DC Velocity - August 2009

literary logisticians

Looking for some beach reading this summer? Then spread out your beach towel, put on some sunscreen, and settle in with a logistics-themed novel. Yes, there is such a thing—more, in fact, than you might expect.

Last year, we wrote about two books that mix work and play: Lean 9001: Battle for the Arctic Rose, a sci-fi novel about “lean” manufacturing in a universe far, far away; and Tortoise Riskies, a novel about crime and international trade.

These are not the first of their kind. Way back in 1997, Jim Tompkins, head of the consulting firm Tompkins Associates, and co-author Brenda Jernigan published the novel Goose Chase: Capturing the Energy of Change in Logistics. That same year, the Council of Logistics Management (now the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) commissioned a thriller titled Precipice.

The latest addition to the genre is Tompkins’ second novel, Caught Between the Tiger and the Dragon. The story follows Goose Chase protagonist Rich Morrison, logistics VP-turned-CEO of a lingerie manufacturing company, as he manages his company’s move into China. Along the way, he confronts supply chain problems as well as the stresses of working for a company where investors call the shots.

Logisticians aren’t necessarily expert writers, so don’t expect Pulitzer Prize-winning prose from any of these volumes (in that regard, Precipice—authored by novelist Daniel Pollock—may be the best of the lot). But they are fun to read for those of us in the business. Friends and family who wonder what exactly we do for a living might enjoy them, too.

Tompkins’ books are available through his company’s Web site ( www.tomp-kinsinc.com), and Lean 9001: Battle for the Arctic Rose can be purchased from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers ( www.sme.org). The others can be hunted down at online booksellers like Amazon.com and Powell’s. ;

inbound

Frito-Lay chips in for Women in Trucking

Women in Trucking (WIT), a two-year-old organization that provides information and mentoring resources for women in the transportation industry, has nabbed its first major corporate sponsor. Snack-food giant Frito-Lay North America is the group’s first Gold Level member and will support WIT in its efforts to bring more women into the profession and help them move up the transportation career ladder.

In a statement announcing the partnership, Frito-Lay’s National Logistics Manager Mark Rousseau emphasized the company’s corporate culture of diversity and inclusion. “The support of Frito-Lay will allow us to reach more women and to increase the visibility of women behind the wheel, under the hood, and in the corporate office,” added Ellen Voie, WIT president and CEO.

More information about Women in Trucking is available at www. WomenInTrucking.org.

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2009: a material handling odyssey

When NASA’s Ares I-X flight-test rocket hurtles into space on Aug. 30, thrusters and rocket launchers will get all the credit. But photos of the preparations show that material handling equipment is also playing a critical role in getting the project off the ground.

Thousands of parts and components are now being staged near the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and work has begun in the Vehicle

Assembly Building, where overhead cranes are helping engineers stack the major pieces of the rocket. Photos of one large section arriving in a heavy-lift aircraft show forklifts on the runway, and reach trucks and scissor lifts can be seen in the background while technicians work on the massive spaceship. (To see a slide show, go to www.nasa.gov and search for “Ares I-X photos.” But be forewarned: The mesmerizing multimedia section of NASA’s Web site will suck you in like a black hole, causing you to lose all track of time.)

One of the material handling companies helping to support the next generation of space exploration is Herkules Equipment Corp. The Walled Lake, Mich.-based manufacturer customized a three-lift system (photo) that’s worthy of the company’s name. The pneumatic lifts work independently to raise 2,400-pound parachutes to the top section of the booster rocket. The parachutes deploy during the first-stage separation shortly after lift-off, allowing the booster section to float back to earth. According to Herkules, the lifts were specially designed to comply with NASA’s unique and strict requirements for raised height, travel, footprint, portability, reliability, and safety. ;