en-us http://www.mmh.com/blog/%blog_id.html?nid=4403 Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. Subject to its Terms of Use November 11, 2009 http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1880050388.html?nid=4403 Looks like I kicked up some dust with my recent blog on OSHA’s warning about dusty work environments. I told you that OSHA was sending out notices warning work sites about lift trucks being operated in areas classified as hazardous. That includes places where dust is prevalent. “Th… Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/1820050382.html?nid=4403 This week, RedPrairie and NetSuite announced an agreement that represents a potentially interesting development in the world of on-demand, or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), solutions for supply chain execution software. I say potentially because, according to my contact at NetSuite, the goal… Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:33:05 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1310050331.html?nid=4403 Well, I can finally talk about it. A few weeks ago I attended a media-only introduction to the C-5, Crown Equipment Corporation’s first company-manufactured internal combustion (IC) forklift. It features an industrial engine that was jointly developed with John Deere Power Systems (John … Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:16:38 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/1130050313.html?nid=4403 I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but every once in a while I notice that I'm hearing the same sort of thing from a couple of vendors, put two and two together, and come up with a trend. Of late, I’ve noticed something I’m calling “from product to solution.” In fac… Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:40:53 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1790050179.html?nid=4403 In my last blog I addressed under-ride, a particularly ugly and often fatal type of lift truck accident. I also told you that the House Education and Labor Committee would soon be delivering a full markup of the Protect America’s Workers Act of 2009 (S. 1580/H.R. 2067) to the Senate. This… Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/150050215.html?nid=4403 When it comes to the supply chain, inventory management stops at the distribution center dock door for most companies. Yes, a retail chain may have an inventory management program to track the inventory inside its stores, but it’s still in a silo. Often, there is a disconnect between the inv… Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:57:53 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1090050109.html?nid=4403 The operator of a standup order picker was killed on the job recently. The circumstances weren't unusual. OSHA arrived on the scene asking all the right questions. But there's one question all lift truck operators and fleet managers need to ask themselves: Did this man die in vain? Wha… Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/1000050100.html?nid=4403 Every year around this time, Modern publishes a special report on the top 20 public and refrigerated warehouse providers in the country. This year’s report by Lorie Rogers will be one of the highlights of our November issue. Keep an eye out for it. Also around this time, Dr. Robert Li… Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:54:49 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1980049998.html?nid=4403 The worst insult you could pay a warehouse manager is that his facility is a black hole. That implies a huge cosmic point of no return. Well if logistics can borrow scientific terminology to imply chaos on a cosmic order, why shouldn’t science be free to use a logistics glossary to bring cosmi… Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/340050034.html?nid=4403 I read a column titled The New Untouchables by Tom Friedman in the New York Times the other day. It made me think about what’s next for the materials handling industry. The short-term outlook for our industry is tough. At the Material Handling Industry fall meetings in Amelia Island t… Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:00:24 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1220049922.html?nid=4403 The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 47 million Americans, or 20 percent of the population under the age of 65, were without health insurance last year. That doesn’t have anything to do with lift trucks. This does: According to OSHA, approximately 95,000 employees are injured every y… Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/1280049928.html?nid=4403 Last week, I ran into Mike Dempsey at the MHIA fall meetings in Amelia Island, Fla. I’ve been talking to Dempsey about trends in technology, especially warehouse management systems and RFID, since the late 1990’s. At Modern, were talking to Dempsey about using RFID for asset management… Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:27:51 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1890049789.html?nid=4403 While visiting Crown Equipment Corp.’s headquarters in New Bremen, OH, last week, I toured the company’s manufacturing sites. The fact that Crown is a vertically integrated manufacturer and makes roughly 85% of its trucks’ components is old news. But what surprised me was the numbe… Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1320049732.html?nid=4403 In this exclusive interview, Senior Vice President Jim Moran explains what Crown's entering the internal combustion engine lift truck market and its applying new information management capabilities will mean to customers.—Tom Andel Q: Before getting into Crown's IC strategy,… Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/1660049766.html?nid=4403 At lunch today, I turned on CNBC as the Dow briefly passed 10,000. It occurred to me that the economy is giving off more mixed signals these days than an evening of speed dating. Example: Today’s optimism was driven by a better than expected decline in retail sales in September. That… Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:58:45 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/460049646.html?nid=4403 There’s a lot of old fashioned thinking among old material handlers. For example, many lift truck makers and sellers have always seen hoists, cranes and overhead conveyors as competitive products. They bought into a huge case of “Either/Or.” A new generation of material ha… Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/500049450.html?nid=4403 In this excusive interview, James Malvaso, president &CEO of the Raymond Corporation, analyzes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for lift truck sellers and buyers.—Tom Andel Q: What are the threats and opportunities of the global lift truck market? Malvaso:… Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1830049383.html?nid=4403 In a recent blog I let off some steam about people who have no right to be lift-truck-ignorant. I’m sorry if I came off as a petulant snob. But I’m not sorry that my passion resulted in an opportunity to learn a little more about the “small electric trucks resembling forklifts&rdqu… Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/700000470/post/1420049342.html?nid=4403 In this exclusive interview, Don Chance, President of NMHG Sales (Nacco Industries Inc.'s materials handling group) gives his vision of the shared stake lift truck makers and dealers hold in keeping customers. – Tom Andel Q: Let’s start with the economy. Are there good thin… Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/blog/1000000500/post/1180049318.html?nid=4403 Last week, I wrote about how the lowly caster was playing a starring role in lean manufacturing at KIA’s new assembly plant in West Point, Ga. Today, Michael Smith, the COO of PALNET, a supplier of wooden pallets, made an equally bold assertion about another product you don't give mu… Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:17:56 PST