DC Velocity - November 2018

inbound

When students from some 20 schools located across the southern tier of New York went looking for opportunities to learn about careers in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields last month, they found inspiration in the supply chain.

Lift truck vendor The Raymond Corp. invited more than 250 high school students to visit its headquarters in Greene, N.Y., on Oct. 12 to celebrate National Manufacturing Day, a nationwide program designed to help manufacturers address the skilled labor shortage, connect with future generations, and take charge of the sector’s public image.

The event included a manufacturing floor tour, an interactive game with giveaways, and product demonstrations. Among the products on display were a range of forklifts, the company’s fleet management system, and its virtual reality (VR) simulator. Students at the event also had a chance to speak with Raymond professionals about the next generation of manufacturing and how they can pave their own career paths in the industry.

That conversation was a two-way street, Raymond says, noting that it helped bring the kids’ creative ideas into the 95-year-old firm. “The material handling industry is craving the younger generation’s fresh thinking, which can push and challenge our industry to stretch and reach new potential,” Rick Harrington, senior vice president of operations at Raymond, said in a release. “We want to ignite curiosity among students about career possibilities in STEM and showcase opportunities available in their community.”

Raymond opens
HQ to high school
students BNSF Railway Co. says it has seen the future, and
it is electric—or at least hybrid-electric. The Fort
Worth, Texas-based railroad will soon “electrify”
a number of its vehicles, including cranes, loaders,
and trains, as part of a clean technology pilot in
California. About half of the project’s cost will be
covered by a $22.6 million grant from the California Air Resources Board.
Among the clean vehicles to be used in the pilot are a Taylor all-electric side
loader, a BYD all-electric drayage truck, and two hybrid rubber-tire gantry
cranes from Mi-Jack, which have the ability to reduce emissions by 70 percent
compared with diesel versions.
BNSF will also partner with GE Transportation on a battery-electric locomo-
tive that will be paired with diesel locomotives to power a freight train traveling
from Stockton, Calif., to Barstow. This battery-electric locomotive will gener-
ate 2,400 kilowatt-hours of power and could potentially reduce a freight train’s
total fuel consumption by at least 10 to 15 percent, according to GE.
“Battery-powered or hybrid locomotives are promising technologies for
the rail industry, with the potential to reduce operating costs and emis-
sions,” Dominique Malenfant, vice president for global technology at GE
Transportation, said in a release. “This project will give us tremendous insight
into the capabilities of battery power and the best operational methods of
leveraging the technology.”
BNSF turns to electric vehicles
to “green” up operations

Ridding the world’s oceans of plastic waste might sound more like a job for Superman than for mere mortals. But a Dutch nonprofit has a plan for tackling the problem, and a well-known liner shipping company is lending a hand. In September, a vessel towing an advanced ocean cleanup system devised by the Dutch group “The Ocean Cleanup” departed from San Francisco Bay bound for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an accumulation zone of ocean plastics that’s twice the size of Texas and is located halfway between Hawaii and California. It reached its destination in mid-October, and the cleanup operation is now under way.

Known as “System 001,” the cleanup apparatus consists of a 2,000-foot-long U-shaped floating barrier with a 10-foot skirt attached below. It is designed to be propelled by wind and waves, passively catching and concentrating plastic debris in front of it—a process the group likens to “a giant Pac-Man skimming the surface of the ocean.” System 001 was towed from the San Francisco Bay by the vessel Maersk Launcher, whose services were donated to the project by Danish container shipping conglomerate A.P. Møller-Maersk.