The Mheda Journal

An article in yesterday’s New York Times talks about how the Dow Jones Industrial Average is about to hit 10,000 again. (As I write this, it sits at 9,672.) While this is a largely meaningless number (as the article states, “It is only a number — the stock market equivalent of an appliance chain’s millionth customer, or the gazillionth hamburger served at McDonald’s” ), it does serve as a reminder that the market has increased in value by 50% in the last six months. That’s a good thing.

But it does make me wonder — what does it mean for the material handling industry? An overall economic boost is a good thing, but when will our industry start to see results? The general feeling at this time last year, in our annual industry forecast, was that material handling seems to lag the general economy a bit so it may take a little longer to see any recovery. 

But I am hopeful it’s on the way. I’ll be interested to hear what you all have to say. I’ll be making calls to MHEDA Distributor Members during the next couple of weeks to gather information for our annual forecast, and I look forward to speaking with you. In the meantime, feel free to contact me and let me know what you think.

I just learned that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is back in the news as it pertains to forklifts. Evidently, the organization recently posted a 25-slide presentation on its Web site regarding the fleet requirements of large-spark ignition (LSI) engine regulations. These regulations affect such off-road vehicles as farm machinery and industrial equipment with engines of more than 25 horsepower using gas or an alternative fuel (including forklifts). These regulations were passed in 2001, and the first phase of implementation went into effect this year. Read more here.

The new slideshow is designed to help operators and fleet owners better understand the requirements. My guess is they’ll also be helpful to distributors who are consulting end-users about what’s the best course of action for their fleets. An ARB spokesman says, “The slides contain images to help operators understand which classes of forklifts are, and are not, part of the ‘forklift’ definition” that is impacted by implementation of the regulation.

Thought it may be of interest to anyone doing business in California!

Well, folks, another quarterly cycle is complete. We’re putting the final dots on the i’s and crosses on the t’s for the October 2009 issue of The MHEDA Journal. It goes to the printer on Monday, so it will still be a few weeks before it’s ready, but I’m already really excited about this issue!

This year, as we’ve done in Fourth Quarter issues past, the focus is on Distributor-Manufacturer Relationships. Even in the down economy, MHEDA Members were able to make sales…we’ve got more than 20 Sales Success Stories, plus 12 more tips from manufacturers and distributors on what makes a good partnership. I’ll give you more info as the publish date closes in, but I couldn’t keep it under wraps any more!

Earlier today on wikiMHEDA, a headline was posted about ProMat 2011 being scheduled to return to Chicago. What struck me as interesting was that the date for this go-round of ProMat has been moved to March after being in January for the previous few years. I’ve been to ProMat 3 times, in 2005, 2007 and 2009, and each time was in January. It made for some interesting travel stories and some windy waits for the shuttle buses, so I for one will be happy to try to hit Chicago in what will hopefully be a little fairer weather conditions. Is that why they did it? Does anyone out there know?

There was an interesting article in Sunday’s New York Times about Amazon.com and how it is moving beyond books and DVDs to become “an online general store.” The business aspect of it is interesting enough, but what really held my attention was the description of the company’s Phoenix, AZ, distribution center about midway through the article.

“Amazon says it stores dissimilar products next to each other on purpose, to minimize the possibility that employees select the wrong item. That seems unlikely: every product, shelving unit, forklift, roller cart and employee badge in these shipping centers has a bar code. Each physical move is orchestrated by software that calculates the most efficient path from shelf to the shipping area, telling employees on their wireless bar code readers which aisle and palette to go to next.”

The article goes on to talk about the quick inventory turns that Amazon, thanks to its huge volume, can undergo, saying the company “generally sells products within 65 days, before it has to pay suppliers for them.”

Although not really focused on material handling, the article is definitely worth a read.

I’m writing this post from a colleague’s computer, because it appears that my own has somewhere picked up a virus or other piece of malware that is currently wreaking havoc on my hard drive. We’ve been able to contain it and our IT person is taking the necessary steps to save everything (we hope). That’s the good news.

The bad news is that it’s been enormously inconvenient and potentially dangerous to the company. I’m reminded of an article that we recently ran in The MHEDA Journal Online, called the “Dark Side of Social Networking.” (If you’re wondering why you may have missed it, we posted in after the last issue went live, and it’s there now under the “This Just In” graphic.) Part of that article talks about the dangers that users of social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can face if they aren’t careful.

“It’s very easy to download spyware or viruses if you click on the wrong link or download,” warns David Gewirtz, a cyberterrorism advisor to the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals. “Once one of these programs runs on your computer, it can do anything – capture credit card numbers, bank accounts, keystroke access – it runs the gamut right down to launching bots that attack other computers.”

It’s not clear whether, in my personal instance, the malware came from a social networking site or somewhere else. Either way, it’s good to remind ourselves of the dangers that are out there. And it goes to show that even cautious users aren’t immune to the potential problems. Gewirtz’s words are true for any type of site, so be aware and be careful. It looks like my files are able to be saved, but not everyone will be so lucky.

Some breaking news to pass along…

Shankar Basu, CEO of Toyota Material Handling U.S.A., Inc., is retiring, effective immediately. He will be replaced by Brett Wood. More info can be found here, but I wanted to share! Shankar is on the left, Brett is on the right in the photo.

Any football fans out there? This past weekend marked the opening of the NFL season. I had the chance to watch bits and pieces of a few games and I couldn’t help but notice the new 2009 season promo on Fox. When promoting next week’s game, each team’s logo was on a conveyor belt, going around spiral conveyors and being moved across the screen toward each other on a belt. (I tried to find a video online but couldn’t. Anyone know where I can find one?) It was pretty cool. It’s amazing what captures your attention after a few years in this industry, no? (Then again, after yet another season-opening loss by my Browns, I look for anything worth watching, haha.) So a few days after learning about Material Handling on the Big Screen, now it seems it will make a weekly appearance on the small screen. Yeah!

Our company is looking to recruit an intern from a local college and today I had the chance to attend an internship fair at Syracuse University. We met many brilliant young aspiring writers, graphic designers, editors and programmers. It reminded me that there is a lot of young talent all around us.

The same is true in the material handling industry. Colleges (and even high schools) are developing the material handling industry skills of young people with courses in industrial distribution, transportation and logistics, supply chain management, and many others.

Don’t forget that MHEDA can help connect you with such young talent through its Gateway site. Gateway is a place where students can post resumes and employers can find qualified applicants for open positions at their companies. It’s a great way to find qualified help! The MHEDA Journal also publishes profiles of one or more deserving students in every issue. We’ve also published articles on the importance of getting the word out about our great industry and the difference between a co-op and an internship to help distributors set up a program that works best for their business.

A common complaint is that there is no qualified talent in the material handling industry. Well, it’s out there…it’s up to us to go find it!

Well, not only is summer unofficially over now that Labor Day has passed, but then comes word this week of two more not-so-positive news items for the material handling industry. Tuesday, a headline on wikiMHEDA said that September is the most common month for forklift accidents. “Statistically, September is the ‘deadliest’ month of the year for accidents involving forklift trucks,” the article states. That’s not good! 

Then, today, comes this downer: “Material Handling Workplace Suicides Increase.” Yikes! (Maybe there’s a correlation between the two stories?)

I don’t know what either really means in the big picture, but I can assure you, there is good news out there. Economic indicators are creeping upward, companies are adding new positions and making investments, and businesses are winning awards. So, it’s not all bad news. There’s a lot in our industry to be proud of and excited about as we move toward the last quarter of 2009. Here’s to hoping that the good news continues to outnumber the bad news!