Necessity is the mother of (material
handling) invention
The aisles of material handling trade shows are filled with complex, highly automated systems. But sometimes a comparatively simple solution
developed by those on the DC floor can solve the thorniest of problems.
Two products we saw at the Modex 2012 show are a case in point.
▪ The Yellow Jacket 110 Orbital Stretch Wrap Machine was invented by a
metal fabricator who tired of manually wrapping pallets of oddly shaped,
heavy, and oversized parts. He developed a drum-shaped machine that
allows a single operator to securely wrap pallets without taking them off
the lift truck’s forks—and in one-tenth the time it takes two workers to
wrap similar loads by hand.
The orbital wrapper, which moves a stretch-wrap dispenser over,
around, and under a pallet sitting on a forklift, worked so well that customers began asking the inventor to build machines for them. In 2007, he
sold the concept to ITW, which now offers several models of the portable
wrapper. For information, go to www.yellowjacket110.com.
▪ Komyo Logistics originally developed its collapsible, returnable shipping
and storage crates for a closed-loop transportation system operated by its
parent company, Honda Logistics Inc., a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co.
Ltd. The metal crates, designed to carry auto parts and components to factories for assembly, were sized to maximize the space in 53-foot U.S.
domestic trailers or 40-foot ocean containers. The panels fold down or can
be removed for easy access to the product inside.
Not long ago, COO Rich Franklin told DC VELOCITY, the 3PL noticed
that one of Honda’s facilities wasn’t returning the crates as promptly as
expected. Puzzled, managers visited the site and discovered that warehouse
personnel had added bar-code labels to the crates and were using them in
place of racks for storage. To pick orders, workers simply folded down the
sides of the crates. Their idea worked so well that Honda now uses the
crates for both shipping and storage, and Komyo is selling the units to outside customers. Go to www.komyologistics.com for more information. ;
Confused by the cloud?
Our webcast can help
Curious about what cloud-based computing
means for logistics? Are you unsure exactly what
cloud computing is, and whether it’s appropriate
for supply chain applications? Frank Camean,
founder of the 4Sight Supply Chain Group,
In the presentation, originally broadcast Feb. 16 as part of our “Monthly
Briefing” series of editorial webcasts, Camean discusses cloud computing
in easy-to-grasp language that everyone can understand. He then goes on
to describe the pros and cons of deploying a cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS). To view this webcast as well as others in our
archive, go to www.dcvelocity.com/videocasts. ;
inbound
Downturn decision
supports upturn
growth
News of economic growth, success,
and job creation is always welcome,
but it’s especially heartening at a time
when many companies are still recovering from the effects of the Great
Recession. There was quite a bit of
good news to be heard at last month’s
Modex 2012 show in Atlanta.
A number of companies reported
that they not only had survived the
recession but had also achieved significant growth—and they’re anticipating even brighter days ahead. Just
one example: In an informal briefing,
John Baysore, president and CEO of
Dematic, a provider of material handling systems and software, told DC
VELOCITY that his company is projecting year-on-year revenue growth of
10 percent in 2012. At this stage, he
said, that looks like a solid projection.
Should the company hit that mark, it
will have grown its revenues by 143
percent between 2009 and 2012.
To support that growth, Dematic
needs a strong and growing team,
especially in the area of engineering,
Baysore continued. That’s why what
may have been a tough decision at
the depth of the downturn in 2009 is
proving to be a shrewd one as the
economy moves toward recovery.
“We made a deliberate decision to
maintain our engineering workforce
during the downturn so as to be well
positioned when the economy
rebounded,” he explained.
In fact, Dematic not only maintained its existing engineering team,
it also increased it. Over 100 engineers were hired in 2010, and another 262 joined the company in 2011.
This year, Baysore projects, another
221 will come on board—all told, an
engineering headcount increase of
583 over four years. ;
