The Mheda Journal

Lots of news recently about layoffs. Companies public and private, large and small, across almost every industry have been cutting payrolls. How do businesses, and business owners in particular, decide when the time is right to do that? It’s not uncommon to hear that job cuts are a last resort to save money, but is that really the case? Have these companies really tried everything else they can before deciding to lay people off? From purely a cost standpoint, I understand how it makes sense, but it also makes me wonder if in fact some of these cuts are truly a “last resort.” I don’t know the answer and I don’t mean to imply that it is or isn’t the case, just something I’ve been thinking about.

For the next issue of The MHEDA Journal, we’ll be interviewing members about this and other issues to get feedback about what’s really going on out there. We’d love to hear from you if you’re willing to participate!

With the constant announcements of layoffs and general negativity that we hear day to day, including the 20,000 jobs gone from Caterpillar yesterday, it’s nice to talk to a member who is bucking that trend. “We hope to double in size in the next five years,” says one MHEDA distributor, planning to go from 25 employees to 50 and add 3-5 facilities. It’s an attitude like that that I referred to in my post from a few days ago. Taking a positive attitude and looking to get through the downturn and come out positive on the other side. It’s only one small victory, but I hope many more small businesses, and especially MHEDA members, follow suit.

An article I received today from a speaker at MHEDA’s upcoming Convention in May made a few interesting points about how the events of the last week relate to material handling and the economy.

It says, in part:

“President Barack Obama took office on Tuesday, the 20th, and the country seems filled with hope. I have sat in on several meetings over the last few days where a number of folks have given voice to this hope. It is as if now that #44 is through the door, we will have no more problems. I have no desire to dash those hopes, but I cannot suspend the analytical process inherent in economics.”

The article later adds, “Many folks in and out of Congress are clamoring for massive federal bailouts that will make everything all better. There are a couple of questions that must be asked in that regard. One, can we point back to a prior period where massive government intervention has brought about a quick recovery? (Hint: The answer is no.) You may be tempted to think of FDR and the New Deal, but analysis of that time period shows that the actual recovery did not begin until WWII….”

I thought this was a very interesting point. Lost in the hoopla of the Presidential changeover was that the stock market has not exactly rallied; in fact, the Dow was back under 8,000 at the middle of the week. It has been reporeted that conditions may worsen before they improve, but that news seems to have taken back seat to the other stuff.

Of course, I hope that the right answers and policies are soon put in place to set the trends back forward, but let’s not get the cart before the horse. There’s much work to be done, in material handling and throughout the business community.

I once had a basketball coach whose favorite saying was “Be the aggressor.” What he meant was that it was better to try to make things happen for your team than to wait and respond to what the other team was doing.

That phrase has come back to me lately, though this time it’s in reference to businesses, particularly those in the material handling industry. Anecdotal evidence shows that companies who are the “aggressors” during the downturn will be better positioned to take advantage of the economic rebound when (not if) it occurs. Companies like Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and even Fortune magazine are a few of the entities that were established and flourished in bearish markets.

At one of the hospitality events I attended at ProMat, a MHEDA member and MHEDA Journal advertiser used this philosophy to explain why he was increasing his marketing while many of his competitors were pulling back. The basic point being, it’s often easier to capture the customer’s attention in times like these because there are fewer messages being put out there. The first instinct is to pull back and save money, but spending when others aren’t can give a better value. It’s an interesting perspective, and a topic that we will be discussing in an upcoming issue of The MHEDA Journal.

Be the aggressor. It seems to work in business as well as on the basketball court.

On this historic inauguration day, I would be remiss not to mention that MHEDA recently welcomed a new president as well. Duncan Murphy, president of Riekes Equipment Company in Omaha, Nebraska, took the helm of the association on January 1. Get to know Duncan by reading this profile that appeared in the First Quarter 2009 issue of The MHEDA Journal. Congrats, Duncan!

