modern materials handling - 08 aug 2009

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page 18

MODERN EXCLUSIVE REPORT

Top 20 lift trucksuppliers 25

SPECIAL PACKAGING COVERAGE

• End-of-the-line packaging 29• Dunnage 38

• Palletizer products 44

m m h . c o m

PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING

August 2009

B I G P I C T U R E

Affordableinnovation

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mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 3

ENHANCING ITS SOFTWARE PRODUCT LINE and extending its reach into complex conveyors and sorters found in large-scale distribution facilities, Reddwerks (www.reddwerks.com), a provider of warehouse performance management (WPM) software and solutions, has completed its acquisition of SeayCo (www.seaycointegrators.com), a developer of advanced warehouse control systems and sortation soft-

ware. Reddwerks’ support teams and online portal will be available for both Reddwerks and SeayCo clients. The company will retain key SeayCo customer support and development resources to ensure continued success with the SeayCo product line and services teams. The combined R&D team will continue Reddwerks’ focus on improving the WPM software, with the 4.0 version scheduled for comple-tion in 2010.

THE PACKAGING MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS INSTITUTE (PMMI, www.pmmi.org) has launched “Troubleshooting Packaging Machinery,” an online self-study course open to all packaging profession-als. The e-course is offered through PMMI U, the institute’s training and development effort. Developed in cooperation with the University of Florida, the course presents entry-level theory, process and logic of troubleshooting and applies those ideas to packaging operations. It brings principles to life with animation, video and inter-active exercises, and teaches a logical approach to troubleshooting, so technicians understand what questions to ask—and why—to locate the most likely cause of a problem before making adjustments or repairs.

MAKE OLD BAR CODE technology new. Ryzex, (www.ryzex.com) a mobile technology services company, has launched a contest to identify the world’s oldest working bar code data collection device. “The Big Upgrade” (www.bigupgrade.com) competition provides partici-pants with a chance to turn old data capture equipment into new technology. The winner will receive a new hand-held computer from Psion Teklogix (www.psionteklogix.com) to replace their legacy device. To be considered, participants need to provide contact and device informa-tion, including a photo of their equipment in action.

LOCAL CALIFORNIA AGENCY STOPWASTE.ORG (www.stopwaste.org) received a $35,000 grant from U.S. EPA Region 9 to expand the “Use Reusables” campaign into communities throughout California’s Bay Area. The campaign helps businesses reduce costs and improve environmental performance by replacing limited-use pallets, boxes and other transport packaging materials with reusable alterna-tives. “Use Reusables” was launched in 2007, in partnership with the Reusable Packaging Association (www.choosere-usables.com), a non-profit trade association representing

manufacturers, dis-tributors and others in the reusable transport packaging industry. The campaign pro-vides free educational resources, training workshops and expert advice to help businesses transition to reusable transport packaging.

Who has the oldest working bar code device?

B R E A K I N G N E W S Y O U S H O U L D K N O W

CONVEYABLES

“Use Reusables” goes regional

Reddwerks acquires SeayCo Integrators

PMMI launches online troubleshooting course

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Modern Materials Handling® (ISSN 0026-8038, (GST # 123397457), is published monthly by Reed Business Information, 8878 Barrons Blvd., Highlands Ranch, CO 80129-2345. Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier, is located at 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10014. Tad Smith, CEO. Circulation records are maintained at Reed Business Information, 8878 Barrons Blvd., Highlands Ranch, CO 80129-2345. Phone (303) 470-4445. Periodicals Postage Paid at Littleton, CO 80126 and at additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Modern Materials Handling, P.O. Box 7500, Highlands Ranch, CO 80163-7500. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40685520. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: RCS International, Box 697 STN A, Windsor Ontario N9A 6N4. E-mail: [email protected]. Please address all subscription mail to Modern Materials Handling, 8878 Barrons Blvd., Highlands Ranch, CO 80129-2345. Rates for non-qualifi ed subscrip-tions including all issues: US, $119.99/yr, Canada, $159.99/yr (includes 7% GST, GST#123397457); Mexico, $159.99/yr; International air delivery, $249.99/yr. Printed in U.S.A. Modern Materials Handling® is a registered trademark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc. used under license.

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PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING

VOL. 64, NO. 8

DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS3/ Conveyables7/ This month in Modern17/ Lift truck tips: Leasing44/ Product Focus: Palletizers50/ 60 seconds with...

NEWS9/ Total RFID revenue expected to exceed $5.6 billion this year10/ Sasaki named president of Toyota Industrial Equipment11/ ISM says manufacturing up slowly, positive PMI imminent12/ Crown to kick off LPG13/ ID Label acquires Universal Label Technologies14/ Updated carousel and VLM planning tool now available15/ From our blogs: How big is your (carbon) footprint? Wal-Mart wants to know

COVER STORYBIG PICTURE

18 Affordable innovationWith the economy in the tank and end users reluctant to spend, the materials handling and supply chain software industries are coming up with new ways to put innovation and automation within everyone’s reach.

FEATURESSPECIAL REPORT

25 Top 20 lift truck suppliersFor the first three fiscal quarters of 2008, worldwide lift truck sales rolled right along. In the fourth quarter, it was a different story.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

34 Getting more from less with inventory optimizationEarly adopters of inventory optimization management systems are improving service levels while reducing the amount of inventory in the supply chain.

Sarah Carlson, Jervis B. Webb and MHIA’s AGVS industry group, page 50

SPECIAL PACKAGING COVERAGEEQUIPMENT REPORT

29 At the end of the lineHere are three examples of best practices in end-of-the-line packaging that might make a difference in your facility.

PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTION

38 Safe travels; lower costsAviation equipment supplier uses a versatile packaging system to cut expenses and protect products during shipping.

PRODUCT FOCUS

44 Palletizers

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m m h . c o m MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 7

T H I S M O N T H I N M o d e r nEDITORIAL OFFICES225 WYMAN STREETWaltham, MA 02451(781) 734-8000

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THERE’S A VERY succinct reason we feature progressive, innovative materials handling practitioners on the cover of Modern month after month: We want to showcase the best of the best, but we also want to help push the slow adapters over the fence.

There are a couple of common charac-teristics that we fi nd in these leaders. First, they very rarely make snap decisions to apply a new technology or to automate without weighing the ROI and measuring the ultimate benefi t to the company.

In fact, these true visionaries have made advanced materials handling and distribu-tion a core component of the company’s greater supply chain mission—or if they’re like Kroger, who graced our cover back in May, they’ve set out to fl ip their vertical market on its head starting with the process inside their four walls.

Second, true innovators never stop inno-vating, not even during the worst economic climate of their lifetimes. They’ve come to realize that innovation doesn’t necessar-ily come with a huge price tag; in fact, it’s often done best on a shoe string or through precisely targeted investment designed to solve the most pressing problems fi rst.

Well, this month we’ve set out to keep that ambitious set on the fast track, but we’re also looking to give a little push to those managers who are still on the fence.

On page 18, we’re offering the fi rst in our series of “Big Picture” features simply titled “Affordable innovation.” Executive Editor Bob Trebilcock takes a look at how 15 companies representing automated systems, software, and the lift truck indus-try are approaching the market now that a majority of their customers have tightened

their belts.“The ‘Catch 22’ is that end users who

want to take a leadership position in their industry have to innovate to stay ahead of the game; but in this kind of economy, innovation may no longer be a line item on the budget,” says Trebilcock. “I wanted to fi nd out what our industry is doing to keep materials and information handling solutions within the reach of our custom-ers…and what I found is that there’s a lot of affordable innovation going on.”

We hope this new feature fuels your pioneer spirit.

Editor’s Note: Like innovation, continuing education is another critical element that can’t take a back seat during these tough times. To help meet this need, Modern continues its series of educational events with the launch of our live webcast devoted to the results of the 2009 Lift Truck Usage Study on Thursday, August 27, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. You can register now at mmh.com/lifttruck09.

Our lift truck blogger/columnist Tom Andel will lead a panel discussion on the results of the study and identify the char-acteristics of the fl eet managers who have optimized this vital piece of equipment and mastered the art of balancing productivity and safety. The panel will also go behind the numbers to analyze the most common mistakes operators are making today.

So, do you think your lift truck fl eet is advanced? Attend this session and mea-sure just how well you’re doing compared to some of the best managed fl eets in the business.

Fueling the pioneer spirit

MICHAEL LEVANSGROUP EDITORIAL

DIRECTOR

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DESPITE THE DOWNWARD TURN in the global economy, total rev-enue earned from radio frequency identifi cation (RFID) transponders, readers, software and services is expected to exceed $5.6 billion in 2009, according to the latest market data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com), a New York-based market intelligence company spe-cializing in global connectivity and emerging technology.

“The recession has had an undeni-able effect on deployment plans,” said ABI research director Michael Liard, “but despite some project de-ferrals and terminations, there will be market growth, albeit fragmented.”

ABI Research estimates the RFID market was $5.36 billion in 2008. Excluding consumer automotive ap-plications, the market size is forecast to be $3.71 billion, representing 9.1% growth over 2007.

ABI Research anticipates annual growth to remain steady over the next fi ve years, with the total market

experiencing an 11% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2014. Analysts expect the market to reach more than $9.2 billion in 2014, or approximately $7.62 billion with consumer automobile applications excluded.

ABI Research’s “RFID Annual Market Overview” cites that among the modernizing applications, they expect the strongest fi ve-year (2008-2014) revenue growth to be realized within fi ve applications segments: • Supply chain management item-

level tracking (22.9%); • Cargo tracking and security

(22.7%); • Real-time locating systems (28.2%);

• Point-of-sale contactless payments (23.7%); and

• Animal ID (22.8%). Laird said the RFID market

continues to be worthy of cautious optimism in the near to mid-term, particularly in the closely watched passive UHF segment.

“Although the RFID market faces economic challenges, ABI Research would not characterize it as being in a state of despair or turmoil. We do not anticipate near-term market contraction based on economic conditions. However, anticipated growth rates may not be as robust as in previous years,” Liard said.

“In fact,” Liard added, “many in-


RFID systems revenue by primary applicationTraditional vs. Modernizing applicationsWorld Market Forecasts: 2009 and 2014

2009

Traditional applications*

2014

* Includes: access control, automobile immobilization, AVI and ID documents ** Includes: animal ID, asset management, baggage handling, cargo tracking & security, POS-contactless payment, RTLS, supply chain management and ticketing

Source: ABI Research

Modernizing applications**

$3.9 billion $1.7 billion

$4.9 billion $4.3 billion

Total:$5.6 billion

Total:$9.2 billion

DATA CAPTURE

ABI RESEARCH PREDICTS STRONG RFID GROWTH FOR SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT ITEM-LEVEL TRACKING IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

Total RFID revenue expected to exceed $5.6 billion this year

BY BOB TREBILCOCK, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Company Briefi ngs | Bob Trebilcock Cash for clunkers in materials handling? www.mmh.com/blog/clunkers

Takeaways | Tom AndelLift trucks and energy consumption www.mmh.com/blog/energy

Di@blogbest of Modern’s blogs

MMH090801_News_ID 9MMH090801_News_ID 9 8/11/2009 1:26:35 PM8/11/2009 1:26:35 PM

INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT

Sasaki named president of Toyota Industrial EquipmentTOYOTA HAS ANNOUNCED the appointment of Kazue Sasaki to president of Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg. (TIEM, www.toyotaforklift.com), the U.S. manufacturing plant for Toyota lift trucks. In addition, he is now president of Toyota Industries North Amer-ica, a holding company, and a director of the Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. (TMHU) board of directors.

