newsworthy
20 DC VELOCITY OCTOBER 2013 www.dcvelocity.com
As 2013 enters its final quarter, several material handling companies are experiencing growth rates well above the 2 percent or so
gain in overall gross domestic product.
One of them is Dematic. The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company is projecting $900 million in 2013 revenues, a year-to-year
growth rate of 25 percent over 2012. That’s way ahead of the projected 12- to 15-percent growth rate for the material handling
sector as a whole. The company is also forecasting 2014 revenue
of well over $1 billion, an all-time record.
Speaking at the opening session Sept. 9 at Dematic’s annual
Material Handling and Logistics Conference in Park City, Utah,
CEO John Baysore said the company is gaining market share in
existing segments and is benefiting from the growth in e-commerce, heightened consumer demand for swift order delivery, the
push to drive down costs and boost efficiency, and labor issues.
Baysore told the assembled 500-plus logistics professionals that “
e-commerce is probably the most obvious trend driving business for
us and the industry.” In a post-speech interview with DC VELOCITY,
Baysore said that e-tailing is “requiring new approaches to customer
fulfillment by many companies.”
Dematic is capitalizing on a
push by companies to prepare for
“omnichannel distribution,”
where customers are served from
traditional brick-and-mortar
store inventory as well as from
online fulfillment centers through
a single channel, Baysore said.
“Omnichannel brings a higher degree of complexity to distribu-
tion operations and calls for more automated solutions,” he said.
The growth of e-commerce has changed consumer patterns,
forcing retailers to shorten their fulfillment times. The compression in “click-to-pick cycles” is boosting demand for Dematic’s
systems, Baysore said.
“If my daughter orders some lipstick online, she fully expects it
to be there the next day,” he explained. “And if I, say, forget my
anniversary is coming up, when I order my wife’s gift the day
before, I certainly need it to be here the next day.”
Beyond e-commerce, Baysore said Dematic is capitalizing on
companies’ increased appetite for technology to boost overall
efficiency. “Whether in throughput, order accuracy, or [return on
investment], companies are looking for smart solutions, and IT is
a big driver in that regard,” he said.
Dematic is also the beneficiary of a shortage of qualified workers in the material handling space as well as the sector’s high
turnover rate, according to Baysore. “It’s hard to find floor workers,” he said. “There’s high turnover, and it is tough to fill positions like pickers.” ;
—Mitch Mac Donald
Four key trends driving company,
industry growth, Dematic CEO says
Southeastern Freight Lines, a provider of
regional less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation services, has received the Echo Global
Logistics Platinum Award for Outstanding
Regional LTL Carrier Service in 2012. … Pilot
Freight Services was named the 2013 Ryder
Transportation Management Carrier of the
Year in the North American Freight Forwarder
category. … The Murfreesboro, Tenn., location
of Tippmann Group’s Interstate Warehousing
unit has achieved a Level 2 Safe Quality Foods
(SQF) Certification. … Third-party logistics
service provider BlueGrace has honored transportation and logistics firm CarrierDirect with
its Strategic Partner of the Year Award for
2013. … Laurie Barkman, chief operating officer of Genco Marketplace, a wholly owned
subsidiary of third-party logistics service
provider Genco, has been selected to receive
one of the National Diversity Council’s “2013
Most Powerful & Influential Woman” awards.
… Richard (Dick) Coleman, retired president of
ContainerPort Group, will be honored with
the 2013 Intermodal Association of North
America (IANA) Silver Kingpin Award at this
year’s Intermodal Expo in Houston. … Clark
Material Handling Co. received the Kentucky
Governor’s Safety & Health Award for both its
Lexington and Louisville, Ky., facilities. …
Material handling system integrator Bastian
Solutions, supply chain consulting company
Scott Sheldon, and truck fleet analytics company Fleet Advantage have all been named to
Inc. magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States for
2013. … Columbian Logistics Network of
Grand Rapids, Mich., received the Michigan
Safety and Health Achievement Recognition
Program (SHARP) award for its exemplary
safety and health management system. …
Integrity Logistics was named one of the “Top
150 Private Companies in the State of
Oregon” by Oregon Business magazine.
Additionally, two of its employees, Ben
Richards and Terry Wolff, have received the
Certified Transportation Broker designation.
… Steve Palmer, vice president of transportation for Lowe’s Companies Inc., has received
the Bill H. Teague Lifetime Achievement
Award for 2013 from The North Carolina
League of Transportation & Logistics.
accolades
