baby, it’s cold inside
It’s January, so we’ve been thinking a lot
about how to keep warm here in frosty New
England. Maybe that’s why these announcements caught our attention:
Totally hot: Logistics Management
Solutions has introduced “TotalHeat,” a
heated transportation service for truckload and less-than-truckload shipments. LMS works with carrier
partners that have heated equipment to arrange service for cold-sensi-tive products. “Many shippers are struggling to find heated transportation now that Jevic has exited the market,” said Dennis Schoemehl,
president and CEO of LMS, in a statement. “The equipment is out
there, but it’s a matter of finding qualified carriers and then working
with multiple providers.” The TotalHeat service, he added, lets shippers
work with one provider and track their freight through a single Web
portal. All carriers are insured and qualified to transport hazardous
materials. Find out more at www.lmslogistics.com.
The cold standard: If you work in a refrigerated warehouse or
with temperature-controlled products, you might want to check out
the recently released ISO (International Standards Organization)
standard for assessing and managing occupational risks in cold workplaces. The standard, ISO 15743:2008, addresses health conditions
that increase cold sensitivity, how to protect against cold, safe practices for working in cold conditions, and more. For details, go to
www.iso.org.
wanted: research ideas
For the first time ever, the Material Handling Industry of America is
providing direct funding for material handling and logistics research.
A $50,000 grant, provided through MHIA’s College Industry Council
on Material Handling Education, will help Ohio State University
researchers Dr. Carolyn Sommerich and Dr. Stephen Lavender set up
a research center for the study of distribution ergonomics.
The OSU center will develop and evaluate ergonomic methods,
tools, and processes that allow distribution center employees to work
more safely and efficiently. The center also will facilitate partnerships
between regional DCs and material handling equipment manufacturers that will focus on ergonomics and lean engineering.
Although this is the first such award, it won’t be the last, says
MHIA. The group has increased its funding for material handling and
logistics research for the 2009–2010 academic year. If you have a proposal for a research project, contact CICMHE Managing Director
Mike Ogle at (800) 345-1815 or (704) 676-1190.
CICMHE, an independent organization that supports material
handling education and research, includes college and university educators; material handling equipment manufacturers, distributors,
users, and consultants; representatives of the business press; and
organizations concerned with material handling education.
inbound
thinking green?
think ink!
When it comes to environmental
initiatives, companies tend to focus
on large-scale projects like cardboard recycling. What they often
overlook are some areas that may
seem insignificant but actually can
have a measurable impact on the
environment.
One of those areas is product and
package marking. Ink-jet marking
directly onto packaging instead of
on labels can reduce paper usage to
a surprising degree, said Videojet
Technologies’ Scott Prochaska in an
interview. Videojet manufactures
ink-jet marking equipment and
supplies, so you should expect
Prochaska to be biased. But he does
have a point: A one-shift operation
running 35 hours a week, 50 weeks
a year labeling just one package a
second could use up 6. 3 million
labels annually. Bump that up to
two labels per second and two
shifts, and you’re talking 25 million
labels each year.
Which ink you use can affect the
environment, too. Prochaska, who
is Videojet’s product manager–
supplies, said that ethanol- and ace-tone-based inks, which are not
made from fossil fuels, are less polluting than traditional formulas.
Water-based inks, the most environmentally friendly of them all,
are available, but they don’t dry fast
enough to meet most shippers’
needs, he said.
Ink-jet printing has the added
advantage of being compatible
with recycling efforts, the company
says. The tiny amount of ink on
products like aluminum cans and
plastic bottles does not interfere
with recycling or contaminate the
recycled material.
