Material Handling Edge Blog 
 A blog for young professionals in the forklift, conveyor and general material handling industries.  

It’s never too early to start planning for the holidays. Lucky for you, the Material Handling Edge Blog is looking out for you. While perusing the Web, I found the perfect gift for the young material handler in your family.

That’s right, a forklift simulation video game.

Check out the description from the game’s Web site.
 

 Take on the role as a forklift truck driver and take your place in these highly detailed vehicles. In Forklift Truck Simulator 2009 your task is to master different missions in varying environments. For example you must load and unload trucks and trains within a time limit or store goods in the big warehouse. Different vehicles from the company STILL are at your disposal in the vehicle park.

An extensive training mode allows you to get acquainted with the controls of the vehicles and acquire the license necessary for missions. A free mode where the player chooses himself what to do with the forklift and the goods finishes off this simulator. With Forklift Truck Simulator 2009 you get a realistic forklift experience on your own PC.

 

So hurry up, get to the store now. There might not be many of these left come December.
See you next week!

Are the dead walking among us, looking to feast on unsuspecting prey? According to a story I posted to wikiMHEDA’s “Breaking News” feature, that just might be the case. However, in this instance, the walking dead are not people but companies and they’re feasting on manufacturers not brains. The posting, which uses an article by James B. Kelleher of Reuters as a source, claims that “many manufacturers are in trouble because key suppliers are so overextended and underfunded that they won’t be able to raise the money they need to get their plants running again.”  (Check out the full story here.)

This could be a major thorn in the side of manufacturers who might be forced to scramble to replace dying suppliers as production begins to increase.

There was, however, some good news in the Reuters Report:

While the analysis found that average profit per employee had tumbled nearly 50 percent at small manufacturers over the past year, other financial metrics have improved. The average quick ratio, for instance, a rough-but-reliable indicator of a company’s ability to pay its bills, rose to 1.7-to-1 from 1.4-to-1 over the last year. Any ratio above 1-to-1 is considered healthy. And cash as a percentage of total assets has also improved.

So it’s not going to be a full-blown zombie supplier apocalypse, manufacturers should definitely be looking for writing on the walls. If you don’t fight back against (aka replace) the zombies, you risk becoming one of them.

Today I finished laying out the next issue of the Edge. It’s got a service theme—both customer service and the material handling service department—and I think you guys are going to like it. Be sure to stop by www.mhedaedge.org on September 3 to check it out.

As is often the case in the monthly-magazine business, the completion of a magazine means one thing—time to start working on the next one! That’s exactly what I’m doing starting tomorrow morning. The October issue of the edge is going to focus on the state of the economy and how it’s affecting Edgers.

What I would like to do is give you the chance to be my boss. I want you to tell me what you want to know about the economy and its impact on your life. Do you want to read about the potential benefits of health care legislation? Do you want to find out more about when the recovery is coming? Do you want to hear how other members are coping with the downturn?

Let me know and I’ll either write about it or recruit an expert to put something together. Your input is what makes this magazine work, keep it flowing. You can catch me at Dan@mhedaedge.org or by leaving a comment on this blog.

It’s almost a cliché amongst some members of the workforce’s older generation. “These kids these days, they just don’t have the integrity or the work ethic that we have,” they say. Generation Y is often dismissed as lazy, high-maintenance or worse.

Obviously, this isn’t true, but the perception exists nonetheless. There are some people out there who would just rather work with an older salesperson. So what can a young material handling professional do about it? Honestly, I’m not sure. However I did speak to Brent Watkins from Springer Equipment recently and he offered a few ideas. He’s writing an article for the next issue of MHEDA Edge. Check out this excerpt of what he had to say.

As a younger person in this industry, I feel it’s my responsibility to break preconceived notions about my generation. Some of the older folks in the industry seem to think our generation lacks the character and the integrity of their generation, so I make it a point to always be a straight shooter. I don’t tell customers what they want to hear, I tell them facts. I find that by being honest, they appreciate me much more—even if what I’m telling them isn’t what they want to hear. I just try to be fair and do my job to the best of my ability. I feel this has been one of the biggest keys to my success.

It’s a pretty basic strategy I suppose, but it works for him. It seems that the stereotypes aren’t going away, Generation Y is just going to have to work harder than ever to dispel them.

Well we’re always talking about technology and its impact on the material handling industry, but this is something I’ve never seen before. I’ve got to admit, it’s right up my alley too.

An Australian man named Simon Wittber came up with a way to use a Wiimote to control a giant crane. That’s pretty ridiculous in my book. Although, it’s probably the only crane I could operate without a few weeks worth of training, so I’m OK with it.

He used Python, an object-oriented programming language and linked it with bluetooth and the Wiimote. This links with the cranes regular controls and allows for remote controlling of this massive crane.

So which of my readers can make me one of these?