As president, Sasaki is re-sponsible for all aspects of the Columbus, Ind., plant, which manufactures the majority of Toyota lift trucks sold in the United States.

Outgoing president Susumu (Sonny) Toyoda will remain active in Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO). Toyoda, who served a fi ve-year tenure at TIEM, was infl uential in leading the plant to achieve numerous environmental and manufacturing ac-colades including a zero-landfi ll status and the production of the 300,000th lift truck.

Sasaki brings more than 20 years of management and engineering experience to the plant, most recently serving as a senior managing offi cer of TICO. Prior to this role, Sasaki was a managing offi cer, director and led TICO’s Engine Division, and was responsible for col-laborations with Toyota Motor Corp. to produce environ-mentally friendly diesel engine concepts, along with new business development activities.

“Sasaki’s passion for quality and excellence showcases his leadership abilities,” said Shankar Basu, chairman and chief executive of TMHU and a director of Toyota Indus-trial Equipment Mfg. “It is an honor to welcome him as a member of the team.”

Sasaki has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineer-ing from Kyoto University.

dustry participants contacted by ABI Research feel cur-rent conditions are challenging but may only represent a small bump in overall RFID adoption. However, there is a sense that vendor performance and end-user activity during Q1 and Q2 2009 will be critical bellwethers for overall near-term RFID market growth within traditional and modernizing applications.”

10 A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING m m h . c o m

New weekly e-newsletterModern has launched “This Week in Modern.” Our editors created this new weekly editorial e-newsletter for the busy materials handling and manufacturing professional. The goal is to keep you up to speed on the latest breaking news and new products that are currently hitting the market. We’ll also be featuring our most intriguing blog posts from the previ-ous week to get you more involved in the materials handling conversation. Sign up here: reg.mmh.com/newsletter/subscribe

MMH goesMobileWe know how busy you are. We know how sometimes all you have on the go is your phone. Now, you can take Modern with you. Check our daily news and prod-ucts any time, any where. Bookmark our new mobile site at: mobile.mmh.com.

Lift truck WebcastTune in for the live results of Modern’s 2009 Lift Truck Usage Study. In this Web-cast entitled “So, you think your lift truck fl eet is advanced?” Modern’s lift truck blogger/columnist Tom Andel leads a discussion around the complete results of this exclusive study. Thursday, August 27 at 2:00 p.m. ESTRegister: mmh.com/lifttruck09

Follow us on TwitterStay connected: Get breaking news, updates to our site, as well as special industry announcements. Follow Modern on Twitter at: @ModernMHMag. In addi-tion, you can follow our sister publication Material Handling Product News at: @mhpn. You can also fi nd Modern’s page on Facebook and become a fan.

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WS

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ECONOMY

ISM says manufacturing up slowly, positive PMI imminentMANUFACTURING, ON A WHOLE, is still going up, al-beit “slow and deliberate,” according to the Institute for Supply Management.

The latest report from the Institute for Supply Man-agement (ISM) shows that the economy has been in decline for 18 months straight.

And, according to Norbert Ore, chair of ISM’s manu-facturing business survey committee, that’s a good thing.

ISM collects a number of statistics each month, and the fi gure Ore watches the most is the Purchasing Man-agers Index (PMI), which represents the manufacturing industry as a whole. On a scale of 1 to 100, anything below 50 is considered “in decline.” Whenever any kind of recession has taken place in the past, Ore said the PMI slips below 50 to refl ect tough economic times.

Typically, however, the PMI doesn’t stay below 50 for more than 17 to 18 months before climbing above 50

into “growth” territory. “It always seems to be some-where in that range,” he said.

In July, according to the ISM’s latest report, the PMI was below 50 for the 18th straight month. In other words, it’s due to climb above 50, and the past seven months have shown it trending in that direction. In January 2009, the PMI rose from December’s fi gure of 32.9 to 35.6%, and hasn’t looked back since. In July, it rose 4.1 percent-age points to 48.9%.

“We’re on the right path,” Ore said. At this rate, Ore said the PMI is poised to cross the

50% threshold either this month or in September. This will mark the fi rst step into positive territory since the recession began.

Of course, the real telling sign the economy is on the rebound will be if the PMI remains above 50, and doesn’t lose any of the ground it’s gained. Ore said it is likely to continue climbing, as other fi gures are also showing posi-tive change. Over the past four months, he said, custom-er inventories have declined sharply, dropping one point to 42.5% in July. Again, that’s a good thing, Ore said, because these inventories, typically referring to consumer products and fi nished goods, are bound to lead to new orders for those goods, which boosts manufacturing.



LIFT TRUCKS

Crown to kick off LPG LATER THIS YEAR, Crown Equipment Corporation (www.crown.com) will be introducing a new line of propane-powered lift trucks that will be the fi rst-ever Crown-designed and built of its kind. Crown intends to keep details of the new product secret until its offi cial launch. But you can see a sneak preview of the lift truck hoisting Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson on the cover of the July issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Ore admitted that the inventory fi gure is a little lower than normal—ISM prefers to see it hovering around the 45% mark, but in the current economy, lower than normal is better than higher.

Other fi gures are on the rise, too. The New Orders Index came in at 55.3% in July, which was 6.1 points higher than June. The index has grown in two of the last three months, according to the ISM report. In addition, nine out of 14 reporting industries reported growth in new orders in July. Prices, Ore noted, are also up, indi-cating manufacturers are feeling braver. It all adds up to a positive outlook for the coming months.

“All of them begin to feed on each other,” he said. It will still take time, of course, before the effects of

the anticipated good news will fi lter down into the main-stream economy. Employment, Ore noted, will always lag behind everything else, whether the economy is in growth or decline. ISM’s July report showed the Employment Index went up 4.9 percentage points to 45.6%, but it still remained in decline, for the 12th month straight, and Ore said it will probably be among the last indices to recover.

But manufacturing, on a whole, is still going up, albeit “slow and deliberate,” Ore said.

Non-manufacturing index slips in JulyThe latest non-manufacturing sector report from ISM showed a slip in recent growth, but current predictions of economic recovery are still on track, according to An-thony Nieves, chair of ISM’s non-manufacturing business survey committee.

While the manufacturing sector has shown steady growth for the past seven months, non-manufacturing has fl uctuated back and forth. Still, Nieves said he expected to see more stable, level fi gures for July.

Instead, he said, the non-manufacturing index (NMI) slipped 0.6 points to 46.4%, and other fi gures also dropped unexpectedly.

“This was a surprising report,” Nieves said. Summer, as a rule, is a typically slow time for non-

manufacturing industries, but only seven out of 17 industries reported any growth in July. The business index, poised to cross the 50% mark in June at 49.8%, fell to 46.1%. New Orders fell from 48.6 to 48.1% in July, too.

Some industrial declines, such as travel and tourism, refl ected the current consumer attitude still fueled by the recession, Nieves said. “People are just keeping their purse-strings tight,” he added.

But not everything is doom and gloom. Nieves said the real estate, rental and leasing industry has reported growth. So too has health care, of which Nieves said “it has probably been the one sector that’s been most reces-sion resistant.”

Nieves also looked to the manufacturing sector as a positive sign. However fi ckle non-manufacturing has proven to be, the steady growth in manufacturing is a good sign that non-manufacturing will soon follow suit. Typically, Nieves said the manufacturing sector shows the fi rst signs of decline when the country falls into a reces-sion, and eventually shows the fi rst signs that the country is climbing out of one.

Right now, ISM is predicting both sectors will show positive growth before the end of the year, and possibly before the end of the fall. Nieves said the non-manufac-turing sector is still on track with that prediction, despite the backslide recorded in July.



INDUSTRY NEWS

ID Label acquires Universal Label TechnologiesA LETTER OF INTENT to purchase has been signed by ID Label (www.idlabelinc.com) for the assets of Uni-versal Label Technologies (ULT, www.ultbarcodes.com). ID Label manufac-tures a range of preprinted bar code labels and signs.

“ULT has been a leader in the variable image, bar code label man-ufacturing for warehouse applica-tions since it was founded in 2001. We look forward to building on the foundation that ULT has provided its clients for the past eight years, and extending the product offering to help them grow their business under the ID Label banner,” said Neil Johnston, president of ID Label.

“The acquisition gives ID Label

an expanded customer base of cli-ents that have an ongoing need for LPN labels, rack bin location labels, retro refl ective signs and installa-tion services,” said William Powers, ID Label vice president of sales and marketing. “The manufacturing and service offerings of ID Label will signifi cantly benefi t ULT clients.”

“The equipment we have ac-quired with this transaction expands our capabilities to service additional

niche applications in the bar code and variable image marketplace,” added Jeff Chandler, chief operat-ing offi cer of ID Label. “Our exper-tise in variable image label manu-facturing provides us with a strong understanding of how we can utilize this equipment to the benefi t of existing and future clients.”

ID Label will continue to maintain operations at the existing ULT facil-ity and employ a number of staff at its Attleboro Falls, Mass., location. A portion of the manufacturing opera-tion will be transferred to the new 21,000-square-foot facility ID Label will operate in Lake Villa, Ill. This facility is scheduled to be complete in September 2009.

…there’s something new every day on the Modern Web site? Check out the MHPN Product of the Day every single day at www.mmh.com.

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AUTOMATED STORAGE

Updated carousel & VLM planning tool now availableTHE AUTOMATED STORAGE/RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS (AS/RS) In-

dustry Group of Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA, www.mhia.org) announced the publication of the latest version of the Carousel & VLM Planning Tool. This space requirement and throughput tool for horizontal and vertical carousels and vertical lift modules (VLMs) now

has the capability to consider the tax implications of the American Recov-ery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (including the Section 179 boost for small businesses.)

The computerized tool was fi rst developed at Virginia Tech for the Carousel/VLM Working Group of the AS/RS Industry Group. The tool covers three semi-automated order picking technologies—vertical carou-sels, horizontal carousels and VLMs. The purpose of the tool is to quickly determine space requirements and throughput capabilities for various system confi gurations suggested by the user.

The tool also provides results for a comparable manual shelving system. Additional capabilities have been added at the University of Arkansas to facilitate an evaluation of a return on investment (ROI) for the Carou-sel/VLM system confi gurations as compared to a comparable manual shelving system. The latest version, version 5, adds the capability to consider the tax implications of the American Recovery and Reinvest-ment Act of 2009.

The package contains an overview of the program and a computer-based program imbedded within an Excel spreadsheet and is available for download at no cost at MHIA.org.


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How big is your (carbon) footprint? Wal-Mart wants to knowThe following is an excerpt from executive editor Bob Trebilcock’s blog. Read the full version here: www.mmh.com/footprintHow green is your supply chain? It’s not an idle question if you’re one of the 100,000 suppliers to Wal-Mart. The retail giant announced a plan to have its suppliers calculate the full environmental costs of making products. Wal-Mart will translate that info into a label that will appear along with the price of the product and other consumer information.

The idea is to let consumers make more informed choices about the products they buy: Do they want the lowest pos-sible price, damn our dependence on fossil fuel, or are they willing to pay a little more for a product with a smaller carbon footprint?

When we’ll begin to see these new labels is anyone’s guess. For the last several years, Wal-Mart has been focused on meaningful reductions in its carbon footprint and selling more energy-effi cient products. The results are impressive, which I’m sure is part of the reason that Wal-Mart wants to push its efforts out to its suppliers. But Stephen Stokes, vice president of sustainability and green technologies at AMR Research, wonders whether this is a good use of resources.

