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

As I write this, my final blog entry of 2009, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you—my readers. Since this blog was launched last spring I’ve had a great time working with you. It’s truly an honor to provide content for all of you.

As we move toward 2010, I look forward to continuing our relationship. I’ve got a whole year’s worth of content just waiting to be written, and I know all of you will be with me every step of the way.

I truly want this to be my reader’s blog, not just mine. If there is ever anything you want to see discussed, or any comments you have on what I’m writing, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Leave a comment on the blog or shoot me an e-mail at Dan@datakey.org.

Have a great holiday season, I’ll see all of you January 4!

I don’t know what’s in the water in St. Croix Valley near Stillwater, MN, but their students are doing big things. A five person team of students from local Rutherford Elementary is already pulling off some impressive engineering feats. Notice, I said elementary school students—their ages range from 9-12.

According to the Rutheford Gazette, the students built a forklift out of TechnoLegos and programmed it to run an obstacle course.

Here is an excerpt:

In the basement of a Liberty subdivision home Nov. 24, Lydia Stannard and Sam Begin are trying to program a robot. They mouse over commands on a laptop that instruct the robot to make a slightly wider turn on a sprawling course that cramps the otherwise spacious room. The goal is to get the robot to use its forklift to pick up a group of rings without knocking over any obstacles.
Talk about impressive! Who knows, one of these kids may just grow up and create the next big thing in material handling technology.

Check out this video to see the truck in action!

I just got an e-mail today and it appears a mainstay in our industry is stepping down. Here is the story i put together for The MHEDA Connection on the topic.

“In an announcement that marks the end of a storied 40-year career in the material handling industry, Hytrol Vice President of Sales Bill Hawthorne said that he will be resign his position and enter retirement effective January 1. He will remain available to the company in a consulting capacity through the end of 2010. “Bill is a dedicated, loyal employee that served Hytrol as an employee for over 16 years and as a distributor for 24 years before that,” says Hytrol President Greg Goodner. “He has been instrumental in developing the company’s distributor network, expanding its presence in the marketplace and growing its market share.” Always a distributor advocate, Hawthorne was also an active contributor to MHEDA.  Hawthorne and his wife, Peggy, will return to Atlanta, Georgia, where they will be closer to their daughter and son-in-law.”

Best wishes to Bill, may he have a long and happy retirement!

I wanted to use this entry to draw your attention to an articlethat is in the December issue of the Edge. It’s written by Jay Waugh and Roy Hobock of Gray Lift, and it’s titled “CARB Your enthusiasm. It’s an update on the state of the California Air Resouce Board’s LSI emission regulations. Here is a preview of the article.

The history of CARB’s LSI regulations is a well-chronicled one. In 2001, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed regulations governing the emissions on Large-Spark Ignition (LSI) engines—the same engines used in most IC lift trucks.  The regulations use a fleet average emission level standard to measure a company’s compliance. Older lift trucks could receive values of up to 16.0 grams per kilowatt-hour each—and a fleet’s average needs to be 4.0 or lower depending on fleet size and applicable exemptions.

Now, eight years after the bill was first passed, there has yet to be a dramatic impact. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been any movement. There has been a definite increase in electric truck sales and, of course, a corresponding drop in propane truck sales. Companies are also seeing some of the single-shift or half-shift end-users buy new instead of used because the used equipment won’t help them meet their CARB goals. Many distributors have been offering free evaluations and we’ve had some takers, but it’s nothing like one might expect. The amount of retrofitting done hasn’t been significant.

 

That’s some good stuff, and it’s just a sample. To see the whole thing, head over to www.mhedaedge.org.

While working on the industry forecast for The MHEDA Journal, I asked many distributors one question—what is the biggest change in your industry in the last 10 years? I got some great answers to the question, you should make it a point to check them out in the next issue of The Journal.
One of the members that I interviewed liked the question. In fact, he liked it so much that he sent it out to several of his industry peers and asked for their response. He was then kind enough to forward their responses to me. I’ve included them below (names and companies have been removed to protect the innocent).

Question: What do you think is the biggest change in your industry in the last 10 years?

President, MHEDA Member distributor

It’s hard to make a friend. Whether it is a customer or vendor, there seems to be some sort of hesitation.

District Mgr. at Crane Manufacturer

A couple of things come to mind:

Variable frequency controls

Radio Control

CAN-Bus Technology.

Owner/Manager a John Deere dealer  

For us, I would say it is the effects that the internet has had on our business both good and bad.

