inbound
There are many annual awards in the fields of transportation, logistics, and supply chain management. Syracuse University’s Whitman
School of Management says it hosts the oldest in the United States:
the Harry E. Salzberg Medallion, awarded to an individual or an
organization for outstanding service to the industry and the profession since 1949.
This year’s recipients will include Earl E. Congdon, executive
chairman of the board of Old Dominion Freight Line, the
Thomasville, N.C.-based LTL carrier that is widely acknowledged as
among the most profitable and best managed in the industry, and
the North American division of Kuehne + Nagel Inc., the global
third-party logistics company. The ceremony will take place Oct. 3
at the Whitman School.
The program will also include a keynote address by Kyle O’Brien,
executive vice president of sales for the yogurt maker Chobani; stu-
dent presentations; and a panel discussion on private/public part-
nerships, moderated by transportation attorney Barry B. LePatner.
More information, including a list of winners back to 1949, can be
found at http://whitman.syr.edu/programs-and-academics/cen-
ters-and-institutes/salzberg/ index.aspx. ;
ODFL’s Earl Congdon, Kuehne + Nagel
to receive Salzberg awards Could a lift truck become the “brain” of your
DC operation? According to some experts,
“smart” lift trucks could soon be able to
function as mobile data hubs connecting
various information systems in a facility.
Technology that allows lift trucks to communicate with remote diagnostic, navigation, and monitoring systems already exists.
One example: remote diagnostic systems
that let lift trucks send a fault message to a
service provider; a technician shows up with
the necessary part because the forklift called,
not because someone made a phone call,
said Crown Equipment Corp.’s Jim Gaskell.
Gaskell is director of global Insite products,
the forklift maker’s suite of data collection
and fleet optimization products.
An even greater opportunity lies in taking
advantage of the lift truck’s role as “a tool for
navigating the entire warehouse,” Gaskell
said in an interview. The trucks’ movements
and operators’ tasks are directed by software
like warehouse management systems (WMS)
that integrates with other business functions,
such as order management, labor management, and finance. What if you connected
the lift truck to systems and devices beyond
the WMS, and used the resulting data to better manage the warehouse as a whole?
For instance, a lift truck could interface
with a facility’s energy management system to
ensure that battery charging is done economically. Gaskell also sees a day when forklifts
could function as the center of communication networks that revolve around mobile
devices. For instance, cell phones have capabilities that could potentially be harnessed for
warehouse applications. Consider that
authorities have the capability to send an
“Amber Alert” to smartphones in a specific
geographic area, and that Google Maps reads
cell phones and knows how fast they’re traveling. “Is there a way to extend that to warehouse operations?” Gaskell asked.
Because warehouses and DCs are filled
with systems and equipment made by many
different manufacturers, proper connectivity
and integration would be stumbling blocks
to development. “But you can’t discount it,”
he said. “Who knows where it might lead?” ;
Forklift as mastermind?
Ocean containers often take a
beating in transit, so anybody
who ships goods by sea is always
looking for ways to prevent their
shipments from getting tossed
around inside the big metal
boxes. That’s hard enough for
retailers that ship standard-size cartons, but it’s a particular problem for military logisticians, who must ship odd-shaped items like
weapons, parts, and tools—often at a moment’s notice.
Stanley Vidmar, a manufacturer of storage and workspace solutions, says its new Rapid Deployment Container Insert will solve
that problem by holding all kinds of items steady in transit and protecting them during storage. The inserts are available with cus-tomizable drawer options, including specialized layouts, cradles,
and foam inserts for a wide range of uses, the manufacturer says.
They are also available with cross-bracing or panels.
The inserts are designed for use inside 20-foot containers as well
as in quad-cons and tri-cons (mini-containers developed for the
U.S. military that can be locked together to form a unit equivalent in
size to a 20-foot container). Each insert can handle loads of up to
4,000 pounds, with stacked units supporting up to 8,000 pounds.
The equipment is designed with a four-way forklift base and can also
be transported with a pallet jack. No welds or other modifications
are required to fit a container, according to the manufacturer. ;
Steady as she goes
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