Modern Materials Handling articles from April 2006

Modern Materials Handling archives from April 2006

MHIA enhances Web search.(www.mhia.org)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Members of Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) are now even easier to find. The organization has enhanced the "member search" function of its Web site, www.mhia.org, to include a "brand search" feature, which allows online users...

Plastic pallet pool offers RFID tracking.(UP FRONT)(Intelligent Global Pooling Systems rents plastic pallets to track shipments)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Shippers seeking light, durable and easily tracked pallets have a new option. Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS) now rents plastic pallets enabled with RFID technology to track shipments in real time. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

RFID pioneer receives Percival Award.(2006 Don Percival Award )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Patrick F. King, Ph.D., head of global electronics strategies for the Michelin tire company, was named the winner of the 2006 Don Percival Award in recognition of his contributions to the field of automatic identification. The award is...

PMMI reorganizes.(Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI, www.pmmi.org) has reorganized its internal operations, creating four separate business units: management/education, market development, member services and tradeshows. PMMI is the sponsor...

Safety moves up the charts.(MY VIEW)
April 1, 2006... For the past couple of years now, we've done a broad-based industry survey. One of the questions focuses on which issues are very important to you and your peers. Much to my surprise, safety and ergonomics came in third both years. Only...

SSA Global acquires Provia: acquisition makes SSA third largest provider of supply chain execution software amid extensive industry consolidation.(SSA Global Technologies acquired Provia Software )
April 1, 2006... SSA Global Technologies (www.ssaglobal.com), one of the largest ERP providers, surprised the supply chain execution market when it announced the acquisition of Provia Software (www.provia.com), one of the leading best-of-breed providers of...

Materials handling equipment shipments and backlogs reach all-time highs.(shipments of materials handling equipment)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The value of shipments of materials handling equipment surpassed the $2 billion mark for the first time ever in January 2006. Equipment orders were also high, though not as high as they were in January 2005. The growing backlog of orders may...

Pharmaceuticals warming up to RFID.(SUPPLY CHAIN)(Radio Frequency Identification )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The global market for RFID systems in the pharmaceutical industry reached just $9.3 million last year, according to research firm Venture Development Corp. (VDC, www.vdc-corp.com), but researchers expect that number to grow by more than 10...

Printing supplier responds to market demands.(Cognitive Solutions Inc., bar code printers)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Industrial print consumers are driven by the following five priorities: ruggedness of the unit, price range, ease of connectivity, warranty and print speed, according to research out by the Venture Development Corporation (VDC,...

Expanding the world of voice.(DATA CAPTURE)(Vocollect expands its market reach)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Hoping to expand its offerings and cater to a variety of industries, voice technology provider Vocollect (www.vocollect.com) is expanding its market reach. Vocollect has technology options that allow order pickers to use voice in a...

AIM honors Haberman.(Alan L. Haberman of GSI US receives Richard R. Dilling Award )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Alan L. Haberman, governor-at-large of GSI US (formerly the Uniform Code Council), has received the Richard R. Dilling Award in recognition of his career-long contribution to the development and growth of the automatic identification and...

Portal links supply chain partners.(SOFTWARE)(Sockeye Solutions creates a web portal)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Hoping to bridge the gap between supply chain partners, Sockeye Solutions has created a portal to keep everyone in the loop. Using a managed Web portal, Sockeye (www.sockeyesolutions.com) facilitates real-time event reporting to only the...

Handheld reads markings on any surface.(IMAGERS)(Cognex Corporation develops an all-in-one handheld reader- The DataMan)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Reading a variety of identification codes on a variety of surfaces just got easier. Cognex Corporation (www.cognex.com) has developed an all-in-one handheld reader that reads markings--from the most challenging direct part marking (DPM) codes...

People to know.(Association for Operations Management anounces board of directors)(Baracoda S.A. appoints Bill Duncan)(RUAN appoints David Pocock )
April 1, 2006... APICS, the Association for Operations Management, has announced its 2006 board of directors. The posts include Nicholas M. Testa, president; Joseph F. Shadlawski, president-elect; Robert J. Vokurka, secretary/treasurer; Janet Steiner Soukup,...

Company news.(Alien Technology partnership with Hewlett Packard )(Active RFID Systems Inc. and Broadcom Inc partnership)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Alien Technology announces a partnership with Hewlett Packard to deliver Alien Gen2 RFID readers and tags globally to HP Services customers... Roex Inc. and Pro-X Pharmaceuticals has engaged ODIN Technologies to deploy RFID to enable greater...

Faster, cheaper, better: when CDW designed its new Western Distribution Center, it looked for the best practices available to increase speed and productivity.(Cover story)
April 1, 2006... Velocity and productivity. Those concepts drove the design of CDW's new Western Distribution Center, a 513,000-square-foot facility that went live just months ago in North Las Vegas. "Speed of execution, which is how quickly we can get an order...

