an online marketplace (liquidation.com) for wholesale, surplus and salvage assets, opened a new, 49,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Cranberry, N.J. The facility will serve as the company's primary...

SATO.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... * SATO (Singapore), a supplier of automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) technology, agreed to purchase Checkpoint Systems' Bar Code Systems businesses. The purchase price is expected to be approximately $40 million in cash,...

White Systems, Inc.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... * Managers of White Systems, Inc. (Kenilworth, N.J.), a supplier of carousel technology, and Management Capital, LLC (Providence, R.I.) completed the buyout of the Kenilworth manufacturing division from FKI Logistex Manufacturing Systems. White...

CalEast Industrial Investors LLC bought CenterPoint Properties Trust (Chicago).
January 1, 2006... * CalEast Industrial Investors LLC bought CenterPoint Properties Trust (Chicago). CalEast will pay approximately $3.4 billion, including debt and preferred stock. CenterPoint Properties Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust...

Lucky Day.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... * Lucky Day. A warehouse worker in Fremont, Ohio won the top prize in the Ohio Lottery's $100,000 Holiday Wishes game. Douglas Demmull, who also raises goats on his family farm, told the lottery commission he planned to use his winnings (net...

Degradable plastics wear thin with manufacturers: the real challenge is to build the business case for reusables with RFID tags.(Transport Packaging)
January 1, 2006... Someday readers of material handling's history will think it fascinating, maybe even quaint, that we paid so much attention to obvious ideas such as reusable pallets and containers. In 100 years they will have mined from the landfills all the...

Automation: why buy the cow when all you want is the milk? Does it make economic sense for vendors of automation technology to operate today's complex material handling systems, and leave users to pay for performance?(Manufacturing Management)
January 1, 2006... Automation today is super-sophisticated technology and software as well as complicated machinery. So complex and advanced are these new automation systems that some experts suggest that some very radical changes must be made in the financials...

There oughta be a law: the hidden hazards of state RFID laws.(Data Intelligence)(radio-frequency identification)
January 1, 2006... Despite some news reports that a proposed New Hampshire law [HB-203 FN 2005, amendment to RSA 358-A:2] protects people from being surreptitiously injected with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags--insert spooky SciFi music here--the...

Smooth riding: real supply-chain collaboration gains traction at Goodyear.(Case History)(Company overview)
January 1, 2006... Rare is the company these days that tries to go it alone. Global supply chains are simply too complex, with too many shipments to manage, and too much data to keep track of. This is especially true at multi-billion dollar manufacturers like...

A step ahead: smart labels give a healthcare retailer visibility into its reverse logistics process.(Returns Processing)
January 1, 2006... A great feeling body starts with comfortable and healthy feet. A great feeling for warehouse managers comes from supply-chain visibility, including a clear view of returns processes. Benchmark Brands, Inc. (Norcross, Ga.), a $75 million,...

Sortation gives productivity boost to distributor: here's how an aging, paper-based, outdated order fulfillment system in a manual warehouse was transformed into an automated distribution center.(Sortation)
January 1, 2006... Washington state liquor control board's (WSLCB) new 163,200-sq.-ft., $30 million facility in downtown Seattle features an automated order sortation and fulfillment system that handles 3,000 active SKUs and 12,000 to 30,000 cases per day. ...

By the numbers: opening the financial books to all employees, and teaching them how their actions impact the results, pays dividends for several material handling companies.(Open Book Management)
January 1, 2006... In 2004 net income tripled for Federal Warehouse Company (East Peoria, Ill.). Patrick Roesler, vice president of finance and administration for the privately held company, says profitability will climb another 30% this year. What happened? ...

Plan ahead stay ahead: the best business succession plan is to have a plan.(Succession Planning)
January 1, 2006... Succession planning should be a key component of a company's strategic business plan. It's the only way to guarantee the perpetuation of a company. Ed Reel, principal, Summit Acquisitions LLC, an Atlanta-based mergers and acquisitions firm,...

Surviving [left arrow] getting by [right arrow] thriving: how does your operation stack up?(Census of Distribution)
January 1, 2006... Managers of today's top performing warehouse/distribution centers--those in the top quartile (75th percentile)--report annual storage utilization rates of 90%, 26.5 orders picked or packed per hour, a one-hour dock-to-stock time, 99% on-time...

