The Mheda Journal

Christmas is coming, and here’s the hot new video game sensation MHEDA members can feel good about getting their employees. A new application from Etcetera Edutainment called “Forklift Safety Sim” puts players through simulated real-world forklift safety training.

According to the Web site,

“Forklift Safety Sim delivers instruction in OSHA-based forklift safety standards and best practices by putting trainees through the paces with tasks that they would commonly find in a real work environment. This software gives users hands-on experience with inspection, traffic rules, load movement, and more, all in a virtual workplace filled with people, vehicles, and safety hazards that they must master. An exam mode lets trainees apply the lessons they have learned, tracks their performance, and gives them feedback so that they have a chance to learn immediately from the errors and mistakes that they made.”

Click here for the promo video.

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.

This time of year is notable for many reasons, not least of which is the massive number of people who use their saved up vacation time during these last couple weeks of the year. While I have no problem with people taking days to which they are entitled, it is more than a little irritating to those of us in the office to make repeated calls and getting no answer and no expectation of when that person will return. Humbug!

Here are some voicemail tips from the most recent issue of MHEDA Edge, our online publication for young professionals, that may help make everyone’s holidays a little easier.