Modern Materials Handling articles from October 2004

Modern Materials Handling archives from October 2004

Fight fire with Sapphire.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Even if a warehouse or plant fire is contained and put out quickly, whatever survives can still be a total loss due to water damage. That's where chemical agents come into the picture. And the latest entry is called Sapphire Suppression System...

Warehousing Salaries/Wages.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... According to the 2004 edition of Warehousing Salaries and Wages, there have been pay increases across all 15 job categories surveyed. The 142-page report from the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) can be purchased at...

Technology and practices boost productivity.(breaking news you need to know)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In a recent survey of mid-sized to large manufacturers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Mexico and Brazil, respondents in all five regions said they have improved practices and use more technology this year compared to 2003, according to TBM...

Warehouse and dock safety.(breaking news you need to know)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Two video-based training programs from J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc. (www.jjkeller.com) provide important safety tips on loading, unloading and moving goods at the warehouse. The Ins and Outs of Loading Dock and Warehouse Safety outlines the...

Fast fact.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 34.7% compound annual growth rate through 2006 for industrial wireless Ethernet applications. Source: Venture Development www.vdc-corp.com

Surviving RFID.(radio frequency identification equipment)
October 1, 2004... Last month, I visited the Frontline Solutions event in Chicago. While the promotional materials touted the breadth of automatic data capture technologies there, it easily could have been titled "RFID all day, every day." And as we all...

Information systems: Department of Defense announces new RFID plan; Final DoD policy outlines the timelines for RFID implementations, along with the data standards and package marking requirements for its suppliers.(NEWS & Trends)
October 1, 2004... Last fall, the Department of Defense announced its commitment to join Wal-Mart as an early adopter of passive RFID technology. The broad plan was to require RFID tags on pallets, cartons, and some packaging materials that require a unique...

Automation: AGVS on the move.(news and trends)(automatic guided vehicle systems)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... After several lean years, the market for new automatic guided vehicle systems (AGVS) is bouncing back, according to the AGVS product section of the Material Handling Industry of America (www.mhia.org). Through the first half of 2004, the...

Online; Global Supply Chain Conference: your desk, this month.(NEWS and Trends)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... It's not often that you can get a broad perspective of the supply chain without leaving your office. However, you have exactly that opportunity on October 20th and 21st. Those are the dates that Modern Materials Handling, Logistics...

Equipment: new orders jump for robotics.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Orders for robotic technology grew worldwide by 10% to $513 million through the first six months of 2004, reports the Robotic Industries Association (www.roboticsonline.com). The number of units sold grew by 18% to 8,539. In fact, new...

Event: Pack Expo lineup set.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Every other year Pack Expo puts on a really big show in Chicago. And that's exactly what's going to happen starting Sunday, November 7th as the show fills McCormick Place. For a preview of the key industrial packaging solutions on display...

Achieve distribution on demand.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Customers today want products delivered when, where and how they choose. In light of this on-demand environment, the Distribution On Demand (DOD) Initiative sponsored by Forte Industries creates a platform for exchanging DOD ideas and...

Materials handling information portal.(www.materialhandlinginfo.com)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Redesigned and updated, www.materialhandlinginfo.com, an online educational Web site, offers a wealth of materials handling information. Case studies, product information and interactive worksheets with answers to materials handling questions...

Return on investment: look at the big picture to leverage RFID costs.(radio frequency identification equipment)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... While meeting RFID mandates from Wal-Mart and others, many companies are finding it difficult to justify the cost of implementing the technology to identify and track their products. At the recent ARC Strategy Forum (www.arcweb.com), supply...

Places to go.(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... OCTOBER 2004 October 17-19 Productivity Convention & Expo 2004 Dallas, Texas Sponsor: Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Call: 202-452-8444 Web: www.fmi.org October 19-21 Automated Manufacturing & Productivity...

Planning: materials handling short course slated for ProMat.
October 1, 2004... Now's the time to start your planning for ProMat 2005 set for Chicago's McCormick Place January 10-13. And that's especially true if you're looking for some great tips on how to successfully plan major capital investments in plants and...