1. Customer product knowledge both on specifications and on pricing PRIOR to contacting a dealer puts us at a disadvantage as they know more about the products specifications than we do, more about reported problems on product, and more about average purchase prices paid throughout the country.  All this done without leaving their home.  Unfortunately, the more educated the customer, the less margin dollar potential.
2. Used equipment infiltrating our trade area thru internet marketing by companies in the south which generate far more volume and in turn bring in more used equipment than they can remarket in their own trade areas is another negative effect that the internet has had on our business.
3.  On the other hand, we have also had some success stories where our used equipment marketed on various websites has been sold both in and outside of our regular trade area so this is where the internet has had a positive effect. 

VP of MHEDA Distributor

I would say that technology is the biggest change; not that it’s new to our industry but its variety of uses PDA’s, quoting programs, order entry programs, security issues and preserving critical information, EDI; electronic submission and invoicing of customer PO’s through TPA’s. 

For our industry; the electronics automation and the ability to offer so much on an individual piece of equipment; primarily on conveyors and cranes with remote controls.

President/Owner of Mezzanine producer.

That is an interesting question – I would be curious to hear what kind of response you get.  For me, the biggest change has been with technology, and how that has impacted the way our products are marketed and sold.  I miss the days of having one “exclusive” dealer in a given geographic market, and having that dealer only sell our product.  Technology is not the only reason that dynamic has changed, but it is a big part of it. 

The internet has allowed people to do a lot of the research and investigation that used to be done for them by professional sales people.  Conversely, it has allowed sales organizations to reach out to potential customers who are well beyond their traditional geographic territories.  Unfortunately, fast information is not necessarily good information – the need for professional sales people is definitely still there, but many customers don’t recognize that need.

Of course, the reality is that we all have to adapt, and in this example it means we have to use technology to enhance our product offerings and our service levels.  It also means that we have to be easy to find when potential customers go to the internet to look for solutions.  We spend a bunch of time and money trying to figure out how to do that, and then implementing strategies that we think will work.  We have had some success, and generally do a good job keeping up, but I will confess to not being very savvy when it comes to internet marketing (getting old).  Fortunately, we have some pretty sharp people around here.

Manager/Coordinator for material handling manufacturer.

1) – Embracing technology.

2) – The struggle of keeping loyalty amongst vendors, customers and co-workers.

Business Development Coordinator at conveyor company.

I think the greatest change in our industry in the last ten years is Technology. Actually in every phase of the sale.

Technology as it relates to ordering equipment (most suppliers now have their own order entry tools, quoting tools, service tools, etc)

Technology as it relates to communication (email, voice mail, GPS, texting on phones, emailing on phones, how I can send you a sales lead and you can look at the guys house who requested it).

Technology as it relates to equipment & controls (we’re seeing control houses actually be the primary contact in systems now).

We’re all going to have to have PHD’s to keep up with everything.

What’s your answer? What’s been the biggest change at your company? I would love to know!

It’s December again and we all know what that means. The holidays are upon us and business across the country is heating up. Products are flying off the shelf quicker than ever. Of course for that to be possible, it takes the efforts of the material handling industry. It’s all of your products that are behind the scenes, moving everything along.

Your contributions aren’t going completely unnoticed, though. In fact, last week I saw a special on HGTV called “Behind the Magic at Walt Disney World,” an hour-long special about the logistics that make Disney’s annual holiday celebration possible. As expected, there are personnel carriers, lift trucks, cranes and pallet rack at every turn. You can check out a preview of the special below and find out when it’s playing next by visiting this page.

It’s that time of the month again. The new issue of MHEDA Edge is available on the Web at www.mhedaedge.org. This month the theme is “Building Toward 2010” and we’ve got all kinds of articles that are going to help you do just that.

 There’s a piece on Twitter and how you can use it for your business. Also, two California distributors offer their take on where CARB legislation stands today. But wait! There’s more! We have an article on how innovation can lead to differentiation, a profile of a young IT/Marketing Manager and tips for getting proactive in 2010.

Those of you who read regularly might notice something different about this month’s issue. The monthly poll is nowhere to be found.  Instead we included a survey. We want to know what is the biggest non-economic issue or trend facing the material handling industry. If you want to help us out, visit this page.

Well that’s all for now, enjoy the issue!

I hate to keep beating you over the head with the same argument, but it’s getting to the point that it is almost irrefutable. Social media—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, wikis and Web sites of their ilk are here to stay. To further my point, a recently released study measuring the use of social media by Inc. 500 companies by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth says the same thing.

Social media use amongst companies in the Inc. 500 is increasing exponentially. The same study was carried out in 2007 and 2008 and the numbers keep growing. For instance, in 2007, 27 percent of respondents used social networking—today that percentage is 91.  Furthermore, 95 percent of respondents successfully used wiki sites in 2009. That says something about an association like MHEDA who jumped ahead of the curve when it introduced wikiMHEDA last spring.

I’m including the graphs for you to check out. An emarketer.com article on the study can be found here.