Bar codes are pretty ubiquitous these days, and the latest trend in bar codes is the QR code, or “quick response” code. These can be placed on papers, posters and the like and anyone with an up-to-date mobile phone can read them. Throughout the 3rd quarter issue, you’ll notice a handful of ads with a QR code. If you have a smartphone, you can use a phone app to scan the code and be directed to the advertiser’s website. It’s the first way I know of to totally integrate print ads with online. See page 12 of the magazine  for instructions to make the QR codes work with each type of smartphone. Some tips are below.

• BlackBerry Messenger: You must have version 5.0 or later. If it’s not already installed, you can download it from the BlackBerry App World.
• Android: There are multiple apps that scan barcodes. Go to the Market and search for “QR code reader” to find one.
• iPhone: Again, several apps work. Go to the App Store and search for “QR code reader” to find one.

Happy scanning!

Apparently, it’s common practice in Austin, Texas, to build houses out of shipping pallets. (See the photo, below left.) According to the website apartmentthearpy.com (that’s where the photos are from, too), these shipping-pallet houses were created by the architecture firm I-Beam, and “designed as temporary homes for refugees.” Advantages are they can be easily assembled and taken down and can be built with a wide array of features (see flower box in the second photo). I’m guessing price is also a huge advantage. Disadvantages include, well, living in a house made of shipping pallets. As the site says, “While a bit drafty in this incarnation, the houses can be made into more permanent dwellings using local materials like mud and adobe.” Good to know. 

Have a great weekend, everyone. Don’t forget to visit the new online home of The MHEDA Journal Online!

I implore all my followers to take a few minutes to peruse the new site. We’re constantly updating the Member News and Featured Articles sections so the content on the site will never get stagnant. Most important, we want it to be a site you enjoy. That’s why it is critical to get your comments, even if you think it stinks! That’s the only way we can make it better.

Sorry to be so self-promotional lately with my blog posts, but this has been a really large undertaking and we just want to make sure it has the desired impact on MHEDA Members. You’re the reason we’re here! Thanks again, and keep reading!

That being said, the facts stated in the story are interesting and may have some impact on industrial truck distributors and suppliers in the United States. The lead of the article states, “Forklift sales in China more than doubled in the first half of the year and are poised for further growth in the full year, industry experts said on Monday [July 19]. China will continue to lead the global market and the gap with US, the next biggest player, is set to widen further, they said.

“During the first six months of the year, domestic forklift sales rose across the 90,000-unit barrier, up nearly 113 percent from a year earlier.”

Two things strike me about this. One, that’s a hefty boost in sales. The article says it’s “forklift sales in China,” but it’s not clear if that figure accounts for only Chinese-made forklifts or imports into China as well.  Either way, that’s a pretty quick recovery and upward trend.

Second, it says the gap between China and the U.S. is expected to widen. While that doesn’t come as much of a surprise at this point, I’m hoping that is not the case. Here’s wishing that our domestic industry can rebound quickly enough to remain competitive, at home and abroad. Any thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from someone with more knowledge on the situation.

This is the second case of material handling in China I’ve written about in the last week. Check out the newly improved website for The MHEDA Journal and an article discussing the antidumping duty saga regarding wire decks.

The distributor involved must be a MHEDA member, and the sale must have taken place within the last nine months (installed since October 2009). Otherwise, those are the only rules! I know our membership is involved in all kinds of unique things, so let me know and get your name in the magazine!

And while I’m here, let me first apologize for the lack of blog posts lately. It’s been a busy month of July putting the finishing touches on the new website that accompanies this issue of the magazine. Click the link above or go to www.themhedajournal.org after July 15 to see the new, revamped magazine home page. It will be updated more frequently, so come back often to read new articles and find out news about fellow MHEDA members. Reader interaction is encouraged…so leave a comment on an article and let us know what you think.

Also in this issue are two safety articles. We haven’t covered safety from these angles before, and I really enjoyed learning a little more about the inner workings of a distributorship when it comes to making safety policy. Thanks to Wisconsin Lift Truck and Associated Material Handling for their help.

This is just a sampling of what’s in store in this issue. There are a few surprises, too, that I don’t want to spoil here just yet, but I’ll be looking forward to hear your reactions once you see the magazine on July 15! (For a sneak peek of one of the surprises, see today’s issue of MHEDA Edge.)

More than a year ago, a group of wire decking manufacturers that included AWP Industries, ITC Manufacturing, J&L  Wire Cloth, Nashville Wire Products and Wireway Husky Corporation filed a petition with the International Trade Commission to institute antidumping duties because Chinese imports were priced so low that it was difficult for these U.S. manufacturers to compete. Last July 20, the Trade Commission made a preliminary ruling that there was “a reasonable indication of material injury to the U.S. industry producing wire decking caused by unfairly traded imports from China.”

Late last week, however, the Trade Commission did an about-face on this ruling, denying the Commerce Department the opportunity to enforce any duties at all. In its ruling on July 1, 2010, the ITC said manufacturers were “neither materially injured nor threatened with material injury” because of the imports. I don’t know enough about this to know what caused the difference in opinion and why this ruling was reversed, but I do know that it is a setback for the five suppliers. If anyone out there has more info, please let me know about it. What happens next?

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

In addition to a flurry of great articles all about MHEDA distributors who were able to acheive Top Dealer status in 2009, this issue will be the first to be presented online at a new and improved website. The website for The MHEDA Journal will now be more than just a place to archive that quarter’s magazine—we are going to be updating frequently and encouraging reader feedback. Video will play a prominent role, too.

The new site is a long time in the making, and I can’t wait for you to see it. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks, and we’ll have more to share. Let me know if you have any tips for what you’d like to see on the site!