Appointments/promotions.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Appointments/promotions: Terry Orf joins PosiCharge as southeast region sales manager... Robert Karstulovich is appointed regional sales manager for Central Canada at Orion Packaging Systems Inc.... The Process Instruments division of Thermo...

Alliances/construction.(GlobeRanger and Smart Packaging agreement)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Alliances/construction: Cadre Technologies and GlobeRanger partner to offer a voice-activated radio frequency identification supply chain solution... AML signs a global distributorship agreement with DataMAX Software Group Inc.... The Durham...

The impact of shifts in income distribution: the shift in income distribution will have an impact on who buys as well as what is bought and where.
October 1, 2004... WHOEVER SAID, "THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET POORER" must have had right now in mind. Recent economic numbers show there is a small twist in the U.S. income distribution underway that is significant for the aggregate economy and brings...

Good today, better tomorrow: The Container Store's new DC is prepared to handle growth for the next 10 years as the company strives to remain a top company to work for.(distribution center)
October 1, 2004... On the one hand, The Container Store and its new DC are quite unconventional. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Four years ago, Fortune magazine named the retailer the #1 best company to work for in America. And it's stayed near the top since...

Warehousing giants: the biggest third-party logistics providers, as well as operators of refrigerated/freezer warehouses and private distribution centers, continue to grow.
October 1, 2004... Distribution and warehousing space in three key sectors--private, third-party logistics (3PLs) providers, and refrigerated/freezer--is up from 2003. While many companies spent the year consolidating operations, several cite more space due to...

Managing returns with WMS: warehouse management systems are now able to take the headaches out of returns, recalls and reverse logistics.
October 1, 2004... With so much focus on pushing orders out the door at warehouses and DCs, it stands to reason that managing returns doesn't quite get the same attention. "A lot of the problem with returns is that it's a sideline to the main business and no...

AGVs make a comeback: as end users rediscover the value of automatic guided vehicles in small systems, demand is up sharply.(automatic guided vehicle)(FMC Technologies)
October 1, 2004... "Business is pretty good!" [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] That's a phrase you don't hear every day. But it applies to the automatic guided vehicle (AGV) industry, where business is, well, pretty good these days. "Through the first six...

Graco goes vertical: when it consolidated two manufacturing facilities, child car seat maker Graco discovered operational efficiencies from better use of overhead space.(MANUFACTURING SPOTLIGHT)
October 1, 2004... From the beginning, there wasn't much question that Graco Children's Products was trying to fit too much into too small a space. But it had to be done. Quite simply, the company needed to close a 300,000 square foot injection molding...

A world of packaging solutions: at next month's Pack Expo International these and other products will be on display.(SHOW PREVIEW)(Buyers Guide)
October 1, 2004... BULK CONTAINER FEATURES SMALL FOOTPRINT Featuring a 32 X 30 inch footprint and 17-inch height, a bulk container is designed for delivering heavy piece parts and hardware to line operations. Its proprietary rib design and high-density...

Top trends in industrial packaging.
October 1, 2004... Five major forces are shaping developments in industrial packaging today. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To begin, consumer packaging sizes and shapes are constantly changing, as are the ways that retailers display products, which requires...

FKI Logistex: the power of productivity.
October 1, 2004... FKI Logistex is a leading global provider of automated material handling solutions for the manufacturing market, such as integrated palletizing, depalletizing, case- and unit-handling, and robotic systems. Reliable, cost-effective FKI Logistex...

Returnable packaging value added services.
October 1, 2004... Cut and weld containers are another value added service offered by Schaefer. We can increase or decrease the length, width or height of any existing Schaefer container to fit your specific need. Tests have shown that cutting and welding will...

Global Supply Chain Conference, October 20 & 21, 2004.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... YOU'RE INVITED... WHAT: GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN CONFERENCE WHEN: OCTOBER 20 & 21, 2004 WHERE: FROM THE CONVENIENCE OF YOUR DESK TOP HOW: Register at www.scmr.com/gscc Join Michael Hammer--author of the business classic...

