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

We’re now officially one week away from the publication date for the April issue of MHEDA Edge. By now, I’m sure all of you have poured over every single page of the March issue several times and are looking for something to hold you over. Well, worry no more! I’m going to give you a preview of what to expect next week.

Those of you who read this blog posting, you already know that the centerpiece of the issue is an article called “All Hands On Deck.” It’s about the U.S. wire decking and its battle against unfairly imported Chinese decking. It’s great to see the good guys win one, and that’s exactly what happened.

Also in this issue, we’re doing an article about MHEDA Member A&K Equipment Company and its work with the Minnesota Twins. With a new stadium opening in April, the Twins needed some serious storage and handling help. A&K was more than happy to oblige. They ended up installing storage solutions in about 30 different rooms.

In addition to the feature articles, this issue has a profile of Storage Solutions National Accts Manager Eric McDonald. You’ll learn how he went from being a Storage Solutions customer to one of the company’s most successful employees.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The only way you can read it all is to stop by www.mhedaedge.org next Thursday!

I know I usually save the videos for Friday, but seeing as I will be out of the office this Friday, I’ve decided to flex my authoritative muscles and allow myself to break from tradition. Today’s video isn’t so much a funny video as it is a “Holy crap, did that really just happen video.”

It was sent to me by one of my Twitter followers, @hoistexperts. Paul Wilson, the gentleman who runs the account was sent the video by a colleague and he’s been trying to figure out what exactly when wrong. Consensus on the comments section of the video’s YouTube page seems to be that the lift should have had a backup brake in place. However, Wilson isn’t 100 percent convinced yet. So, I told him I would throw it out to my readers. Take a look at this video and let me know what you think caused the failure. Thanks in advance!

Oh, and don’t forget to follow me on twitter @MatHandlingEdge

It’s that time of the week again. As all of my regular readers know, i like to wrap up the week with a “Casual Friday” post. Basically, I scour the Web to bring you the funniest/most interesting material handling-related videos or pictures possible. This week I’ve got three sparkling instances of material handling failure. Enjoy!

As I watched this video, I found myself wondering “Is this actually real?” I’m still not sure, but its hilarious so who cares, right?

The reactions of the workers on this one are almost funnier than the accident itself…as long as its not your car or your company that is.

Finally, what happense when you raise a $150,000 sports car with a forklift…hopefully not this!

Last blog entry I posted a question about Hydrogen fuel cells and platinum. I’d like to give a big thank you to Nuvera Fuel Cells’ Scott Blanchet for answering that question. I recommend you check out the comment section and read what he had to say. For a fuel cell novice like myself, it was very informative.

Well it turns out, Fuel Cells are staying in the news. According to a story on wikiMHEDA, last week representatives from the hydrogen fuel cell industry joined Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii on Capitol Hill to educate the Senate Staff on what it needs to grow. The overwhelming sentiment from the fuel cell companies which included Linde, Daimler and General Motors, was that clean vehicle and fuel cell technologies are critical for nurturing a sustainable future, but there needs to be a balance between industry and government commitments to developing the necessary infrastructure.

The press release states that “To justify industry’s continued investment in hydrogen and fel cells, the Federal government must also remain a committed, reliable partner. Until enough fuel cell vehicles are on the road so that station owners can sell enough hydrogen to be self-supporting, government needs to invest in stations.” The coalition also stressed that funding hydrogen and fuel cell development shouldn’t occur at the expense of other technologies because a balanced portfolio of clean transportation options is a must.

So what’s your take on this? Is this an example of big companies looking for corporate welfare or is this a legitimate claim? Should the government be helping out or should the private sector handle this itself? I’d love to hear what all of you have to say!

I swear this entry wasn’t just an excuse for me to use that picture (for the most part anyway). In material handling, we’ve heard quite a bit about fuel cells over the last few years. Well, according to a headline posted on wikiMHEDA last week (www.wikimheda.org), fuel cells just went platinum. In England a 1.6 million dollar grant for the creation a platinum-based catalyst layer design has been awarded by Britain’s Technology Strategy Board.

