Material Handling Management articles from July 2005

Material Handling Management archives from July 2005

A tale of two technologies: robotic technology has matured to a point where the cost and capabilities have collided to deliver a rapid return on investment for many applications. How many years will it be before RFID can make the same claim?
July 1, 2005... Robot manufacturers had their best quarter ever in the first three months of 2005. The Robotics Industries Association (RIA, Ann Arbor, Mich.), whose members account for an estimated 90 percent of the North American robot market, reports that...

RFID helps secure drug distribution chain: the nation's healthcare distributors and manufacturers are developing electronic pedigree systems to combat counterfeit drugs.(radio-frequency identification equipment)
July 1, 2005... Purdue Pharma L.P. is shipping its synthetic morphine-based Oxycotin painkiller with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on each bottle. Pfizer (N.Y.) will be shipping RFID-tagged bottles of Viagra sold in the U.S. by the end of 2005....

On the job.(News)
July 1, 2005... "Same promises, different century" [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU, Irvine, Calif.), has chosen Systems Material Handling Co. (Olathe, Kans.) as the single source provider for its Starlift all-makes competitive parts program. Anticipated benefits to Toyota dealers...

Longs Drug Stores Corp.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Longs Drug Stores Corp. (Walnut Creek, Calif.) announced plans to build a new 800,000 square-foot, $50 million distribution facility in Patterson, Calif. The new distribution facility will support the company's goal to increase its...

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.(Carson Capital)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a New York-based private equity investor, will acquire a majority interest in Nashville-based Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, the nation's largest privately held third-party logistics (3PL) provider and the sixth...

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.(stock keeping unit)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (Melville, N.Y.), a natural and organic food and personal care products company, announced the final implementation of its Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) rationalization program. The company reported that its fourth...

OfficeMax Opens New DC in Nashville.(News)
July 1, 2005... OfficeMax Opens New DC in Nashville OfficeMax (Itasca, Ill.), a U.S. office supply distributor, opened a new distribution center in Nashville. The new facility will serve OfficeMax's business and retail customers in a five-state area that...

New book aids kanban implementation.(Kanban systems)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... New book aids kanban implementation. Few lean manufacturing tools have been as misunderstood as kanban, a visual replenishment signaling system that effectively "connects" the supplying and consuming processes throughout the value stream. Mixed...

Pallets and bugs: back to the future: the warning is, if improperly marked or unmarked pallets are received at ports of entry, the pallets and the goods on them can be destroyed.(Shipping Management)(International Plant Protection Convent)
July 1, 2005... Like the shepherd boy who kept crying wolf, I'm back to warn of impending international legislation that will impact pallet selection for many international shippers. It seems every time I sound this warning the only folks I manage to...

An ounce of prevention: without the active participation of people like you (you know, the people who actually have to make things work), standards-setting committees sometimes go off the deep end.(Data Intelligence)
July 1, 2005... This column usually focuses on things you need to hear about. This month, it will look at something you probably don't want to hear. That's right, I'm going to talk about why you should spend more time in more meetings. Specifically, I want...

Robots: will work for peanuts: offering improved flexibility, faster speeds, heavier load-handling capabilities and reduced upfront and operating costs, today's robots are finding a home in more and more warehouses and factories.(Cutting Edge / Automation)
July 1, 2005... Imagine hiring workers for less than a dollar an hour. Good workers who worked at night and through holidays with no apparent interest in forming unions. Imagine that those workers liked doing the monotonous and the dirty, the heavy lifting and...

Keep things moving: dynamic storage seems like a contradiction in terms. It is, however, the way many companies choose to handle inventory.(Storage Strategies)
July 1, 2005... Inventory will always be part of manufacturing and distribution. Keeping inventories moving, making them part of the flow, reduces the cost of doing business. Current transport technologies and philosophies, for example, are designed to extend...

Making sense of health insurance costs: here are five things material handling managers can do to control insurance costs for the health of the employees as well as the health of the company.(Cost Management)
July 1, 2005... A study by the Institute of Management & Administration (New York), indicates that companies that don't analyze cost and utilization data for controlling healthcare costs had premium increases 18 percent above average. The study also found that...

Music, put-to-light keeps hot topic in sync: new distribution center supports customer focus of hot teen retailer.(New Facility)
July 1, 2005... High volume, fast flow and great customer service is the beat that Hot Topic, Inc. rocks to with its music-inspired clothing and other trendy products. Music with a reverberating bass, and decor that's hip and industrial draws teens to its...

Today's picking systems.(Tech Spotlight)
July 1, 2005... Everyone knows accurate order picking saves money and keeps customers satisfied. More companies are starting to use paperless picking technologies like pick-to-view, pick-to-light, put-to-light and voice picking to increase their pickers'...