Today is a pretty big day for me. As you all know, I’m the editor of MHEDA Edge and I also write The MHEDA Connection. Well, as of today, I am also the “Breaking News” editor on our sister site, http://www.wikimheda.org. In case you’ve been stuck under some sort of rock the last few months, wikiMHEDA is a comprehensive collection of terminology, videos, white papers and other information about the material handling and logistics industry.

What the new position means is that each day I will be bringing you the three biggest news stories in the entire material handling industry. If a company hires a new president, buys out a competitor or does anything else of note, I will be making sure that you’re the first to know about it. Best of all, if you have anything to say about an article, you can do so via the site’s simple “comment” form.

Fear not, though, I will still be updating the blog regularly, and the Edge will remain as great as ever. In fact, I’m in the home stretch of the September issue. We’re going to be focusing on service—both customer service and the service department. This issue is going to be a little bit more technical than last months and I think you’ll really enjoy it. Check back later this week I’ll be previewing articles.

In the mean time, head over to http://www.wikimheda.org and check out today’s headlines!

As you may recall, I wrote an entry last week about Vertical Reciprocating Conveyor legislation in Massachusetts. Basically, in Massachusetts there was a fatal VRC accident and that spurned the government to issue an emergency order to restructure the regulations for the equipment.

Well after writing that piece, Mike Adel from Autoquip shined some light on an aspect of the legislation that I hadn’t realized. I had mentioned that material handling distributors might be able to get business out of bringing old VRCs into compliance, but it turns out that’s not the case.

Basically what the state did was lump VRC’s into its Elevator Code, which was a flawed idea from its conception. This means that now only certified elevator installers can install VRCs, leaving many material handling companies out in the cold. No longer can VRCs, a longtime material handling staple, be installed by material handling companies in the state of Mass.

That just goes to show the unforeseen effects a hasty, ill-conceived piece of legislation can have on businesses. This is an especially important lesson with the amount of legislation that is quickly being pushed through on the federal level these days.

Hello everyone, I hope all of your weeks are off to a great start. Mine is off to quite a busy one. I’m helping out on the 4^th quarter issue of The MHEDA Journal. We’re doing “Sales Success Stories” which are essentially case studies that highlight how a material handling manufacturer and distributor were able to work together to meet a customer’s needs.

To be honest, I didn’t expect the process to be all that time consuming. I figured since the economy was such a struggle this year, there wasn’t going to be much sales success to speak of. Man, was I wrong. We’ve got tons of these things coming in. Today I conducted two interviews about two unique sales, the combined value was over $1 million. Even in this climate, MHEDA members are still getting it done.

I suppose I should’ve seen it coming. Despite the recession, there is still business out there to be had. It stands to reason that with the caliber of MHEDA’s membership, a lot of that available business is being scooped up by MHEDA members.

Another thing that surprised me about these case studies is how well MHEDA manufacturers and distributors were working together. There’s always talk about how contentious the manufacturer/distributor relationship can be, but all of these sales successes have one thing in common, a strong relationship between dealer and supplier. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Do you?

It has been months since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed, promising loads of   “shovel-ready”  projects that were going to stimulate our economy into recovery. While the merits of and impact from  this bill are very debatable, at least one material handling company is profiting from it.

According to an article posted on wikiMHEDA, East Penn Manufacturing Co. will receive a $32.5 million grant from the Department of Energy. The grant is part of a $2.4 billion initiative to help U.S.-based manufacturers develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, batteries, chargers and other components.

According to the article

“East Penn Manufacturing will use the funds to expand its production capacities to manufacture high volumes of next-generation lead-acid batteries. These batteries will serve as critical components of Hybrid Electric Vehicles meeting customer commitments for over 4.2 million batteries between 2009 and 2012.”

This is fantastic news for the material handling industry. Not only is it great that the industry is being remembered by the Federal Government, but it will also benefit the distributor. The technology that comes out of this grant has the potential to lead to all sorts of new products and technologies that distributors will then be able to market to their customers.

While this doesn’t necessarily change the landscape of the material handling industry, it’s nice to see the government throw our industry a bone once in a while!

The Tech Issue

Well everybody, it’s that time of the month again. The new issue of MHEDA Edge, the premiere online resource for young professionals in the material handling industry has hit the Web. This issue, another instant classic penned by yours truly, focuses largely on technology with articles including a guide to better utilizing LinkedIn and a look at some high-tech toys that can make your job much easier.

This issue also takes a look at the state of the economy and how it has impacted the material handling industry. We contacted the companies that The MHEDA Journal interviewed for last year’s forecast article and asked them for updated projections. The results of the survey are eye-opening.

This month’s Meet A Young Leader feature focuses on Chris Galvan of The Miner Corporation. Chris started at Miner while in college and quickly worked his way up the ranks and now, at age 36, He is in charge of the company’s entire service operation. 

Check it all out here www.mhedaedge.org!

This issue was a blast to work on, I think you guys are really going to enjoy it. Let me know if you have any feedback or if there’s anything you want to

see covered next month!