About 20 minutes ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. It’s a historic day, to say the least. Regardless of party affiliation, the sight of the hundreds of thousands of people swarming the national mall just to participate ever so slightly was truly overwhelming. As we huddled around the television in our office conference room, it struck me that I’m 29 years old, and this is the first time in my life that I’ve seen so many people motivated to participate in politics and genuinely wanting to be part of it. It truly is inspiring.

What’s ahead is not yet known, but these coming days are critical for America to get back on the track to economic stability. Well maybe economic confidence is a better word. I feel that we remain stable but confidence is sorely lacking among many people and businesses. That uncertainty and lack of confidence includes people within the material handling industry, many of whom expressed their concerns in our annual Industry Forecast.

For sure, the policies and decisions made by President Obama in the coming days and weeks will not all be the right ones. But as we usher in a new era, our country is mobilized as I’ve never seen it. Hopefully that momentum will help lead the way to recovery.�

I’m a big fan of the hit CBS series Numb3rs. I was watching last week’s episode last night (I had recorded it from my DVR), and wouldn’t you know there was some good forklift footage on there. In this particular episode, one of the people brought in for questioning was a forklift operator at an electronics warehouse. (Don’t worry, material handlers…she didn’t do it.) I couldn’t tell what kind of forklift it was, though it was yellow. Any thoughts? Add this pop culture reference to our growing list!

We finally made it out of Chicago last night, after spending about six hours at the airport, scurrying around from gate to gate and concourse to concourse. The one good thing was it gave us plenty of time to reflect on what we’d seen over the previous two days.

Walking the show floor, i saw lots of interesting technologies on display, including one especially interesting one from FastFetch, a division of Wesley International, that features the “world’s only order fulfillment system that couples communication between the picking cart and the storage bay.” The short demo I witnessed was pretty unique, as it encouraged much faster and accurate picking of multiple orders at the same time.

Another new innovation was from Ralphs-Pugh, who showcased a new synthetic conveyor roller connector that should result in less line loss than the current type. It’s a small thing that I probably never would have considered as a component on my own.

At the TGW-Ermanco hospitality suite on Tuesday night, they unvieled a new product that will have a major impact on their distributors’ sales. Look for that product to be rolled out in March.

Those are just a few examples of the many different technologies and products on display at ProMat 2009. Now that I’m back in Syracuse, it takes a while for it all to sink in.  To all exhibitors and attendees, I hope the show was a success!

Today ProMat opened without the pomp and circumstance of yesterday’s ribbon cutting, but with noticeably more attendees. Chris and I spent today walking around the show and everyone seemed to be thrilled with the day’s turnout.

As for the show itself, for a newbie like myself, there was quite a bit to take in. I sat in on an ID Systems seminar and developed a pretty good understanding of what fleet management strategies are available. Also, I found the engineered systems section of the show to be particularly interesting. It’s amazing how fast and efficient these different sorters and order pickers can be. Like Chris mentioned, the voice technology was also quite impressive.  

I  have to take the time to tip my hat to the association’s distributors and suppliers who took the time out of running their booths to answer my questions and help me learn about the industry. The same can be said for the companies who hosted hospitality events this week. Aside from the industry knowledge, the biggest thing i will take from this week is how much MHEDA members care about their association and their industry. It’s something I’m proud to be becoming a small part of.

Dan Vest, MHEDA Edge Editor

We’re back from our rounds to several different hospitality events. Those give us a good chance to meet more people at companies that we do a lot of business with, and get to talk to them and get to know them a little better. We got a nice tour of Chicago, too, as the events were all over the downtown area. It’s a good thing we didn’t have to wait too long for a taxi, because it’s only about 10 degrees outside!

Tomorrow is our last day in town. We’ll be hitting the exhibit hall one last time and then it’s back to upstate New York. I’ll be back for a final wrap-up tomorrow. In the meantime, Dan will be giving his observations from day two.

Talk to you Wednesday!