Speaking with a common voice: voice technology is expanding to more devices.(Product Focus)
January 1, 2006... Commercial voice technology is a rapidly growing multi-billion dollar market. Partnerships between software and hardware vendors and the development of open development standards are fueling its growth. Vocollect (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recently...

Variety of voice solutions.(Product Focus)
January 1, 2006... The voice of Jennifer voice technology is combined with multi-function, open, industry standard devices from LXE, Symbol, and Intermec to provide voice-directed solutions for pick, pack, receive, load, put-away and replenish. Lucas...

Pick orders in many languages.(Product Focus)
January 1, 2006... The EASY pick voice order-fulfillment system combines a wearable computer with Voxware voice technology. Users train the system to understand their voices. It supports the simultaneous use of multiple languages. Standard noise-canceling...

Voice directed full case picking.(Product Focus)
January 1, 2006... The Pocket-Pick voice recognition system has a display and touch screen interface that lets users control functions such as shorting, location validation, SKU lookup and order details including item descriptions, last pick and inventory. The...

Mobile computer with voice.(Product Focus)
January 1, 2006... The 750 color mobile computer uses speech commands and offers users hands-free data collection for improved productivity and safety. SyVox Speech Logistics software supports multiple languages and lets users train the system quickly. The unit...

Enterprise digital assistant with voice.(Product Focus)
January 1, 2006... The MC50 mobile computer is equipped with integrated wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) connectivity and data capture options, including bar code scanning and image capture or one megapixel, color camera configurations. It runs Windows Mobile 2003 Second...

Resort destination: licensed apparel distributor Jerry Leigh upgrades its Orlando facility. (New Facility.
January 1, 2006... What is a business to do when customer demand exceeds inventory and shipping capabilities? Expand. The Orlando-based resort division of Jerry Leigh of California (Van Nuys, Calif.), manufactures and distributes licensed apparel, souvenirs...

30 minute heavy duty concrete floor joint & crack repair polymer.(Supplier SOURCE: New Products, Equipment & Services Showcase)
January 1, 2006... Metzger/McGuire's Spal-Pro 2000 is a rapid setting, heavy-duty polyurea polymer product for repairing joints and cracks in industrial concrete floors. Spal-Pro 2000 comes packaged in easy-to-use dual-component cartridge kits. This means no...

Modular conveyor systems offer versatility.(Supplier SOURCE: New Products, Equipment & Services Showcase)
January 1, 2006... Dynamic Conveyor's light- to medium-duty DynaCon[R] modular conveyor systems offer true versatility. DynaCon's modular conveyor systems can be reconfigured in less time, in ever-changing manufacturing or workflow environments. Made from...

Select-IT.(Supplier SOURCE: New Products, Equipment & Services Showcase)
January 1, 2006... Pick-to-Light System can improve your Distribution Center's order fulfillment productivity and accuracy. SeayCo Select-IT is a light-directed selection system that offers a 200% improvement over paper picking. Lights and LED displays guide the...

Precision lifting.(Supplier SOURCE: New Products, Equipment & Services Showcase)
January 1, 2006... More precise than a hoist, more efficient than an air balancer. Gorbel's new Easy Arm[TM] lifting device gives you the speeds you need to increase productivity, the precision you need to decrease product damage, and the strength to protect your...

Material handling still sexy.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... I just wanted to say thank you for article entitled "Has Material Handling Lost Its Sex Appeal" [October 2005, p. 5]. It reminded me about why I do what I do and put up with the things that I put up with. The job of running a distribution...

Technology not the root cause of supply chain woes.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... Great article, Bert! ["2005: Lessons Learned, Forgotten and Resurrected," December 2005, p. 30] It is sooo frustrating to see the lack of real progress in improving supply chain performance. After 30 years in the food business, it gets old...

Don't pick on Wal-Mart.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... I find it a continual aggravation that the media will lead with Wal-Mart when reporting a story such as this ["Arrest of Illegal Aliens at Wal-Mart DC Construction Site Should Serve as a Warning to Other Companies," December 2005, p. 8]. When a...

Speak your mind!(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... Material Handling Management welcomes letters from readers. We will print as many as space allows. Send your comments to letters@mhmonline.com, fax 216-696-2737. Please include your name, job title, company name and address. Letters may be...