DC Velocity - January 2014

plans to address them. As part of that project, MHI brought together vendors, practitioners, consultants, academics, and even business journalists—what Prest calls the “many voices of the supply chain”—for brainstorming sessions. Those discussions have since been summarized in a report, which began circulating in draft form in late 2013.

Prest brings to his position over 30 years of experience in the material handling industry, including a stint as CEO of Prest Rack Inc. He has been recognized for his volunteer work with industry groups as well as local government and charitable foundations. This includes serving as president of both the Rack Manufacturers Institute Inc. (RMI) and the Material Handling Education Foundation (MHEFI), as executive chairman of MHI, and as a member of the Manufacturers Board of Advisors (MBOA) of the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA).

Prest is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a B.A. in public administration. He also pursued post-graduate studies at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Notre Dame.

He met recently with DC VELOCITY Group Editorial Director Mitch Mac Donald to discuss MHI’s new initiatives, the forces shaping the logistics and supply chain professions, and his goal of making MHI a central hub for “the many voices of the supply chain.”

QFrom your vantage point, what is the current state of the material handling sector of the logistics field? A I view it as a really exciting time right now if you look at everything that is happening with the exponential growth of information and the technologies that help us put that information to good use. The opportunities for the material handling industry and for logistics are phenomenal. We are experiencing significant growth. For 2014, we are actually looking at double-digit growth in the material handling sector of logistics. It is all attributable to the productivity gains that our industry makes possible.

QIt’s been said that the material handling sector fared much better in the Great Recession and its aftermath than most other sectors of the economy. Is that because of the productivity gains you just mentioned, or are there other factors in play?

A Well, this industry was hit just like most every indus- try, especially the capital equipment industries. We took a big hit, but the reality is we have really been in recovery for three and a half to four years. And in that time, the material handling industry has seen significant growth.

I believe the reason for that growth is that companies did take such hard hits and became lean and did all the things they needed to do to survive. When the recovery began, as weak as it was, companies started looking at automation as a much better investment, or at least a safer investment, than just adding on shifts of people. Rather than hiring, they wanted to make the people they had more productive because of lingering uncertainty about the economy.

QDoes that mean there will be a shift in the skill sets needed for jobs in logistics?

A A huge shift. There are a lot of jobs out there right now that aren’t being filled because of a lack of the necessary skill sets. In the material handling industry, they are projecting that 270,000 jobs will be created each year over the next five years. They are good-paying jobs at a median wage of $80,000, but we’ve got to get people trained for those jobs. I think that is a huge responsibility and opportunity for us and organizations like our (CSCMP) Young Professionals and supply chain certification programs.

QSo the investment in automation has in some cases led to the creation, rather than the elimination, of jobs?

A Right. You hear that people have concerns about automation taking away jobs. Actually, automation creates jobs and creates a higher standard of living. The example I always like to use is that there aren’t a lot of stagecoach drivers anymore, but there are a whole bunch of airline pilots. We have to make sure we recognize that and get out there and not be afraid of the future. Being afraid of the future, and not embracing the future, is probably the worst thing we can do.