So what does going platinum do for a fuel cell? I’m not one hundred percent sure myself. According to the article, “effective use of the precious metal platinum in the catalyst layers of a fuel cell is one of the keys to unlocking the widespread commercialization of the more energy efficient fuel cell power generation technology.”

It reads that the platinum will help make the fuel cells more efficient, but I’m still not sure of the specifics. I’m very curious, though, so I’m putting it to you. Do you know what platinum can mean for fuel cells? Let me know and I’ll feature you and your answer in the magazine!

Good afternoon everyone. I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. For today’s blog entry I’m going to give you a sneak peek at what I’m working on for the next issue of the Edge. I figured since you’ve all undoubtedly read the march issue from cover to cover by now, you’re probably dying for more. Well fear not!

Today I had a great conversation with Robert Rollins, division manager/owner at Nashville Wire Products about a recent victory for the material handling industry. For a long while China has been importing wire deck to the United States. No problem right? Wrong! Due to a tax break from the Chinese government that gives big bucks to companies that export steel products, they were actually able to sell at a very slim profit and still make big bucks! This, of course,  is a big  problem for the American manufacturers.

They decided to do something about it. Five of the country’s biggest wire deck suppliers banded together to form an alliance against the Chinese manufacturers. The group successfully lobbied the Commerce Department, which in-turn imposed stiff duties on imported decking. It was a fascinating process and a huge victory for U.S. manufacturing. In the next issue of the magazine, I’ll be doing a huge feature on it, so be sure to check it out.

As I’m sure most of my readers know, it’s a crazy time for the material handling industry. Regulations are getting passed that are changing the way businesses operate. Some companies are expanding and others are consolidating. Companies are hiring, while some are still firing. New products are hitting the marketplace and others are getting phased out. Sometimes it can get difficult to keep up with.

Fortunately, MHEDA is here to help. I wanted to shed some light on something that some of you may already know about—wikiMHEDA. Every day the wikiMHEDA editorial staff scours the Web for the newest and most pertinent material handling industry news. It’s a wealth of information guaranteed to help you keep up with the latest goings on.

Make it a part of your daily routine (after you read this blog of course) to head over to www.wikimheda.org and check it out. Furthermore, if your company has any news that you would like featured on the site, send me an e-mail at Dan@mhedaedge.org, and I’ll see that it gets where it needs to go.

Well it’s Friday again and you all know (or should know) what it’s time for. That’s right, it’s time for my weekly Casual Friday post where I highlight the lighter side of the material handling industry. This week I have 3 videos for you.

This forklift needs some help securing his load before backing out. His reaction is priceless.

I don’t know who this gentleman is, or where he came from, but I can’t help but smile at all of him in all of his cowboy hat-wearing, loud-shouting, flag-waving glory.

Finally, this video. It almost makes me miss working in a warehouse!

I hope you enjoy them. If you have anything you would like to submit for a future Casual Friday, just send it over to me!

It’s almost that time again. Tonight, around 5:00 p.m. the latest issue of MHEDA Edge will hit the Web. The goal of this issue was to jam it with as much useful, actionable information as possible. In fact, it has been dubbed “The How-To: Issue.”

Inside the magazine are five How-To’s that will show you ways to accomplish things like help your customers comply with OSHA, Prove your worth to customers, improve your time management, stay safe on the Web and get the most out of a MHEDA membership.

This issue was a challenge to put together because of how much detailed information had to be assembled. I feel like it was worth it, though. Hopefully you’ll get as much out of reading it as we put into writing it.
As always, if there’s anything missing from this issue that you would like to see covered in the future, don’t hesitate to let me know. I can be reached at editor@MHEDAEdge.org or via phone at 315-445-2347