Store and retrieve light and heavy loads.
October 1, 2004... A range of storage/retrieval machines (S/RM) stores and retrieves trays, bins and cartons in warehouses with ceilings up to 150 feet. Drive, control and automation units are integrated to achieve high throughput and minimize operating costs,...

Store various-sized parts.
October 1, 2004... Pickomat is a stand-alone system for the storage, buffering, accessing and order-picking of small- to medium-sized parts. The dynamic drive technology of frequency-controlled drives delivers high order-picking performance, according to the...

Carousels for light- and medium-duty applications.
October 1, 2004... Two vertical carousel families, the 2100 and 2200 series, deliver high-density storage and high throughput. For light-duty applications, the 2100 series features a maximum tray size of 18 1/2 inches deep and 102 inches wide. Tray sizes for the...

Increase storage 60%.(Lean-Lift )
October 1, 2004... To create 60% more cubic storage capacity than mini-load systems, the Lean-Lift utilizes a compact, height-optimized tray placement design. Load capacity is more than 2,200 pounds for each tray, and approximately 132,000 pounds for the entire...

AS/RS for extreme loads.(automated storage and retrieval systems)(Murata Machinery USA Inc)
October 1, 2004... The SL Series of high-rise unit-load automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) handles extreme load requirements. Designed for rack-supported and free-standing automated storage and retrieval systems, the storage/retrieval machine reaches...

Save 85% of floor space.(Shuttle XP vertical lift module )
October 1, 2004... Designed to save up to 85% of floor space, the Shuttle XP vertical lift module (VLM) is up to 65 feet tall and is fully loaded with shelf rails for storing trays at 100% dynamic storage capacity. Its 1-inch shelf rail positioning provides 50%...

Carousel features 55-inch carrier depths.(Diamond Phoenix )
October 1, 2004... With a dual-chain guiding system, the POWERdepot vertical carousel offers carrier depths up to 55 inches. Multiple carrier depths and numerous carrier clear heights and widths allow maximum cube utilization. The system's carrier widths reach up...

Achieve quicker picks.(carousel system)(Knapp Solutions )
October 1, 2004... A carousel system is composed of several modules that operate independently of each other to increase picking performance. This design allows up to four times more storage locations to be simultaneously accessible. The MVC-2700 carousel...

Storage for low ceilings.(storage/retrieval system)(System Storage Solutions )
October 1, 2004... The CUBE is the first horizontal storage/retrieval system that incorporates the technology of a vertical lift module while being suitable for low-ceiling-height applications. Featuring an 88,000-pound load capacity, the CUBE stores up to 160...

S/RM stores 4,000-pound loads.(storage and retrieval machine )
October 1, 2004... A unit-load storage and retrieval machine (S/RM) offers load-handling options for both single- and double-deep rack configurations for loads weighing up to 4,000 pounds. Product can be accessed on a random basis and delivered to shipping docks...

High-speed box buffer.
October 1, 2004... Designed with a crab rail shuttle, the MSS II high-speed box buffer features an average cycle time of only 20 seconds, making it ideal for high-volume picking applications. Variable rail and shuttle speeds are available to match throughput...

Going vertical.
October 1, 2004... Covering a minimum amount of floor space, the MegaStation is an automated vertical carousel that operates on the "goods-to-man" principle. Its computer-controlled multi-purpose carriers travel the shortest path to efficiently deliver parts to...

Flexible S/RM changes aisles.(storage and retrieval machine)(Cleco Systems Inc)
October 1, 2004... With the flexibility of a very-narrow-aisle truck, the 3,300 pound-capacity Maestro free-roaming storage and retrieval machine (S/RM) easily changes aisles. The all-electric machine featuring twin masts and computer controls performs pallet and...

Lift loads at 600 feet/minute.
October 1, 2004... A single-mast storage and retrieval machine (S/RM) travels at 984 feet per minute and lifts at top speeds of nearly 600 feet per minute. The Mustang is constructed of light steel and withstands temperatures ranging from -22 to 122[degrees]F. It...

Precise pallet positioning.
October 1, 2004... Featuring the Satellite system, a storage and retrieval machine (S/RM) precisely positions pallets using laser technology. The double-masted system operates in rack structures with storage lanes up to 12 pallets deep, has dual drives on each...