He gives Wal-Mart kudos for their internal sustainability efforts, but ultimately believes a supplier mandate will be “unpopular, ineffective and unsuccessful.” Remember, Stokes thinks the company is doing a great job internally.

Here’s the problem: “This has enormous supply chain im-plications,” says Stokes. “If suppliers are forced to spend their resources to calculate their carbon footprint and slap a label on everything, the compliance costs will be enormous.” To Stokes’ way of thinking, that money could be better spent to drive down the supply chain costs—and, an organization’s carbon footprint in the process—across an enterprise.

Take it one step further, and Stokes challenges whether it’s possible to come up with a valid number. “A lot of groups say this is just like creating a nutritional label and it’s not even close,” says Stokes. “If you want to challenge the label on a jar of baby food, you can send it to a laboratory and have it tested. When it comes to challenging supply chain costs, you can’t do a reverse calculation the way you can on a nutritional label.”

It does strike me that there’s a real opportunity for the ma-terials handling and supply chain software industries. Wal-Mart suppliers that decide to compete on their carbon labels as well as the price of their product will need to get more productive and effi cient in their operations. This is an opportunity for the industry to tie the benefi ts of our solutions not only to reducing operational costs, but to driving top line sales growth as well.

F R O M O U R B L O G S


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MMH_SupplyChainHouse.indd 1 6/24/2009 1:47:22 PMMMH090801_Display ads.indd 16MMH090801_Display ads.indd 16 8/13/2009 10:45:55 AM8/13/2009 10:45:55 AM


AS I WRITE this column, the lift truck leasing market is like the restaurant once described by the great Yogi Berra: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too

crowded.” Well, the market IS crowded—with inventory. The drop

in sales volume across ALL markets has led to more lift trucks being parked—in end user facilities as well as at dealer sites.

Dave Anderson, remarketing manager for Toyota Financial Services (www.toyotafi nancial.com), the captive fi nancing arm of Toyota Material Handling, says these conditions have prompted his company to do things it has never done before—like sell to wholesalers.

“When we go to remarket lift trucks in an auction atmosphere we don’t get a lot of activity today,” Ander-son told me. “Eighteen months ago on our typical bid list we’d have multiple units and most sold. Now we go out with hundreds with marginal sales results. They’re good prices, residual or lower, but the dealers are so loaded up on inventory and so cash starved they can’t buy at this point. That’s why we’ve had to get more creative in selling our merchandise.”

Lift truck providers face the same reality customers do: As inventory ages, it devalues. They HAVE to turn it over. That’s why leasing terms are more creative than ever. Providers are more willing to customize the terms to get customers to sign on the dotted line.

Fair market valueTypical lift truck leases are based on fair market value. The customer has the option of returning the equipment at the end of the lease or buying it at its fair market value.

Anderson explains that most of Toyota’s leases are without option because the dealers want to control

the equipment’s destiny at the end of the transaction. However…

“Our leases are unique because we guarantee what the residual will be,” Anderson says. “If our residual is $5,000 we guarantee that residual will be $5,000 regard-less of the fl uctuation in the value of that truck.”

Bob Sattler, vice president of Hyster Capital (www.hyster.com), the captive fi nance company for Hyster Co.,

says he’s seeing more refi nancing activity than new-truck transactions.

“You want to keep that asset deployed as long as possible,” Sattler says, “so the lenders are willing to ex-tend leases and even discount leases

at the end of the term to make sure those assets stay out there in the fi eld as long as possible. At the back end of leases it’s a buyer’s market.”

Let’s put it this way: it’s a qualifi ed buyer’s market. The size of a customer is no longer the determining factor in how far a lift truck provider will go to please him or her. It’s how credit-worthy they are. Yes, you’re in a better position to get deals these days, but the price may be a deeper dive into your fi nancials.

It’s a buyer’s market

Typical lift truck leases are based on fair market value. The

customer has the option of returning the equipment at the end of

the lease or buying it at its fair market value.

In this down economy, lift truck providers are more willing than ever to make a deal with a qualifi ed buyer.

LIFT TRUCK TIPSTOM ANDEL,

COLUMNIST

Contact Tom Andel at [email protected].

As inventory ages, it devalues. Providers are more willing to customize the terms to get customers to sign on the dotted line.

MMH090801_lifttips_ID 17MMH090801_lifttips_ID 17 8/11/2009 10:15:57 AM8/11/2009 10:15:57 AM

By Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor

AffordableAffordable innovation

With the economy in the tank and end users reluctant to spend, the materials handling and supply chain software industries are coming

up with new ways to put innovation and automation

within everyone’s reach.

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“We’re getting more requests for quotations than last year,” says Scot Aitcheson, director of fleet man-agement for Yale Materials Handling Corp. (800-233-9253, northamerica.yale.com) “But even if we can prove the return on investment, there is a hesi-tancy to take on any level of risk.”

It’s not just lift truck customers who are holding tight to their purse strings. Talk to systems suppli-ers or the technology industry and the story is the same: Lots of talk, no action. The projects that do

get approved are those that deliver a return on invest-ment this year.

But let’s not forget that innovation is one of the hallmarks of this industry. The best and the brightest are turning on their creative juices to put affordable innovation in reach of even the tightest fisted CFO. In the following pages, we look at how 15 companies representing automated systems, software and the lift truck industry are approaching the market with their customers’ leaner wallets in mind.

ll talk and no action! That best sums up the market for materials handling and sup-ply chain software solutions in 2009. The industry’s customers – that’s you, our readers – know they need to invest in innovation

if they’re going to continue to beat the competition and meet the expecta-tions of customers. But given the only thing that most users know about the near future is that they don’t know anything, few companies are willing to pull the trigger on a new system, solution or piece of equipment.

AAAffordable innovationinnovation

Automated systems:Taking the cost out of automationTime for a tune-up “If you already have a system in place, you’ve probably invested a lot in that solution,” says Ken Ruehrdanz, business development manager for Dematic (877-725-7500, www.dematic.us). “But when is the last time you had someone come in and tune up the sys-tem?” A Dematic team will perform an audit of your existing system, often at a very low cost, and then recommend affordable steps to get more productiv-ity from the investment you’ve already made. Those recommendations may be as simple as modernizing

the system with new controls and software; it may involve energy-saving measures that put the system in sleep mode when there’s no activity; or the addi-tion of variable frequency drives that allow you to speed up or slow down the system according to the level of activity. If the audit calls for a more expan-sive solution, Dematic can create a modular design to the system. That may involve installing one-aisle of an automated storage and retrieval system to begin automating a slow-moving pick area, with more aisles added later.

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Automate the conventional warehouseAn automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) can deliver significant space and labor savings in a full pallet warehouse. But it also represents a major upfront investment. HK Systems (262-860-7000, www.hksystems.com) is offering a more affordable approach for the warehouse with 30-foot racking and lift trucks for putaway and picking. “Instead of putting in an AS/RS or man-up lift trucks, we have a line of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) with 30-foot plus reach capacity,” says senior vice president Mike Kotecki. “This allows you to introduce auto-mation in a facility with conventional push back or selective rack retrieval.” HK refers to this approach as “automate the conventional.” The best candidate is the warehouse using three or more lift trucks across more than one shift a day. The savings comes from the reduction in labor if you don’t need a lift truck operator on more than one shift. And, instead of purchasing AGVs that may cost $80,000 each, an end user can pay a monthly lease and maintenance fee. A typical lease term would be eight years, says Kotecki.

Get a tax creditEveryone likes to save money on taxes, says Ed Romaine, marketing manager for Remstar (800-639-5805, www.remstar.com). That includes users of materials handling systems and equipment. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act extends to purchases made in 2009 a 50% bonus depreciation allowance for new machine tools and other equip-

ment ordered and placed in service during 2009, as well as an increased Section 179 expensing for small business equipment purchases. In the right circum-stances, these credits can result in tax deduction worth up to $119,000 on a 2009 equipment pur-chase of $400,000. You may not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out whether these tax credits apply to your organization—and they won’t apply to everyone—but you may need to be an accountant. Remstar will work with your CFO or tax advisers to provide the information they need to see if your pur-chase would qualify for these savings.

Retrofit, rebuild and saveDoing more with less while getting the most out of what you already have is an absolute necessity when budgets are tight and cash is scarce. Rather than replace a conveyor and sortation system or pal-letizer, a user may be able to extend the life of the system and increase throughput with a rebuild or retrofit of an existing system, says Dennis Gates, vice president of customer support for Intelligrated (513-701-7300, www.intelligrated.com). “Over the years, we’ve developed expertise in rebuilding sort-ers, combiners and high-end conveyor systems that we provide as well as systems implemented by other equipment providers,” says Gates. Intelligrated’s offerings can be as simple as a thorough audit to report on the current state of the system, with infor-mation on the components that are wearing out, to a partial or complete rebuild of the system. Retrofits and rebuilds can be done at night or over a weekend when a system is out of service so that it’s up and running for the next shift.

Get smart Anyone who attended ProMat last January couldn’t help but notice the proliferation of automatic guided carts (AGCs). In the right application, these carts are an affordable alternative to AGVs and lift trucks, with paybacks as short as three months. What’s the right application? One with multiple shifts, loads under 6,000 pounds, and simpler processes. A cart, for instance, isn’t sophisticated enough to load or unload trailers. In the last year, Jervis B. Webb (248-553-1000, www.jervisbwebb.com) has introduced fast-charging battery technology that allows a user to purchase fewer carts since they don’t have to be taken out of service for a battery change, and has increased the number of models to handle heavier loads and more processes.

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Supply chain software: Automating across the supply chainWMS for the rest of us “The traditional software model is fundamentally broken,” says Jim Burleigh, chief executive officer of SmartTurn (888-667-4758, www.smartturn.com). “There are so many costs associated with imple-menting, operating and maintaining the system.” SmartTurn provides a warehouse management sys-tem (WMS) in a software-as-a-service model (SaaS). The company’s solution is loaded on its own servers and is accessed over the Internet by users who pay a monthly subscription fee as low as $500 a month for basic inventory management, $800 a month for what SmartTurn defines as a full-blown WMS. The company, in turn, is responsible for maintenance and upgrades. SmartTurn isn’t right for everyone. For instance, the company doesn’t offer labor man-agement, companies with sophisticated picking strategies will find it lacking, and it isn’t designed to work with automated materials handling systems. “Our sweet spot is warehouses of less than 150,000 square feet, which is the majority of the facilities out there,” says Burleigh. “For the most part, they don’t need that functionality.”

WMS as a 3PLIn warehousing, third party logistics providers, or 3PLs, make their money by turning the capital investment of creating and operating a transporta-tion department or distribution center into a man-aged service provided by the 3PL. RedPrairie (877-733-7724, www.redprairie.com) is doing something similar for the WMS and transportation manage-ment system (TMS) user with the kind of sophisti-cated warehousing and transportation requirements that can’t be handled by an entry-level WMS, says RedPrairie’s Chris Hickey, executive vice presi-dent of sales. RedPrairie is taking several different

approaches to this market. One is to take a compo-nent of the company’s package, like labor manage-ment, that can be delivered as a standalone applica-tion. A second is for RedPrairie to implement and manage the system on a dedicated server at its host-ing center, much like a 3PL managing order fulfill-ment services for a company. The customer gets the benefit and security of having its own system, while paying a subscription fee.