Top 20 systems suppliers: modern's annual ranking of the leaders shows some flux among the players.(special report)(Company rankings)
April 1, 2006... While overall materials handling equipment sales in the U.S. showed strong gains in 2005, the same can't be said of the 20 largest systems suppliers worldwide. In fact, total revenues for those companies were off nearly 4%, or roughly $500...

Safety first: for managers, safety specialists, operators and suppliers, lift truck safety is a top priority.(equipment/systems)
April 1, 2006... OPERATOR: You typically handle pallet loads this size, but you don't always have to transport them from bulk storage to the loading dock all in one run. You take the proper precautions to lower the load from 30 feet without starting the...

Controlling speed and tipovers.(Atlet introduces S3 electronic supporting and monitoring system)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... When a lift truck operator accelerates too quickly, drives too fast or makes sudden turns, there is an increased risk of tipping over. To compensate, Atlet (847-352-7373, www.atlet.com) offers the S3 electronic supporting and monitoring system...

Ensuring lift truck stability.(Toyota offers its System of Active Stability)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... On many of its trucks, Toyota (800-226-0009, www.toyotaforklift.com) offers its System of Active Stability (SAS). The system features a series of sensors that ensure that all four wheels of a Toyota lift truck stay firmly planted on the...

Keep operators in their seats.
April 1, 2006... A Presence Detection System on Cat trucks (800-228-5438, www.cat-lift.com) knows when an operator is not in the seat, and disengages the transmission even if it is in gear. Hydraulics are also cut off. An audible alarm sounds if the parking...

More comfortable operation.
April 1, 2006... A choice of multiple operating positions depending on the task and direction of travel is available from Crown (419-629-2311, www.crown.com). Anti-fatigue floor mats reduce the effects of vibration and standing while enhancing operator...

Leading manufacturing trends: to meet the increasing pressures of demanding customers and global competitors, manufacturers are taking a new look at the role of factories in the supply chain.
April 1, 2006... As recently as the late 1990s, most manufacturing was based on the premise that the best way to run a plant was to make products in batches, the bigger the better. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "In the late '90s, manufacturing was looked at...

Pick lights increase accuracy.(FOCUSON)
April 1, 2006... The QuickPick family of pick lights visually brings the operator to exactly the right carousel, shelf and cell. Two QuickPick light methods are available. One uses a LightFrame to surround each carousel carrier (bin). Each carrier shelf level...

Paperless picking system.(FOCUSON)
April 1, 2006... The SwiftPic pick-to-light system is a paperless picking automated solution for distribution center fulfillment. Its ability to support wave picking, pack-to-light, put-to-light, pick-to-display, and pick-and-pack functions is enhanced by...

Cart features 16 lighted order positions.(FOCUSON)(Lightning Pick Technologies's pick cart)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Lightning pick cart was designed to optimize batch picking operations by reducing walking/travel time, improving pick rates and increasing order accuracy. The classic cart features a standard laptop computer with color LCD screen,...

Software manages inventory.(FOCUSON)(FastPic Systems's picking systems)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Pick-to-light technology controlled by FastPic's inventory management software can greatly increase productivity and throughput of pick-and-put applications. The software allows multiple orders to be batched simultaneously for increased...

Modular .(FOCUSON)(FKI Logistex's Easpick Trak3 modular pick-to-light system)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Easpick Trak3 pick-to-light components enable increased accuracy in warehouse and distribution center applications. Trak3 devices snap into the track at the pick face with a "cable-less" connection, allowing easy configuration and...

Put-to-light system.(FOCUSON)(Diamond Phoenix Corporation's picking systems)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... This put-to-light system is based on the DirectPick light-directed picking system. Containers from vendors travel along the conveyor to a put station. The operator removes items from the containers and places them in totes on the rack,...

Light-directed order fulfillment systems.(FOCUSON)(Cape Systems's order fulfillment systems)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Light-directed order fulfillment systems automate order processing and product distribution needs. The Order Fulfillment System (OFS) acts as a central server for all automation and picking subsystems. In addition, the OFS controls order...

Pick-to-light system eliminates zones.(FOCUSON)(Innovative Picking Technologies's Pick-MAX system)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Pick-MAX system is a pick-to-light system that is capable of capturing the ID of pickers as they complete picks, improving productivity. The system provides a hands-free interface that does not require pickers to push a button to complete a...

Computer-aided picking systems.(FOCUSON)(Spectrum system)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Pick-to-light systems can be integrated seamlessly with a company's order management system or its third-party provided warehouse automation system. The primary goal of Spectrum is to turn the picking operation into a high throughput order...

60 seconds with ...: Warren Engard on how to get people to take on more work.(Dunkin' Donuts Inc.)(Interview)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Picking orders in our distribution center was a lot like digging ditches. I know because I started out as an orderpicker. It's a lot of heavy lifting with all the 50 pound bags of flour we move. Our turnover was huge. If I needed five...