Packing them in: flexibility is key when determining how to store partial pallets that can chew up valuable space.(stock keeping units)
October 1, 2004... TO REDUCE TRANSPORTATION COSTS FOR PRODUCTS ARRIVING FROM OVERSEAS, cartons are normally hand-stacked in shipping containers. This works well for reducing shipping costs, but if we're not careful, we may give away the savings in storage and...

Your guide to equipment, systems and software.(EDITORIAL)
October 15, 2004... From the economic numbers that I'm seeing, we're coming into the sweet spot of an expansion in capital expenditures. In fact, materials handling made a good run during the past year, posting shipment numbers that are 13% ahead of a year...

Floor space used to the max with very narrow aisle trucks: pallet putaway is expedited and cycle counts simplified with man-up trucks.(LIFT TRUCKS)
October 15, 2004... Processing more than 2,000 orders a day for its portable spas, Watkins Manufacturing, Vista, Calif., quickly outgrew its manufacturing center and built a new one to keep up with increasing demand. Just as important, the company wanted to...

Downtime nearly eliminated after switch to new fleet: maintenance plan frees up staff while keeping fleet in constant motion.(LIFT TRUCKS)
October 15, 2004... When All-Clad Metalcrafters saw a change in demand for its high-end cookware products, it was time to rethink its current materials handling processes. Previously, demand for its products had two peak periods--March to June and September...

Automated fleet doubles throughput: plastics manufacturer combines automated lift trucks and automatic guided vehicles for new warehouse efficiencies.(LIFT TRUCKS)
October 15, 2004... Automated systems have the potential to significantly improve the efficiencies of distribution centers. And that's exactly what one plastics manufacturer discovered when it replaced a manual lift truck fleet with a fleet that includes automated...

Fast charger keeps lift truck batteries revved up.(LIFT TRUCKS)
October 15, 2004... When Nestle Waters switched from propane-powered lift trucks to electrics at its Poland Spring water bottling plant in Framingham, Mass., the company found that battery charging had a definite downside. Not only did charging take time and space...

Electric pallet trucks spice up warehouse efficiency.(LIFT TRUCKS)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... As its name suggests, the Spice Hunter Co. is a distributor of unique and hard-to-find spices. Unfortunately, moving spices with manual pallet trucks at the company's San Luis Obispo, Calif. warehouse was more difficult than it needed to be....

Upgraded lift truck fleet improves productivity and operator morale.(LIFT TRUCKS)
October 15, 2004... Household products are always in demand. And at Church & Dwight, which makes numerous products including Arm & Hammer baking soda, inventory at its warehouses turns over every two to three weeks. Clearly, the uptime of its lift truck fleet...

Articulated trucks maneuver easily through narrow aisles at printing company.(LIFT TRUCKS)(Harris Printing Company )(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... Harris Printing Company has made a name for itself in West End, N.C. by being dependable and responsive to customer needs. Printing nearly anything from brochures to posters to catalogs, Harris has seen its business expand into a mid-size...

Orderpickers win the war of words.(LIFT TRUCKS)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... It would seem inevitable that all libraries will eventually run out of space at one point or another. Every year, thousands of new books are written while older ones are still kept on shelves. Cornell University was facing just that...

AGVs keep plastic bottle production in top shape: wire-guided vehicles provide well-coordinated movement and flexibility to ensure production lines run smoothly.(FIXED PATH)
October 15, 2004... When the plastic bottle manufacturer Southeastern Container started producing injection molded preforms at its Enka, N.C. plant, only one fork truck was needed to serve the plant's two production lines. A lot has changed since then. Today,...

Crossdocking puts goods on the fast track to store shelves.(FIXED PATH)
October 15, 2004... Department store chain Belk knew it needed to speed up its supply chain. Serving 215 stores in 14 southeastern states in a timely manner had become too great a challenge for its distribution centers. In short, too many receiving points and...

Guided vehicles save $300,000 at Kraft.(FIXED PATH)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... When product and pallet damage caused by fork truck mishandling became too great a cost at a Kraft Foods facility, the company turned to automation. Fork trucks, which previously handled the plant's food and beverage products, often lifted...