Slotting software as a service Slotting software helps customers save money by relocating products in the DC to reduce the travel time for picking. Rather than purchase the soft-ware, SI Systems (800-523-9464, www.siingenuity.com) offers it as a service that users can access over the Internet. A customer provides SI Systems with a layout of its facility, the type of conventional and automated picking systems it uses, the location of products within that layout and the orders that are processed at any given period of time. With that information, the system creates a baseline, deter-mining for instance how much travel it takes to fill those orders and replenish locations. Once the baseline is created, the system can create alternative plans for slotting and picking, and compare them to see if the savings associated with the new strategy is enough to off-set the cost associated with reslot-ting. “Typically, we can show a customer a payback of less than a year, including the cost of using the service,” says chief operating officer William Casey.

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Flexible supply chain collaboration Supply chain collaboration platforms allow compa-nies pursuing an outsourced manufacturing or dis-tribution strategy to collaborate with all of its trading partners. While other collaboration providers offer their software over the Internet as a service, Amitive (650-212-1415, www.amitive.com) is taking it one step further, by offering a solution that automatically scales to a company’s computing needs, says chief executive officer Amar Singh. “Traditionally, a com-pany plans its hardware structure for peak capacity,” says Singh. “But that means that most of your serv-ers are idle 80% of the time.” Instead, Amitive has developed a load-balancing technology that moni-tors the load on a customer’s database servers. If the system senses that a customer is using a lot of com-puting resources and maxing out a server, it will add another one to pick up the slack. If the usage goes down, it will remove a server. “If you have a business that runs on 10 servers all day long, you won’t see much of a savings,” says Singh. “But if you have a business with seasonal demand and peaks, we think you’ll see significant savings because you’re only paying for capacity as you use it.”

Get your programming software for (almost) freeProgrammable logic controllers (PLCs) are the brains behind an automated materials handling sys-tem. These processors receive orders from a ware-house management or warehouse control system and make sure that the wheels, gears and motors on the equipment do what they’re supposed to do, when they’re supposed to do it. Rockwell Automation is taking steps to reduce the cost of the software used to program its MicroLogix line of micro- and mid-sized PLCs, says Rick Sykora, product market-ing manager for component software for Rockwell Automation (414-382-2000, www.ra.rockwell.com). “We’ve designed the program to ease the cost of acquisition for these processors, which are used in applications like a conveyor system or a pallet-izer,” Sykora says. “If you want to experiment with a processor and see what it’s like, you can down-load the software for free. If you decide you need a larger PLC, we’ve created two packages at $129 and $500.” A similar package used to list for $1,200, Sykora says.

Lift trucks:Affordable materials handlingLowering the cost of ownership for pre-owned lift trucks Crown (419-629-2311, www.crown.com) is work-ing closely with dealers to help customers under-stand that Crown pre-owned lift trucks offer more than simply a new set of tires and paint job. Crown’s Encore series assures each pre-owned lift truck undergoes an extensive rebuild process including original parts. A comprehensive warranty includes 90 days on all wearable items and 180 days on all major components. On average, 85% of the components on Crown lift trucks are engineered and manufac-tured by Crown. This enables the company to take a number of steps during the manufacturing process to ensure the trucks can provide the same level of performance in a second life. The Crown Encore series features exclusive use of Crown Integrity Parts, which have been designed selected, built and tested to meet specific performance goals. Crown says its Integrity Parts typically last two to three times longer than aftermarket alternatives.

Right-sizing your fleet One of the first places to save money on lift trucks is to analyze your fleet to ensure that you have the right number of trucks in the first place. “The majority of customers I talk to with fleets of 100 or more trucks have about 15% more equipment than they need,” says Scot Aitcheson, director of fleet management for Yale Materials Handling Corp. (800-233-9253, northamerica.yale.com). “As a fleet management service, we will spend time with those customers to analyze how they’re using their equipment by model and location to make sure they have the right num-ber of trucks at each location.” The result: Instead of replacing 20 trucks, a customer may find that they only need to replace five and that they can reassign the other 15 from one location to another. That not only frees up money in the budget for other purposes, the customer also saves on labor, parts and mainte-

BIG PICTUREmodern


nance that would have been spent on those trucks. “The larger the fleet, the more opportunity there is to save through right-sizing,” says Aitcheson.

Optimizing lift truck maintenance The greatest opportunity to save money on the total cost of operating a lift truck is after the sale. “When you drill down, you’ll find that the purchase price is about 11% of the cost of a truck over five years,” says Joe LaFergola, marketing manager of business and information solutions for the Raymond Corporation (607-656-2311, www.raymondcorp.com). “The other 89% is the labor, maintenance and energy costs asso-ciated with operating the truck.” Raymond has devel-oped its iWarehouse program (it stands for intelligent warehouse) to help customers reduce total operating costs. This is a wireless device that plugs into the central computer onboard a lift truck to collect key metrics about how many hours a truck is being used and how it’s being used. One module can look at the repairs being made to a truck and at root causes to see if there are any systemic issues driving up maintenance costs. For instance, if one warehouse has higher costs compared to other warehouses, Raymond can drill down into the models and serial numbers driving up costs. It could mean a truck that needs to be replaced or overhauled, or it could mean the driver on that truck needs training. By capturing the actual number of hours the truck is in operation, a company can perform maintenance based on an interval of hours rather than a calendar date, which could result in significant savings over the year.

Smarter financing Companies focused on conserving cash and credit lines can finance their Toyota lift trucks (800-226-0009, www.toyotaforklift.com) through the com-pany’s captive finance company, Toyota Financial Services (TFS). “By funding through TFS (800-541-2315, www.toyotafinancial.com), a company will have the ability to leverage its relationship with Toyota Material Handling and its dealer network to remarket their used lift truck equipment,” says Richard Pipenhagen, national sales and market-ing manager for TFS. “This option may have special financing linked to the equipment, providing the customer a more competitive pricing structure.” For small businesses, TFS offers subvented rates with Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A. (TMHU), and a myriad rates, based on the customer’s financing goals and the amount of the loan. In addition to leasing,

Toyota’s long-term rental business has grown. This is especially important for businesses that need a forklift to move their product and can carry the cost of a monthly rental, but can’t get capital expenses approved right now for a purchase or lease. Flexible fleet management Maintenance agreements typically involve a fixed pay-ment over the life of a contract, typically five years. But in a difficult economic climate, it’s more difficult for companies to predict their lift truck usage. For that reason, Hyster (888-358-7827, www.hyster.com) is offering maintenance by the hour. “Instead of a fixed monthly payment, it’s variable and based on the actual run time hours on a truck,” says John Russian, manager of Hyster fleet marketing. “This allows our customers to align their maintenance costs with their revenue stream.” In some scenarios, Russian says, a customer can save 7% to 15% over the cost of a fixed maintenance agreement. Who is the ideal candidate? “It’s the customer that has peaks and valleys in their usage.” To make its full fleet management services more attractive, Hyster is providing performance guarantees with its fleet management agreements. “With some customers, we’re delaying and/or reduc-ing the monthly admininstrative fees to remove the upfront burden and demonstrate program savings, and with others we’re proposing a monthly adminis-trative fee for a fleet management program, with a guarantee to reduce their spending by a certain per-centage over the year,” says Pat DeSutter, director of Hyster Fleet Services. “At the end of the year, if we haven’t delivered the on savings commitment, we’ll refund the administrative fees they paid us.”


BIG PICTUREmodern


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For the first three fiscal quarters of 2008, worldwide lift truck sales rolled right along. In the fourth quarter, it was a different story.

LIFT TRUCKSUPPLIERS

L ift trucks are such an important component in the materials handling industry. Without them, we’d be at a standstill. Literally.

During the first three fiscal quarters of 2008, worldwide lift truck sales saw modest, reasonable growth, but the fourth quarter saw sales come to a screeching halt.

“Sales didn’t just drift down a hill; it was much more abrupt. Sales ran down the hill and stopped,” says Stan Simpson, current president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA, 202-296-9880, www.indtrk.org).

Blame it on the economic downturn. As was the case with nearly every industry around the globe, the lift truck industry saw purchases put on hold and end users hunker down.

According to the ITA’s statistics, worldwide industrial truck orders were down 8% for 2008. The Americas suffered the largest decline, down 13%. Europe and Oceania were both down 9%, and

Asia was down 5%. The only global region that did not report a decline was Africa, which reported no change at all. (For worldwide lift truck orders, see the table on page 27.)

Don’t despair: The lift truck industry has taken a hit before. In 2001, the global market declined nearly 12% in terms of total lift trucks sold. The industry bounced back in 2003 with a 13% increase over 2002 and reported strong growth up until 2008.

Although sales were down in 2008, ITA is pre-dicting a come back in 2009. According to Simpson, there are several positive indicators that show we’re turning a corner. “I’m not saying we’ll be back to 2007 numbers soon, but I believe we’ve hit bottom and are on the way back up again.”

How has this environment affected the ranking of Modern’s Top 20 worldwide lift truck suppliers? Not much. Last year’s leaders remained at the top. Toyota held on to the No. 1 position with $6.51 billion in sales in 2008. While it was a drop from

SPECIAL REPORTmodern

By Lorie King Rogers, Associate Editor

TOP 20


Lift Truck Usage Study WebcastLIVE Thursday, August 27 at 2:00 PM EST • REGISTER: www.mmh.com/lifttruck09

mmh090801_top20_ID 25mmh090801_top20_ID 25 8/11/2009 1:29:03 PM8/11/2009 1:29:03 PM


2007’s $7.80 billion, it was enough to give the company a strong grasp on the top slot.

The Kion Group (North American brand: Linde) held on firmly to the No. 2 position with $6 billion in revenue. That number was down from last year’s $6.3 billion, but more than double the revenue from No. 3 Jungheinrich, which reported $2.98 billion.

NACCO Industries (North American brands: Hyster, Yale) climbed from $2.7 billion to $2.8 billion, but not enough to move them out of the No. 4 position.

Rounding out the top five is Crown, with $1.82 billion. Its 2008 revenue was enough to bring the company up from last year’s No. 6 ranking. As a result, Mitsubishi Caterpillar moved to the No. 6 slot with $1.67 billion.

The combined industrial lift truck

revenue from all 20 companies on Modern’s ranking list reached $28.99 billion. That’s a 8.46% decline over the fiscal year 2007 total of $31.67 billion.

MAKING THE LISTTo be eligible for Modern’s annual top 20 ranking, companies must manufac-ture and sell lift trucks in at least one of the Industrial Truck Association’s seven truck classes: electric motor rider; elec-tric motor narrow aisle; electric motor hand trucks; internal combustion engine, cushion tire; internal combus-tion engine, pneumatic tire; electric and internal combustion engine tow tractors; rough terrain for lift trucks.

Rankings are based on worldwide revenue from powered industrial trucks during each company’s most recent fis-cal year.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONSIn the merger and acquisition area, there weren’t too many major breaking news flashes. However, at the end of 2008 Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe (MCFE) took a controlling interest in the Finnish lift truck pro-vider Rocla. As a result, Rocla has become a subsidiary of MCFE. Since the deal was completed toward the end of the year, the companies are reporting separately this year, but are expected to report a combined 2009 figure next year.

