Material Handling Management articles from November 2005

Material Handling Management archives from November 2005

Inventory Earth.(satellite images of Earth)(Google Earth)
November 1, 2005... If you ask material managers what they like most about their jobs, the once-a-year, labor-intensive process of taking physical inventory would not be on anybody's list. It's a task that even those who've adopted some form of cycle counting or...

All queued up: how the Netflix distribution network supports the company's business model.
November 1, 2005... Not many companies go head-to-head with Wal-Mart (Bentonville, Ark.) and not only win, but get the world's largest retailer to refer all of its customers to them. That's what happened in May when Wal-Mart shut down it's DVD rental service and...

Hydrogenics Corp.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Hydrogenics Corp. (Mississauga, Ontario) completed fuel-cell lift truck field trials at GM of Canada's car assembly plant in Oshawa and FedEx Canada's logistics hub at the Toronto International Airport. As part of the test, Hydrogenics designed...

AIM Global.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2005... AIM Global (Warrendale, Pa.), the association for automatic identification and data capture, issued a press release rebutting the premise of a recently published book, Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every...

JLG Industries, Inc. (McConnellsburg, Pa.) signed an agreement with Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.) to design and produce a Cat-branded telehandler product line for Caterpillar dealers.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... JLG Industries, Inc. (McConnellsburg, Pa.) signed an agreement with Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.) to design and produce a Cat-branded telehandler product line for Caterpillar dealers. Under the terms of the 20-year strategic agreement, JLG...

A University of Arkansas study reported that Wal-Mart customers found items they wanted in stock more often due to the retailer's use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology when compared to control stores.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... A University of Arkansas study reported that Wal-Mart customers found items they wanted in stock more often due to the retailer's use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology when compared to control stores. Researchers reported a 16%...

Dell Inc.
November 1, 2005... Dell Inc. (Round Rock, Tex.) opened its third, and largest, U.S. manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, N.C. The new, 750,000 sq.-ft., $100 million plant, will build Dell's OptiPlex and Dimension desktop systems.

RedPrairie Corp. (Waukesha, Wis.), a provider of supply-chain software, acquired RangeGate Mobile Solutions to expand the company's product offerings.
November 1, 2005... RedPrairie Corp. (Waukesha, Wis.), a provider of supply-chain software, acquired RangeGate Mobile Solutions to expand the company's product offerings. Based in the U.K., RangeGate provides software and mobile solutions for managing visibility,...

Kardex Systems, Inc.
November 1, 2005... Kardex Systems, Inc. (Marietta, Ohio), maker of automated vertical storage carousels and lifts, opened a new manufacturing facility in Lewiston, Pa. The new factory features a new powder coat paint system.

The North American Material Handling & Logistics Show and Conference (NA 2006) heads for Cleveland March 27-30, 2006.
November 1, 2005... The North American Material Handling & Logistics Show and Conference (NA 2006) heads for Cleveland March 27-30, 2006. The event, sponsored by Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA), will feature more than 400 material handling product...

Staples Inc.
November 1, 2005... The office supply retailer Staples Inc. (Brighton, Mass.) announced plans to build a $40-million distribution and fulfillment center on 45 acres in the Beloit (Wis.) Gateway Business Park. The 450,000-sq.-ft. facility is scheduled to open next...

Railex LLC.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Railex LLC (Riverhead, N.Y.) will spend $18 million to build a 200,000-sq.-ft. East Coast hub in Rotterdam, N.Y. Railex supplies fresh produce to grocery retailers. The company plans to process two, 55-car trains of fresh produce per week from...

Michaels Stores Inc. (Irving, Texas) announced plans to build a 715,000 sq.-ft. distribution center in an industrial park in Centralia, Wash.
November 1, 2005... Michaels Stores Inc. (Irving, Texas) announced plans to build a 715,000 sq.-ft. distribution center in an industrial park in Centralia, Wash. Tarragon Development (Seattle, Wash.) will manage the development project. Michaels owns and operates...

Degradeable vs. durable.(plastic reuse)(Column)
November 1, 2005... A couple of related news items recently crossed my desk. The gist of them sent me scurrying for my plastic recycling bin. Both stories had a similar theme: degradable plastic. I thought this might be a good time to clean out that recycling bin...

Don't be fooled by tools.(Data Intelligence)(RFID equipment)
November 1, 2005... Despite all the brightest hopes and darkest fears about RFID's potential to do good or ill, it's simply a tool like any other. Yes, it's new and sexy and all the rage but it's still just a tool. Like bar codes. Like WiFi. Like mobile computers....

Gucci automates order picking: vertical lift modules save space and increase productivity.(Cutting Edge)
November 1, 2005... When Gucci decided to consolidate all distribution into one facility in Secaucus, N.J., it became apparent that it would have to modify its distribution philosophy. "We merged 200,000 sq. ft. of operation into our existing 100,000 sq.-ft....

Onward and upward: health insurance and energy costs top industry concerns, drive the need for operating cost reductions in 2006.(CENSUS DISTRIBUTION)
November 1, 2005... In the parable of the three blind men and the elephant, each man describes the whole elephant based on the body part that he feels with his hands--trunk like a snake, leg like a tree, tail like a brush--and then they argue about what an...

Money motivates: effective incentive programs reward top performers and teams for superior performance. They also play a key role in employee loyalty and retention efforts.(People Management)
November 1, 2005... According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2011 the American workforce will experience the greatest shortage of skilled workers in its history. During the next six years, our economy will lose an estimated 10 million skilled workers...

Working the bugs out of ISPM-15: although international regulations governing import and export of solid wood packaging material were developed nearly four years ago, questions remain.(International Phytosanitary Standard for Wood Packaging)
November 1, 2005... Following our reports in the October issue regarding the slow pace of implementation of ISPM-15 (the international regulation governing wood packaging material [WPM] such as pallets, crates and dunnage) questions continue to be raised. If a...

30 minute heavy duty concrete floor joint & crack repair polymer.(Supplier SOURCE: New Products, Equipment & Services Showcase)
November 1, 2005... 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.(Dynamic Conveyor Corporation)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... 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...

Precision lifting.(product introduction)
November 1, 2005... More precise than a hoist, more efficient than an air balancer. Gorbel's new Easy ArmTM 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...