Conveyors transport airport baggage at a fast pace.(FIXED PATH)
October 15, 2004... Airport baggage handling systems face multiple strict requirements these days from accurate transit between airports to heightened security measures. Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada recently added even one more...

Lifting device reduces injuries, doubles productivity.(FIXED PATH)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... Goulds Pump manufactures pumps, a process that presents high risks to both personnel and product. Operators at one of Goulds' workstations were constantly in harm's way as they placed castings weighing 35 to 70 pounds into a milling machine,...

Newspaper increases productivity with AGVs.(FIXED PATH)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... In the newspaper business, timing and efficiency is everything. That's certainly true for Canada's single largest newspaper, the Toronto Star, which ships 3.5 million newspapers a week. Continuously converting rolls of paper into newspapers,...

Sorting system prevents jams.(FIXED PATH)
October 15, 2004... Williams-Sonoma's DC in Olive Branch, Miss. needed a materials handling solution that would ensure continuous, smooth product movement at all times and deliver high throughput. The specialty retailer of home furnishings ships millions of...

AGVs do double duty at injection molding plant.(FIXED PATH)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... Some jobs are just made for automated systems. And the injection molding manufacturer Lasco Fittings is one such place where that's true. When it opened a new Tennessee plant for 24 X 7 X 365 operation, the company knew it needed automated...

Automated storage is the best prescription: a pharmaceutical supplier stores 500% more product with a high-bay automated system.(STORAGE/STAGING)
October 15, 2004... As the largest pharmaceutical supplier in Canada, the Apotex Group produces more than 220 generic pharmaceuticals to fill over 55 million prescriptions a year. And these numbers have only been growing since TorPharm, a division of Apotex,...

Carousels cut order processing costs by almost 90%: horizontal carousels also reduce floor space 75% while doubling orders handled.(STORAGE/STAGING)
October 15, 2004... The supply processing and dispatch (SPD) department of Wausau Hospital is responsible for providing required medical and surgical supplies to more than 300 locations at any moment, 24/7. If that isn't demanding enough, the department faced a...

Efficient storage system energizes power plant.(STORAGE/STAGING)
October 15, 2004... As the world's largest supplier of renewable geothermal energy, Calpine Corp. knows a thing or two about efficiency. And when the company opened a new power plant in Decatur, Ala., it sought efficiency in a space-saving storage system...

Flexible order fulfillment: the latest style for salons.(STORAGE/STAGING)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... For East Coast Salon Services, a full-service distributor of salon and spa products to the professional beauty industry, flexible orderpicking is everything. East Coast delivers over 7,000 different products to more than 4,000 customers...

Semi-automated storage cuts retrieval time.(STORAGE/STAGING)(Brief Article)
October 15, 2004... For Medex Inc., a global medical device manufacturer for intensive care procedures, timing is critical. However, to maintain a just-in-time production schedule at one of its plants, the company needed to mend its storage process. A...

Orderpicking is ahead of schedule.(STORAGE/STAGING)
October 15, 2004... Efficient picking and tight inventory control are the lifeline of online order fulfillment, particularly during seasonal peaks. Out-of-stock items and incorrect orders simply mean lost business. That was the hard fact Calendars.com faced if...

Utah automates storage to keep alcohol flowing.(STORAGE/STAGING)
October 15, 2004... Following the 2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City, Utah saw such an influx of tourists and population that its Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC) could barely keep store and restaurant inventories from running dry. As a result,...

Decking meets fire code for safe record keeping.(STORAGE/STAGING)
October 15, 2004... ArchivesOne, one of the five largest records management companies in the United States, needed to upgrade its shelving system to comply with a standard passed by the National Fire Protection Association. That standard requires sprinklers for...

Ink-jet and labeling systems identify broad product range: Associated Milk Products labels up to 12 cartons per minute with its new ink-jet system.(INFORMATION SYSTEMS)
October 15, 2004... Associated Milk Products Inc. (AMPI), a dairy cooperative owned by more than 4,600 dairy farms in the upper Midwest, produces cheese loaves and bricks as well as shredded cheese for commercial and institutional customers and the federal...