MOVING FORWARDSimpson predicts that the big players will get bigger and the small ones will find it difficult to compete. “It’s my belief that the large, full-service compa-nies will continue to grow. It’s the Wal-

World’s top 20 industrial lift truck suppliers

Rank Company2007 rank 2008 revenue* North American brands World headquarters

1 Toyota Industries Corp. 1 $6.51 billion Toyota, Raymond Aichi, Japan

2 Kion Group 2 $6.00 billion Linde Wiesbaden, Germany

3 Jungheinrich Lift Truck Corp. 3 $2.98 billion Jungheinrich Hamburg, Germany

4 NACCO Industries 4 $2.82 billion Hyster, Yale Cleveland, Ohio

5 Crown Equipment Corp. 6 $1.82 billion Crown, Hamech New Bremen, Ohio

6 Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift 5 $1.67 billion Mitsubishi, CAT Sagamihara, Japan

7 Nissan Forklift Corp. 8 $1.17 billion Nissan, Barrett, Atlet Tokyo, Japan

8 Komatsu Utility Co. 9 $1.15 billion Komatsu, Tusk Tokyo, Japan

9 Anhui Forklift Group 10 $857 million Heli Hefei, Anhui, China

10 TCM Corp. 7 $733 million TCM Tokyo, Japan

11 Nippon Yusoki Co. 11 $723 million Not available in North America Kyoto, Japan

12 Clark Material Handling 13 $495 million Clark Seoul, South Korea

13 Manitou 14 $485 million Manitou Ancenis, France

14 Zhejiang Hangcha Engineering Machinery Co.

15 $414 million** HC Hangzhou, China

15 Doosan Infracore 12 $363 million Doosan Infracore Seoul, South Korea

16 Hyundai Heavy Industries 16 $224 million Hyundai Ulsan, South Korea

17 Rocla 17 $182 million Not available in North America Järvenpää, Finland

18 Tailift 18 $165 million** Tailift, World-Lift Taichung, Taiwan

19 Combilift 19 $130 million Combilift Monaghan, Ireland

20 Hubtex 20 $98 million Hubtex Fulda, Germany

*Fiscal year 2008 worldwide sales revenue**Figure based on industry estimateFigures are based on foreign exchange rates as of 12/31/08.

Lift Truck Usage Study WebcastLIVE Thursday, August 27 at 2:00 PM EST • REGISTER: www.mmh.com/lifttruck09



Mart scenario, and it’s alive and well in the lift truck industry.”

Is that a good thing?“If you’re a small entrepre-

neur in a small town, you might not think so,” says Simpson. “But for the end users it’s more and more important as it relates to the life cycle of a lift truck.” He explains that people who are making capital investments in lift trucks or any mission-critical equipment are looking to buy from a stable company that can offer full service during the life of a lift truck. They can’t afford to buy some-thing that isn’t fully supported and doc-umented when something goes wrong.

“Buying a major brand may cost a lit-tle more up front, but if there’s a prob-lem, you can make a call and it’s fixed. The after sales support and service of a product is more important than ever,” says Simpson.

INDUSTRY GETS A LIFTDuring the first five months of 2009, industry numbers have not deteriorat-ed; things haven’t gotten worse. That means we’re closer to the end than the beginning of the economic downturn.

“No doubt that 2009 started out poorly,” says Simpson, “but I predict our next report will show an increase. And many of us in the industry believe we’ll be seeing a positive turn-

around very soon. When you talk to people in the business, the major players and ITA members, they’re not just sitting around saying ‘woe is me.’ Everyone fully accepts the fact that volumes are lower and we have to make tough decisions. Leaders all look at this as an opportunity to look at what they do and do it better. We think the industry will come back as a better one than before this happened.”

ON THE HORIZONLast year Modern recommended keeping an eye on emerging Chinese and Indian lift truck suppliers. It’s still good advice. The worldwide economic situation affected every-one. So once we’re back on track, we repeat, Modern will be keeping tabs on emerging Chinese and Indian lift truck suppliers.

SPECIAL REPORTmodern

Worldwide lift truck orders 2008Region Number of orders Percent change

Europe 367,000 -9%

Americas 200,000 -13 %

Asia 267,000 -5 %

Africa 16,000 no change

Oceania 22,000 -9%

Total 872,000 -8%

Source: World Industrial Truck Statistics

Aigner Index, Inc.218 MacArthur AvenueNew Windsor, New York 12553Tel: 1.800.242.3919 E-mail:[email protected]: 845.562.2638www.aignerindex.com


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Here are three examples of best practices in end-of-the-line packaging that might make a difference in your facility.

EQUIPMENT REPORTmodern

At theend of the line

PA C K A G I N G

Rental giant Blockbuster installed an integrated packaging line that delivers the perfect order, but also reduces product damage and rejec-tion rates.

Page 30

Since the installation of a new auto-mated palletizing line, Ventura Foods has seen a reduction in labor and eliminated workers compensation claims due to heavy lifting.

With a new stretch film system, auto accessory manufacturer Ranch Hand Truck Accessories increases produc-tivity and yields savings in labor and materials costs.

Page 32

Page 33

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Print/apply labeling

Every day, thousands of movie and game titles are packaged and labeled for deliv-ery at Blockbuster’s distribution center in

McKinney, Texas. To ensure order fulfillment accu-racy and just-in-time capability, the company rede-signed a portion of its existing packaging equipment to save time and money.

The entire automated rental packaging pro-cess is managed by a suite of software applications (Videojet Technologies, 800-843-3610, www.vid-eojet.com) developed for Blockbuster, explains Bill Wissing, Blockbuster’s vice president of distribution and logistics.

The software provides a data control and report-ing system that handles real-time data flow between Blockbuster’s warehouse management system (WMS) and DVD disc automation machines on five identical production lines. The lines are managed by a sepa-rate application that provides the real-time interface to and from the DVD automation equipment and the print and apply labelers.

Each line starts with a machine that loads DVDs into plastic cases and inserts paper sleeves with the title information into the outer jacket of the case. Then the DVD cases are closed and conveyed to three label-ing systems that apply the new release rental stickers to the bottom right front corner of each case.

Next, print and apply label machines print vari-able data onto a label and apply the label to the oppo-site front left corner of the case. Each label contains unique information such as copy number, store name and address, the title of the movie/game, the original release date and rating, and a unique copy bar code. Labels are printed and applied at a rate of up to 110 pieces per minute through two labelers used back to back, each labeling every other case. “Each label is unique—with the production system sending the cor-rect number of serialized copies to each store—so con-trol of the product and data is critical,” says Wissing.

Near the end of the packaging operation, another print and apply labeler prints a label with a unique bar code. This ID label is applied to the side of a plastic tote in which the cases will be loaded. As the DVD copies are placed into the tote, the system synchro-nizes the unique tote ID bar code with the copies within. A task report containing the specific informa-tion for up to 30 copies per tote is automatically sent to the packaging software application and the WMS.

“If an error occurs, the system enables workers to locate a tote and its expected contents within a database by simply scanning either the tote bar code or one of the copy bar codes,” Wissing says. “Tote or copy labels that are missing or damaged in the con-veying process can also be reprinted.”

To prevent re-labeling, Blockbuster’s system requires 100% fulfillment of each and every task. Should even a single copy of a DVD be rejected prior to placement into a tote, the entire tote is sent to a rework station. The resulting integrated packaging line delivers not only perfect order fulfillment and improves process efficiencies, it has also yielded a reduction in product damage and has cut rejection rates from 0.5% to less than 0.01%, says Wissing.

By Sara Pearson Specter, Editor at Large

Blockbuster installed an integrated packaging line that delivers perfect order fulfillment and also reduces product damage and rejection rates.

Print and apply label machines print variable data onto a label and apply it to the DVD cases.

enhances efficiency

PA C K A G I N GEQUIPMENT REPORTmodern



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anananananananddddddd yyyyyooooooyyyyyy uuuuuuuurrrrrrrr bbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuusssssssssininininininnininneeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssss.....

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Automated palletizing

To better compete in their mar-ket, Ventura Foods consolidat-ed three west coast manufac-

turing facilities into one strategically located plant in Ontario, Calif. The new, 650,000-square-foot facility pro-vided a more cost-effective location for shipping the company’s shortenings, oils, margarine, salad dressings, may-onnaise, sauces and syrups through-out the United States.

Prior to making the move, Ralph Freda, regional engineering manager for Ventura Foods, spent time evaluat-ing which pieces of existing equipment would make the move, and which items would be purchased new—while staying within budget constraints.

“One of the main goals was to keep the layout sim-ple, with as much floor space available to allow for easy access to the machines and conveyors,” says Freda.

All of the palletizers (Columbia Machine, 360-694-1501, www.columbiamachine.com) within the facility needed to be able to run many different pack-age types. To meet this requirement, the company selected and installed four floor-level case palletizers running on dedicated packaging lines, two robotic palletizers, and case conveyors.

“The control system is equipped with software that permits easy machine changeover of the 13 different case patterns, with each line running two to eight dif-ferent patterns or package sizes,” Freda says.

The two robotic palletizers serve different func-tions in the new setup. The first robotic palletizer stacks cases coming from two lines and places prod-uct onto two pallet stacking stations. The second robotic palletizer is equipped with an end effector that stacks cases and pails from two independent packaging lines.

The new case conveyors run from the cool envi-ronment production area that is separated by a firewall to the palletizing area on each of the eight packaging lines. In addition, each of the floor level and robotic palletizing systems includes a pallet dispenser, tie sheet dispenser and gravity discharge conveyor.

Since the installation of the new line, Ventura Foods has seen a reduction in labor for the lines that were not previously served by automated palletizing equipment. Not only has the company saved because of a reduction in labor, but it has also eliminated worker compensation claims due to heavy lifting, says Freda.

Further, the plant has experienced improved pal-letizing efficiencies due to the automated equipment providing stable and consistent loads for shipping, and easier machine changeovers for new products.

Since the installation of a new automated palletizing line,Ventura Foods has seen a reduction in labor and eliminated back injury insurance claims.

All of the palletizers within the facility needed to be able to run many different package types.


improves bottom line


PA C K A G I N G


mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 3333 A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com

Stretch packaging

As one of the largest manufacturers of accesso-ries for heavy-duty truck and sport utility vehi-cles in the United States, Texas-based Ranch

Hand Truck Accessories added more automation to meet growing demand. The company had been produc-ing approximately 160 grille guards and front bumper replacements a day, sold primarily by new car dealer-ships and aftermarket truck accessory retailers. When output grew to more than 200 pieces per day, the com-pany installed a robotic powder coating line.

“When we put the new powder line in, we start-ed seeing a bottleneck in packaging,” recalls Greg Chumchal, general manager. “At the time, we were hand packaging everything. Even with six people working the packaging line, we couldn’t keep up.”

Both the grille guards and bumpers are large and oblong—measuring roughly 7 x 3 x 3 feet—and weigh an average of 130 and 270 pounds respectively.

“These things are tough to wrap because of their shape and sharp corners,” Chumchal explains. Packaging consisted of foam-in-place pads, over-wrapped with kraft sheets. The kraft wrapping was held in place with bailing twine, tied by hand. Packaging workers often wrestled with the paper and twine while handling product coming off the paint line. Further, the kraft material was not holding the padding in place consistently, compromising product protection during shipment and outdoor storage at customer locations.

While the foam-in-place pads reduced shipping returns by 80%, it wasn’t good enough. “We can’t have the products getting banged around and scratched up in transit,” says Chumchal. “The distributors just send

them back.” With a MSRP on grille guards of about $575 and front bumper replacements about $1,300, the margin could be eroded quickly with product returns.

The company turned to a faster, more efficient and protective packaging method, implementing a stretch wrapping system (Lantech, 800-866-0322, www.lantech.com) and replacing the kraft paper and twine with scored corrugated sheets to hold the pads in place.

