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take us along!
order fulfillment
from A to EEE
charged up about the future
PHOTOS COUR TES Y OF TO YOTA MATERIAL HANDLING USA AND ZAPPOS
Given the material handling industry’s lackluster sales performance over the
last 18 months and the sluggish economic recovery, this might not seem the
best time to introduce new equipment to the market. But at least one forklift
maker begs to disagree. Now is “a perfect time to launch a new electric truck
line,” said Toyota Material Handling USA (TMHU) President Brett Wood at a
recent event celebrating Toyota’s 20th anniversary of forklift manufacturing in
the United States and the debut of its 8-Series AC electric forklifts.
Wood cited several reasons for his bullish outlook. For one thing, he said,
electric trucks are outselling internal combustion (IC) equipment. Electrics
now hold 67 percent of the market, up from 60 percent in 2008. For another,
improvements in electric trucks’ performance, high gas prices, and environmental concerns are making electric vehicles more attractive than ever to buyers. Furthermore, demand for lift trucks of all kinds is exceeding expectations.
Manufacturers now forecast sales growth of 26 percent in North America for
2010, up sharply from earlier predictions of just 3 to 5 percent, he added.
The mood was upbeat throughout the event, which was held at the Toyota
Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM) plant in Columbus, Ind. In
addition to celebrating two decades of U.S. manufacturing, the company
staged a “line-off” ceremony for the 8-Series that was attended by U.S. and
Japanese executives, including Toyota Industries Corp. President Tetsuro
Toyoda, and all 600-plus associates who work at TIEM. They had something
else to celebrate, too: Despite the past year’s lull in sales, TIEM has not laid off
a single employee. To keep its experienced associates working until sales revive,
TIEM has brought more parts fabrication in house, installed new machines to
increase manufacturing capacity, expanded and improved sections of the facility, and revised work processes to reduce costs.
Zappos.com, the online purveyor
of shoes, clothing, and accessories,
has taken the unusual step of
showcasing one of its distribution
centers on its website. Customers
who are curious about how their
orders are filled can take a brief
online “tour” of one of the company’s Shepherdsville, Ky., facilities.
The tour ( http://about.zappos.
com/zappos-story/fulfillment-facility) begins with a shot of the
exterior of one of the order fulfillment centers, and then moves on
to images of storage racks piled
high with colorful shoeboxes;
automated conveyors and picking
bays; a receiving dock; manual
picking and packing operations;
and the trailer loading process.
Accompanying text emphasizes
the role that Zappos.com’s DCs
play in achieving its famously
high level of service.
The website sends a positive
message to consumers about the
importance of an efficient, well-run order-fulfillment operation:
“We believe that the ability to ship
our customers’ orders quickly,
efficiently, and accurately is key to
our success. Because of this, we
have invested a significant amount
of resources into running our
warehouses.” Now that’s a statement every warehouse and DC
manager would like to hear their
company’s executives make.