Accurate weighing boosts production rates.(INFORMATION SYSTEMS)
October 15, 2004... Rinker Materials Corp. knows all about heavy-duty materials handling. This manufacturer of bulk masonry materials produces bags of cement, each weighing up to 100 pounds. To push production rates even higher at its Port Everglades, Fla. plant,...

Simulation software eliminates pancake jams.(INFORMATION SYSTEMS)
October 15, 2004... Preventing product damage is important to any manufacturer, but is particularly crucial to the food industry where jammed perishables can make for a real mess. Such was the case for a frozen pancake manufacturer whose inefficient conveyor...

Real-time tracking in real-cold environments.(INFORMATION SYSTEMS)
October 15, 2004... For third-party logistics providers, customer satisfaction is essential. Not meeting a customer's request can mean lost business. So when customers of the cold storage provider Daalimpex required real-time product tracking, the European company...

Labeling system puts an end to shipping errors.(INFORMATION SYSTEMS)
October 15, 2004... Inaccurate and late shipments are a threat to Copeland Corp., a leading manufacturer of compressors for residential and commercial air conditioning and refrigeration systems. Many of its customers levy fines for such poor performance, which...

RFID moves into distribution: long used in manufacturing, radio frequency identification is poised to make its mark with Wal-Mart, the Department of Defense and others.(INFORMATION SYSTEMS)
October 15, 2004... When both the country's largest retailer and the U.S. military issue mandates for use of radio frequency identification in their respective supply chains, there can be no doubt that tremendous change lies ahead for their suppliers as well as...

Collapsible containers save $70,000 annually: Borg Warner cuts costs and reduces part damage by switching to reusable bulk boxes.(Packaging)
October 15, 2004... Borg Warner's automotive parts plant in Muncie, Ind. regularly received shipments of components in wire containers from a Canadian supplier. Unfortunately, damage to the parts was high and the number of cases packed in each container limited to...

Stretch-hood system improves package integrity.(PACKAGING)
October 15, 2004... BSH Home Appliances was looking to optimize its practices when it began to build two new production facilities in New Bern, N.C. At the top of the list was reducing the cost of protecting its home appliances from damage during storage and...

Automatic palletizers increase throughput 50%.(Packaging)
October 15, 2004... Manual palletizing of printed newspapers was becoming increasingly ineffective at News International, publisher of several of London's prominent dailies. Thicker newspapers meant fewer copies per bundle, and more bundles to palletize. Yet,...

Rigid crates reduce damage to fragile contents.(PACKAGING)
October 15, 2004... Damage to any product being shipped can be frustrating for a distributor. When the product is vegetables, any damage can ruin them. But for Kroeker Farms, damage to shipments of root onions can destroy an entire year's crop. [ILLUSTRATION...

Rugged containers protect heavy auto parts.(Packaging)
October 15, 2004... Shipping its steel stampings for automotive and electric motors was a problem for El-Met-Parts. While the components left the Dundas, Ontario, Canada plant in good shape, they didn't always arrive at their destination in the same condition. ...

Manufacturers/integrators listings.(Directory)
October 15, 2004... A A L SYSTEMS 973-586-8500 www.alsystemsinc.com FAX 973-586-8865 385 Franklin Ave., Ste. C, Rockaway, NJ 07866 John Sarinick, Director of Business Development A & A Manufacturing Co., Inc. 800-298-2066 ...

Equipment selections.(industrial equipment)
October 15, 2004... Products may be alphabetically listed under nouns or adjectives, depending upon usage and convention (i.e. levelers, dock; dock boards). Check both options to find the product you want. AGVS (See AUTOMATIC GUIDED VEHICLES) AS/RS (See...

Suppliers of systems integration services.(SYSTEMS INTEGRATION SUPPLIERS)(Directory)
October 15, 2004... Systems integrators are classified by type and function. The first listing, starting on this page, is an alphabetical guide to companies, with company type designated by letters A through E. These symbols are explained in the accompanying box...