Mounted on a 40-, 60-, 75- or 90-inch ring through which product passes, the machine’s film delivery sys-tem wraps both product and conveyor simultaneously while the product is moving or stationary. After wrap-ping is complete, a cut-and-clamp device cuts the end of the film, which recovers against the product as it exits the machine. Wrapping parameters, including con-veyor speed and number of wraps, are adjustable with a touchscreen programmable logic controller (PLC).

“The versatility of the system lets us handle almost any shape or size we put through it, so we now wrap 95% of our products with it,” Chumchal says.

In addition to increasing productivity, the stretch film system has yielded substantial savings in labor and materials. Annually, labor costs were reduced by 17% (about $19,000) and packaging materials costs were reduced by 12% (about $25,000). Chumchal estimates that labor and material savings alone will pay for the machine in less than three years. Further, bonus savings come from a 50% reduction in product returns due to shipping damage.

With a new stretch film system, an auto accessory manufacturerincreases productivity and yields savings in labor and materials costs.

A stretch wrapping system replaced kraft paper and twine with scored corrugated sheets.


protects truck parts

PA C K A G I N G


EQUIPMENT REPORTmodern



Getting more from less with

OUTSIDE THE FOUR WALLS OF THE DISTRIBUTION CENTER, inventory is the hot potato of the supply chain. No

one wants to hold it for longer than they have to, and no one wants to own more of it than is absolutely necessary.

At the same time, many of today’s manufacturing and distribution strategies mean that someone some-where is going to end up holding that potato whether they like or not. Take lean manufacturing. Sure, the

manufacturer pursuing a just-in-time strategy has turned all the storage space in the plant into more productive work cells. But that same manufacturer still counts on its suppliers to hold and deliver the raw materials, parts and components needed to run the lines. Big box retailers that have eliminated back rooms still expect suppliers to make smaller and more frequent deliveries to keep the shelves stocked. The inventory hasn’t gone away; it is just being held by someone else.

By Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor

Early adopters of inventory optimization management systems are improving service levels while reducing the amount of inventory in the supply chain.

inventory optimization


mmh090801_im_ID 34mmh090801_im_ID 34 8/11/2009 10:15:35 AM8/11/2009 10:15:35 AM


INFORMATION MANAGEMENTmodern

The challenge for the supplier left tossing the hot potato from hand to hand is: Figure out just how much stock to keep and where to warehouse it to minimize a company’s investment in inventory, and still meet the service levels demanded by customers. No one benefits from stock outs, manufactur-ing lines that grind to a halt, or an air-plane sitting on the ground because a critical part isn’t on the shelf.

The old fashioned way to avoid those outcomes was to load up on safety stock at each storage location in the network. The smarter way is to use a set of software tools known as multi-ech-elon inventory optimization to set and monitor inventory levels.

These applications take a holistic approach to inventory management. Instead of setting inventory levels one

location, or echelon, at a time, a multi-echelon optimization solution uses sophisticated algorithms that can assess demand and inventory positions across a network, and then set inventory lev-els at multiple locations, or echelons, simultaneously. Better visibility allows a company to improve service levels while reducing the total amount of inventory in the supply chain. While this is still an emerging supply chain software area, these applications are delivering measurable value to early adopters, including paybacks of less than a year in some instances.

“Any company that’s going to invest in technology in 2009 wants that investment to be cash flow positive in 2009,” says Simon Ellis, practice director for supply chain strategies at Manufacturing Insights (508-988-

7900, www.manufacturing-insights.com) and the co-author of “The Modern Supply Chain: Inventory Optimization Competitive Assessment,” adding that inventory optimization fits that bill. “These tools are driving some pretty significant savings, and in the current environment, more companies should be taking a closer look,” Ellis says.

New approach The catalyst for the adoption of these new systems is simple: With traditional inventory planning systems, users often ended up with too much inventory at one location, and too little at another, says Ellis. A company with multiple warehouses, for instance, might place a replenishment order when it runs low on a specific item at one facil-ity, even though another facility might

Inventory optimization

Software

Supplier

Software

Factory

Software

Warehouse

Software

Store

Multi-echelon inventory optimization

Supplier

Software

Factory Warehouse Store




have more than it needs of that same item. “When you factor in the little bit of excess inventory that ends up on the shelf because of a reorder or as safety stock, it really adds up,” says Fred Lizza, CEO of Optiant (781-238-8855, www.optiant.com). “That’s the inventory we want to eliminate.”

Multi-echelon inventory optimiza-tion, on the other hand, looks at the supply chain in three dimensions—it’s a little like playing three-dimensional chess compared to the traditional board game. Instead of optimizing each loca-tion separately, these applications can see the whole supply chain at once. “Instead of looking at your inventory in a silo, a multi-echelon system can look at all of the inventory drivers for the network: from the forecast, the amount of safety stock you might need to meet a customer’s service level, your inventory positions, and everything you have on hand,” says Rod Daugherty, senior director of product strategy for Manhattan Associates (770-955-7070, www.manh.com). “It sees those up and down the network.”

What’s more, like a supply chain network design tool, an optimization tool allows a user to perform what-if scenarios that incorporate variability and uncertainty into the planning pro-cess to come up with an optimal plan. “The system allows me to answer ques-

tions like: What’s the impact of holding inventory in a semi-finished state versus a completely finished state?” says Lizza. “I can model the impact of pre-building some of inventory I might need to meet seasonal demand.”

And, like an event management and visibility tool, an optimization applica-tion can be used to highlight excep-tions to inventory levels or demand. “If everything is flowing according to the plan, and this week’s safety stock target for an SKU is the same as last week’s target, nothing hits the radar screen,” says Lizza. “But if there is a spike in demand or something changes in pro-duction and a part is being consumed faster than was planned, the system will alert an inventory planner that the stock level needs to change.”

At that point, the system can run a new plan and set new stock levels for a part.

Most importantly, because the sys-tem is tracking inventory across the supply chain, it can work with supply chain execution systems, like ware-house and transportation management systems, to transfer stock between facilities rather than order additional stock. “As you’re picking in a distribu-tion center, a warehouse management system (WMS) is keeping track of the inventory on hand,” says Manhattan Associates’ Daugherty. “At the end of

the day, the replenishment system can compare the inventory position in a facility against the policy created by the optimization system.”

When it’s time to reorder, the sys-tem can look first to see if stock can be transferred between facilities. If so, an order can be sent to the WMS and transportation management system (TMS) in the facility with extra stock, just like any other order. It’s all auto-mated, so it can happen without some-one intervening.

Managing spare parts One of the first adopters of multi-ech-elon inventory optimization was the repair parts industry. It faces a unique set of issues: A machine or piece of equipment may have to be supported for decades, the demand for specific parts is unpredictable, and contracts may require delivery of some parts to a maintenance organization in as lit-tle as two hours. “Typically, what you find is that 80% of your parts will be used less than one time a year,” says Tim Andreae, senior vice president of marketing for MCA Solutions (215-717-2180, www.mcasolutions.com). “Deciding whether you even need to stock one or two of those parts to meet a service level is an important deci-sion—both from a service and a finan-cial point of view.”

A multi-echelon optimization tool allows maintenance organizations to balance financial considerations and service-level requirements, says Andreae, by factoring in the variability and unpredictability associated with service parts into the inventory plan-ning equation. They do this by look-ing at everything from the design of the network to the parts required for scheduled maintenance programs to a multi-year history of unscheduled maintenance for every part. In addition, the system can be tied into a product lifecycle management system (PLM) to factor in any changes to the product or to be notified when a new part can be used to replace a prior part. “The sys-

COMPANIES ARE USING inventory optimization to solve a variety of inventory problems. Some examples include: • A CPG company in the cosmetics business uses inventory optimization to

determine the right mix to stock of the season’s hottest shades while still meeting demand for the basics.

• A manufacturer with off-shore manufacturing operations uses the tool to set inventory levels that will meet service levels without holding so much inven-tory that the carrying costs off-set the savings from moving manufacturing to a low-cost country.

• A candy manufacturer with its own brand and private label customers uses the tool to decide how much product can be manufactured in advance, how much of that can be wrapped in advance, and how much can be kept in a semi-finished state to meet demand.

• A maker of electronic games uses the tool to determine how to phase out the inventory of a discontinued model while ramping up the production and introduction of a new model.

Inventory optimization in action



tem takes all of that information in to set stock levels for every part, and to determine where in the supply chain to locate those parts,” says Andreae.

The payoff: By bringing both intel-ligence and discipline to the inventory planning process, service parts cus-tomers “have been able to reduce their inventory by anywhere from 15% to 40% while still providing the same level of service,” says Andreae. What’s more, by automating the process, supply chain planners are much more productive.

The next echelon Now that some early adopters have mastered the basics of multi-echelon optimization, they are taking the sys-tems to a new level of planning, accord-ing to Adeel Najmi, vice president of product strategy and planning for i2 Technologies (800-800-3288, www.i2.com).

Having optimized inventory levels, says Najmi, companies are now using the tools to answer questions like how to optimize the total net landed cost associated with a product. “Given the volatility in fuel costs and the globaliza-tion of the supply chain, the problems today are much more complex,” he says. “The visionaries are determining whether they are better off using fast modes of transportation, like air cargo, to get frequent deliveries and carry less inventory, or using cheaper but slower transportation methods and carrying more inventory.”

Increasingly, inventory optimiza-tion is working hand in hand with sup-ply chain network design applications, and doing so on a more regular basis. “It used to be that a company would do a one-time design to optimize where the factories and DCs were going to be located and what strategies they were

going to use to meet demand,” Najmi says. “In the last two years, we have seen companies review their network designs and their optimization plans on a fairly regular basis.”

Najmi calls this optimized perfor-mance. One company he works with has a network of small DCs close to its markets that are used to distribute pro-motional items. “They’re changing how they utilize those facilities and what stock flows through them every week,” Najmi says. “They’re using these tools to get much more agile about their sup-ply chain.”

While most companies are still trying to go from a single- to multi-echelon view of their inventory, performance optimi-zation is where the industry is heading. “Today, it’s the visionaries that are going to the next level, but other companies will have to get there sooner or later in order to compete,” Najmi says.

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Untitled-1 1 7/30/2009 12:16:24 PM


AIRPLANES GET PEOPLE where they need to go. For more than 30 years, Tronair prod-

ucts have been getting airplanes where they need to go. Tronair is a supplier of aviation ground sup-port equipment that offers more than 1,000 prod-ucts and equipment replacement parts, including wheel chocks, hydraulic service units and more.

Tronair’s warehouse supervisor, Don Baldwin, was looking for an inflatable packaging system to provide cushioning for a variety of products.

Each year, the company ships hundreds of parts from their 90,000-square-foot warehouse in Holland, Ohio, to airports worldwide. Since the parts range from 12-foot tow bars to 2-inch replacement parts, Tronair needed a versatile packaging system that could protect all shapes and sizes in transit. It landed on an inflatable pack-aging solution (Sealed Air, 708-482-3389, www.sealedair.com) that provides the flexibility, reliabil-ity and protection Tronair demands.

“When we ship tow bars we need a lot of air cushions at once, so the speed with which the system creates cushions was also attractive,” said Baldwin.

The inflatable packaging system creates cus-tom-sized, air-filled cushions that provide cush-ioned protection, blocking and bracing for prod-ucts throughout the shipping cycle. It allows operators to select the length and height of the cushioning material at the touch of a button. And for heavier items, the new system uses a heavier film that makes for stronger seals that keep cush-ions inflated through the rigors of travel.

To ship oddly shaped products, the company requires a combination of packaging techniques. It uses a hybrid solution that includes inflatable

cushions and foam cushions. To produce the cus-tomized foam cushions, the system dispenses a mixture of two components that are mixed and result in a high-quality polyurethane packaging foam.

Other key factors in the decision to change over to the new packaging system were its smaller footprint, faster speed and resistance to summer humidity. Humidity in the warehouse had been adversely affecting the old packaging system, caus-ing frequent downtime for machine repair. Since incorporating the new system, the company has seen less downtime in the warehouse and cut the average shipping time by 45 minutes per shift.

SAFE TRAVELS; LOWER COSTSAviation equipment supplier uses a versatile packaging system to cut expenses and protect products during shipping.

By Lorie King Rogers, Associate Editor

PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONmodern


mmh090801_solution_ID 38mmh090801_solution_ID 38 8/11/2009 10:15:05 AM8/11/2009 10:15:05 AM

Welcome toLeading The Turnaround,a special sponsoredsection of Modern Materials Handling.

Keeping with the theme of the cover

story, companies from throughout

the materials handling industry, listed

here alphabetically, tell you about how

they’re helping their customers beat a

bad economy.

This section is designed to provide you

with information and insight into

companies that can help you meet your

materials handling challenges.


MMH090801_PROFILES_ID 39MMH090801_PROFILES_ID 39 8/11/2009 10:12:29 AM8/11/2009 10:12:29 AM


Simple and quick designation or location changes. Insertable plastic label holders make it easy to change a label or location. Simply re-mark the insert and slide it into the holder.

Better Organization of Storage. Every effi cient stor-age facility must know where everything is: All of the time.

Protecting Bar Codes is a Must. Bar codes must be protected from dirt, moisture and chemicals to prevent an inaccurate scan. This would obviously create an inventory discrepancy or possibly even a lost customer.

Little or No Cost for Printing Labels.Label Holders for Every Storage Solution. Years

of consumer demand for new product development has resulted in a wide selection of label holders with a choice of backings. Permanent self adhesive for permanent ap-plications or removable self adhesive, magnetic and fabric hook and loop fasteners.

Cost Justifi cation is Easy. The total cost for a label

holder system rarely exceeds 4% of the total warehouse cost, yet no other single function contributes more sav-ings. Whatever the initial investment is for a Label Holder System, payback in materials, labor and overall effi ciency will be justifi ed by:• Ease of normal label changes.• Cost savings of 50% in label materials; eliminating

expensive, hard to remove, adhesive labels in favor of plain paper labels.

• 65% minimum savings in labor to apply and remove self adhesive labels: No more clean up time.

• ROI in 12 months or less

Aigner Label holders pay you in time saved—over and over

Aigner Index, Inc.

New Windsor, NY

800-242-3919

[email protected]

www.aignerindex.com

Your material handling system has given you years of service, but now it may be that it simply can’t perform at the required level or your business model may have changed. During these tough economic times, investing in an entirely new system may not be possible, so to help, Dematic has developed several programs that can help you sweat your current assets to maximize the throughput and performance of your material handling system.

Dematic’s comprehensive range of services and support solutions can bring new life to your automated material handling system by:

• Improving system uptime• Maximizing system throughput• Reducing maintenance costs• Lowering energy costs• Improving ergonomics and safety

Many of these solutions offer a fast payback of often less than a year.

Learn more at: www.dematic.com/assets

Make the most of what you already have...with Dematic

Dematic Corp.

507 Plymouth Ave. NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49505

Phone: 877-725-7500

Fax: 616-913-7701

www.dematic.com



Diamond Phoenix: Automated systems integrator and industry experts

Diamond Phoenix

90 Alfred Plourde Parkway

Lewiston, Maine 04241

888-233-6796

www.diamondphoenix.com

Diamond Phoenix is a leader in the design, manufac-ture, integration and installation of innovative automated storage and retrieval systems to fulfi ll the needs of orga-nizations looking to streamline and improve their material handling operations. We are a full service system provider and integrator, offering analysis, system design and inte-gration, advanced warehouse software and a full suite of material handling equipment.

Throughout our history, one key aspect of our philoso-phy has remained unchanged: the only way to design the ideal solution for your facility is to work with you side by side, from analysis to system design to implementation and beyond. We are committed to helping you understand the latest material handling trends and developments and to providing you with solutions that are fl exible enough to meet your changing needs.

Our commitment is demonstrated by our people. Cover-ing every management discipline, our team of core manag-ers brings the strength of over 100 years of combined experience to the table. We have assembled an unmatched group of highly experienced professional engineers, project managers, manufacturing personnel, software experts, customer service and support staff, all dedicated to creat-ing the right system for your operation. Contact Diamond Phoenix today to schedule a tour of our campus and manufacturing facility.

Using less space, labor and inventory levels while improving customer satisfaction and reducing costs… sounds like reality in today’s economy? It’s actually been the Remstar simple automated solutions value proposi-tion for over a decade for manufacturing, distribution and warehousing applications.

• Consolidate multiple facilities, work stations and cells… saving up to 85% of fl oor space.

• Eliminating up to 2/3 of the labor required for picking and storage activities.

• Using saved fl oor space in value added activities

• Extending order cut off times.The line of Remstar simple automated solutions include:

VLMs, horizontal and vertical carousels, pick-to-light sys-tems and inventory management software can be delivered and installed in as little as 15 days.

2009 Programs designed to help organizations:• Free Equipment For Trial (EFT) program.

• Federal Tax Incentives

• Free Internal Rate of Return/Return On Investment Analysis

• Free Space & Productivity Analysis

Working smarter with less…everyday

Remstar

800-639-5805

www.Remstar.com



At Ridg-U-Rak, we’re continuing to do the things that have made us a leader in the industry for over 65 years. We persistently make signifi cant reinvestments in our plant operations and commit resources to research and develop-ment. This commitment maximizes our effi ciencies and minimizes downtime. This allows us to maintain our high standard of quality and provide fl exible storage rack solu-tions at the lowest possible cost to our customers.

Our production processes are state-of-the-art and second to none in the industry. The experienced sales and engineering staff work directly with our customers to en-sure that the most effi cient and cost-effective storage rack solutions are provided. From standard selective systems to highly specialized storage systems, Ridg-U-Rak has and will continue to provide the best engineered systems and

outstanding service at the lowest possible cost for our customers.

This isn’t our response to diffi cult economic times: It’s our way of doing business. At Ridg-U-Rak, we believe this philosophy has provided great stability for our company and has served us, and more importantly, our customers very well. We will continue to operate in this way, through good times and bad.

Ridg-U-Rak commitment to quality continues through challenging economy

Ridg-U-Rak

North East, PA

866-479-7225

www.ridgurak.com

Span Tech announces a new reduced pricing offer on conveyor rebuilds for popular MultiSpan® and Super-Tight™ conveyor chain. In this challenging economic climate, contact your Span Tech distributor and have your existing conveyors rebuilt at a 50 percent savings vs. replacement cost. This includes replacing all outside links, any other signifi cantly worn links, rebuilding your drives and idlers with new sprockets and bearings, and thorough cleaning of all components. You will receive a clean, rebuilt system that will operate for many years to come, at half the cost of full replacement. Conveyor commissioning activates the standard Span Tech warranty. Call your local Span Tech distributor today, or call Span Tech direct for more information.

Span Tech conveyor rebuild program

Span Tech

1115 Cleveland Avenue

Glasgow, KY 42141 USA

Phone: 270-651-9166

Fax: 270-651-7533

www.spantechllc.com

[email protected]



Keeping Costs Down Beyond the PurchaseIt’s essential to demonstrate savings throughout lift truck ownership, particularly when you consider the majority of the costs associated with a lift truck occur after the purchase. Obviously, buying a quality product is the fi rst step in lowering your overall cost of ownership. Beyond that, Toyota Industrial Equipment dealers help you manage work orders, track repairs and alert you when lift trucks are due for general maintenance. With comprehensive support from factory-trained service technicians, strong service coverage and parts inventory levels, Toyota dealers help increase your uptime and drive down unnecessary costs.

Contact your Toyota Industrial Equipment Dealer today to start saving today!

Charged with ProductivityToyota dealers now offer PosiCharge™ fast charge systems. With PosiCharge™, electric lift truck customers can reduce the number of batteries required, and eliminate battery changing and battery changing rooms. PosiCharge™ fast charge systems help to maximize vehicle run time through-out the day. The PosiCharge™ system enables drivers to charge during regularly scheduled breaks and shift changes, allowing vehicles to operate all day, every day,* on only one battery that remains in-vehicle.

*Weekly equalization and cell balancing ensures maximum battery health.

Toyota: Helping you lead the turnaround

Toyota Material Handling

1 Park Plaza, Ste. 1000

Irvine, CA 92614

1-800-226-0009

toyotaforklift.com


Palletizers


Low-level infeed palletizer easily reconfiguredThe fully automatic Currie LLP-21 low-level infeed palletizer enables all operations to be seen from

the floor level, and runs up to 21 cases per minute. The modular system is offered in six configura-tions to accommodate different plant layouts. To withstand high fatigue situations—including con-stant feeding, palletizing and dis-charging of product—the system’s modular structure is constructed without welding. For fast installa-tion, the unit is delivered in two sections and is field reconfigurable. Relocating a palletizer to another plant or another area of a plant requires only repositioning the

Optimize equipment performanceTo restore original operating perfor-mance levels and identify potential upgrades, a professionally conduct-ed audit program is offered for the supplier’s line of palletizers. Audits are performed by certified engineers trained in palletizer maintenance and supplier specifications. Included is a review of operating and maintenance practices and infeed-to-discharge inspection of all components, includ-ing wear points, chains, rollers and

Palletizer eliminates palletsFor lower freight costs when trans-porting goods internationally, the Paletpac palletless stretch packag-ing system ensures that every cubic meter of container loading space is used by eliminating the pallet. Suitable for bagged bulk contents,

Flexible configurations for limited palletizing spaces

The small footprint SP4000 pallet-izer offers high-level, high-capacity pattern configuration to meet cur-rent palletizing rates and adapt to future needs. Flexible, the unit can stack a variety of product types, including shrink film only, display packs, small cases, bags, bales, trays, bundles, totes and plastic containers. Configurable in a range of layout options, the system is ideal for new and retrofit applications, particularly where layout constraints are present. Columbia Machine, 800-628-4065, www.palletizing.com.

other moving parts. Upon comple-tion of the inspection, a formal report documents the audit findings and outlines a recommended course of action. Intelligrated (formerly FKI Logistex), 866-936-7300, www.intelligrated.com.

infeed direction with minor adjust-ments and re-bolting. Brenton Engineering, 888-852-6993, www.brentonengineering.com.

Palletizer builds load, wraps concurrently

The automated TT series palletizers perform concurrent stretch wrapping while the load is being built, at rates of up to 50 per minute. Concurrent wrapping yields higher throughput rates and improved load stability. Offered in low- and high-product infeed models, the palletizers handle up to 50 cases per minute, measur-ing from 6 to 24 inches in either dimension. The system’s controls include 50 different patterns stored and quick changeovers between pat-terns. Layers weighing 300 pounds are standard, with an option to increase capacity up to 1,000 pounds per layer. TopTier, 503-353-7388, www.toptier.com.

MMH090801_products_ID 44MMH090801_products_ID 44 8/11/2009 1:25:30 PM8/11/2009 1:25:30 PM

System Integration

Industry Experts

Service You Can Rely On

Contact us today to schedule a tour of our

campus and manufacturing facility.

1.888.233.6796 www.diamondphoenix.com

Integrated distribution and manufacturing systems by Diamond

Phoenix are backed by knowledge that comes from helping

organizations increase their customer satisfaction and profitability.

Partnering with our customers for mutual success is our way of doing

business. Numbers that read 750% increase in throughput, two-

thirds reduction in labor costs, up to 100% order accuracy, and return

on investment in as little as nine months speak for themselves.

You’ll know us by our references!

♦ Intelligent and dynamic designs

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picking solutions

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Rotate entire palletloadsThe PalletPal Inverter offers a fast, safe, easy way to rotate fully loaded pallets. Ideal for replacing broken pallets, the unit can also be used for switching to or from in-house/ship-ping pallets, transferring loads to slip sheets, and replacing damaged goods at the bottom of a load with-out the need for manual restack-ing. The inverter handles loads measuring 48 x 48 x 60 inches and capacities up to 4,400 pounds. To ensure that lighter loads will not be

Small footprint, high-speed robotic palletizerReaching speeds up to 20 cycles per minute, the EC-171 high-speed robotic palletizer incorporates a Fuji robot and a collision detection system. The robot works in tight spaces and includes a 10.5-inch color touchscreen for human inter-face control—no laptop required. The system also features onboard diagnostics, advanced programming platform and up to 400 different pre-programmed recipes. American-Newlong, 317-787-9421, www.american-newlong.com.

crushed, the unit’s clamping mecha-nism features user-adjustable pres-sure control. Loads rotate 180˚ on an anti-friction turret bearing and can be stopped at any point dur-ing rotation. Southworth Products, 207-878-0700, www.southworth-products.com.

the technol-ogy main-tains space for forklift handling while add-ing an addi-tional layer of products to the load. Items are stacked up on an area the same size as a pallet with the top layer not filled out across its entire width. Once complete, the stack is transported to the supplier’s high-capacity stretch hood pack-aging machine, which pulls a film stretch hood over it. The wrapped stack is then inverted with a turner and stretch wrapped a second time for shipment. The BEUMER Group, + 49 (0) 711 9454161 0, www.beumer.com.


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Palletizers

Superior design. Better service.

www.Pflow.com

Running out of space?

Call 414-352-9000 for a custom application assessment or visit:

Custom vertical lifts:• Efficiently access additional

space in your existing facility• Engineered to order• Guaranteed code approval• Commitment to safety• Nationwide factory trained

dealer network• Over 14,000 installations

Going Up?Stretch wrap system locks

load to pallet

The easily adjusted Pallet-Grip load locking system for the supplier’s straddle stretch wrappers secures the load to the pallet with a cable of film rolled into the bottom, wrapped and placed below the deck of the pal-let. The system captures any style of pallet, from 4 to 6 inches high, while also completely wrapping to the top of the load. A rolled cable of film is placed approximately 1.5 inches below the pallet deck, while the remainder of the film web captures the load above the deck. By placing the cable above the pallet fork-truck entry points, containment force is not compromised by the forks. Lantech, 800-866-0322, www.lantech.com.

Bag palletizer

The Master 3500 high level bag pal-letizer offers consistency, ease of operation and precision placement. Features include servo controlled layer pusher and pallet lift motors, advanced machine diagnostics with HMI, full motor jog capabilities and an integrated Allen Bradley control architecture. Using bar code scan-ning, the palletizer can achieve

Automatic product positioningTo automatically form the optimal pallet configuration for each pal-letized product, the high-speed overhead orienter accepts items for palletizing and turns them 90˚, 180˚ or 270˚. It can also be used to turn bags to form pallets with “butts-out” orientation, and to rotate cases and trays for specific panel orientation. Servo-powered for smooth handling and reliability, the unit quickly and gently grips and rotates products to the proper position during accumu-lation. Fully automatic operation is pre-programmed with new orienta-tions programmable by control panel or remotely by modem uplink. A touchscreen display enables one-touch operation. A-B-C Packaging Machine, 800-237-5975, www.abcpackaging.com.

Unit palletizes, wraps

The SPLX-MKII stack and wrap unit combines a palletizer and a WCA-100 stretch wrapper manufactured by Wulftec. The integrated wrap-per is located directly outside the elevator to prevent impeding the rated cases per minute while creat-ing a small footprint. Depending on the pallet pattern and case sizes, the machine reaches rates up to 60 cycles per minute. Options include a touchscreen for adding patterns. vonGAL, 334-261-2821, www.vongal.com.

recipe driven product changeover in less than 20 seconds. Thiele Technologies, 612-782-1200, www.thieletech.com.



Palletizers

Robotic palletizers handle 30 bags/cases per minuteUL-listed Kawasaki robotic palletizers reach rates up to 30 bags/cases per minute. Running at 1,800 cycles per hour, the robot uses a simple direct coupled gearbox with AC servo motors and absolute encoders on all axes. With a verified 96,000 hours mean time between failures and 10,000-hour average maintenance interval, the robot is almost maintenance free. Layer and pallet pattern programming is accomplished through block step teaching with a hand-held pendant. A 6.4-inch LCD color display with menu driven interface is included, as are Ethernet and RS232 ports. Collision detection is standard. Conveying Industries, 303-373-2035, www.conveyingindustries.com.

Robotic palletizer stores, stages productsIdeal for high-SKU, low-rate palletizing, the Robotic Palletizing Matrix unit allows the gantry’s work envelope to become a temporary storage and retrieval system for products that will eventually be palletized for warehous-ing. With a single build position for unit load automation, the system offers throughputs of more than 10 SKUs at rates of fewer than 10 cycles per minute. The unit’s com-pact footprint and automated functionality eliminates extensive unit load handling equipment and personnel. Complete unit loads are centrally discharged to an in-line stretch wrapper. RMT Robotics, 905-643-9700, www.rmtrobotics.com.

Small footprint system uses gantry robotUsing a lighter gantry robot to reduce costs, a case palletizing/order-build-ing system also includes a patented drive system. Fewer mov-ing parts are incorporated to minimize maintenance and cut downtime. Once cases arrive on a single infeed con-veyor, they are organized in pallet quantities on the floor under the robot. The cases are then palletized by layer at a common pallet build location for a reduction in the overall footprint of the system. Capable of processing a high number of SKUs per gantry, the system is ideal for plants producing a high number of SKUs. C&D Skilled Robotics, 409-840-5252, www.cdrobot.com, www.skilledrobots.com.

Palletize heavy bags, case productsFor case packing and palletizing of bag and case prod-ucts weighing up to 50 pounds, the HL high-level robotic palletizer is offered. Ideal for palletizing heavier products that require taller unit loads—including pet food prod-ucts, flour and grains, wood pellets and heavy industrial cases—it palletizes at rates up to 45 products per min-ute. Using an integrated Fanuc M710 or M20 robotic arm, the system builds loads in a variety of patterns, including interlocked, brick, spiral or column. The system can be configured as a dual station one-in-two-out sys-tem or as a single station one-in-one-out palletizer that can be fully automated with pallet transport conveyor, pallet dispensing and slip sheet dispensing. Schneider Packaging Equipment, 315-676-3035, www.schneiderequip.com.


Aigner Index Inc. 27 800-242-3919

Big Ass Fans Company C-3 877-BIG-FANS www.bigassfans.com

Buckhorn, Inc. 14 800-543-4454 www.buckhorninc.com

BuyerZone 46 866-623-5565 www.buyerzoneindustrial.com

CHEP USA 31 www.chep.com

Dematic 8 800-530-9153 www.dematic.us

Diamond Phoenix 45 888-233-6796 www.diamondphoenix.com

HCI Steel Building Systems 24 800-255-6768 www.hcisteel.com

IFCO Systems 37 877-430-4326 www.ifco-us.com

Pflow Industries, Inc. 47 414-352-9000 www.pflow.com

Remstar C-4 800-639-5805 www.remstar.com

Ridg-U-Rak, Inc. 15 866-479-7225 www.ridgurak.com

SpanTech 13 270-651-9166 www.spantechllc.com

Stamps.com 4 www.stamps.com/mmh

Superior Tire & 48 800-289-1456Rubber Corp. www.superiortire.com

Toyota Industrial Equipment C-2 800-226-0009 www.toyotaforklift.com

University of San Francisco Online 6 877-843-5541 www.usanfranonline.com/mmh

Vidir Machine Inc. 11 800-210-0141 www.vidir.com

Page # Phone

advertiser index

This index is an additional service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.

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Ergonomic Holster Systems

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MMH090801_ADX_ID.indd 49MMH090801_ADX_ID.indd 49 8/12/2009 3:05:29 PM8/12/2009 3:05:29 PM


Modern: We don’t find a lot of women in materials handling. What attracted you to the industry?

Carlson: Being a woman in an industry with a lot of men was not a big deal. When I was in college, I spent the summers working in the iron mines where I grew up, and I was often one of the few women on a 60-man crew. I was used to that and an industrial environment. What I was looking for was stability. I came here from a com-pany that worked on large promotion-al events for a variety of clients in the automotive industry. I liked the idea of working for one stable company where I could make an impact.

Modern: Have you done that?

Carlson: Definitely. When I was hired, Webb wanted to do more public rela-tions to raise their profile and take advantage of some new avenues to make its products more available to its customers. I don’t think you’d have found anyone who could have imag-ined that we’d have a Twitter page, be on Facebook, or sell conveyor parts

online, but we’ve done all of those. The industry is definitely changing and it’s exciting to be part of that.

Modern: Why do you think young people should consider the industry?

Carlson: As with marketing, it’s the chance to have an impact. I have friends who are engineers for some of the automotive OEMs. They may get assigned to work on one part, like a windshield, and that’s what they do every day. Working for a company like Webb, you get to work on an entire system. It’s constantly changing, and you can come up with something innovative for a customer.

Modern: What will you be doing on the AGV committee at MHIA?

Carlson: As vice chair, my role is to learn the ropes because next year I will be chair. But the thing we want to get across is this idea that AGVs and automatic carts are afford-able, flexible and reliable. You can automate a portion of your plant or warehouse, and if your requirements change, you can change the solu-tion without having to renovate your entire building. That’s a concept you’re seeing from the vendors at trade shows, like ProMat, and not just from Webb.

TITLE: Marketing director/vice chair, Automatic Guided Vehicle Systems industry group COMPANY: Jervis B. Webb (248-553-1204, www.jervisbwebb.com); Material Handling Industry of AmericaLOCATION: Farmington Hills, Mich.; Charlotte, N.C. EXPERIENCE: Four years in the materials handling industry, follow-ing marketing and promotional ser-vices for the automotive industryPRIMARY FOCUS: Manager of Web, trade show and marketing efforts. Recently became vice chair of the AGVS industry group at MHIA, pro-moting AGV technology to the public.

Sarah CarlsonJervis B. Webb

MODERN 60 SECONDS WITH…

MMH090801_60secs_ID 50MMH090801_60secs_ID 50 8/11/2009 10:16:42 AM8/11/2009 10:16:42 AM

Warranty includes 10 year parts, 1 year labor; certain exclusions apply. © 2009 Delta T Corporation dba The Big Ass Fan Company. All rights reserved.

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For a FREE ROI, space and productivity analysis in your facility… please call or visit our

website to see how Remstar can help you today!

Remstar keeps it simple...very simple. The proof is in the results, ask our customers!

RemstarKeepsItSimple.com800-639-5805

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MMH090801_Covers.indd 00C4MMH090801_Covers.indd 00C4 8/13/2009 10:58:33 AM8/13/2009 10:58:33 AM

modern materials handling - 08 aug 2009

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