® mmh.com PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING March 2012 In a league of its own 16 BIG PICTURE Physical Internet Initiative: Pipedream or possibility? 22 SPECIAL REPORT 2012 Industry Outlook: Momentum stalls 30 + Exclusive Webcast: Wednesday, March 28 @ 2:00 p.m. EST www.mmh.com/2012_WDC_survey EQUIPMENT REPORT Robotics: Take a hands-off approach 36 BSN SPORTS Bobby Melton, plant director, BSN Sports PLUS: Page 42
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m m h . c o m
PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING
March 2012
In a league of its own 16
BIG PICTURE
Physical Internet Initiative: Pipedream or possibility? 22SPECIAL REPORT
2012 Industry Outlook: Momentum stalls 30 + Exclusive Webcast: Wednesday, March 28 @ 2:00 p.m. EST www.mmh.com/2012_WDC_surveyEQUIPMENT REPORT
Do we go the extra mile?How about 118 miles on a Saturday.
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AutomAted mAteriAls handling services provider intelligrated has broken ground on its headquarters expansion in mason, ohio.
the 108,000-square-foot building, expected to be completed in october, will be dedicated to engineering, customer service, r&d staffing, and testing facilities. the roughly $15 mil-lion in funding was made possible with an incentive package from the state of ohio and the city of mason to support job growth, company officials said.
intelligrated vice president and
general counsel mark tefend told Modern that this expansion is a part of intelligrated’s continued growth in this market segment, which he said is a testimony to its effective integration of FKi beginning in 2009.
“during our integration, we con-tinued to service customers through innovative, efficient engineering, manufacture, installation and after-market support,” said tefend.
“this groundbreaking is a milestone in intelligrated’s ongoing growth as one of the most technologically
advanced players in the material han-dling industry,” said Ceo Chris Cole in a statement. “the new building will help us continue to expand our foot-print, grow our technical staff and cre-ate advanced productivity solutions.”
UP FRONT B r e a k i n g n e w s y o u s h o u l d k n o w
Sheri Carbo, southwest regional liaison for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, presents Intelligrated CEO Chris Cole with a state proclamation at a recent ceremony.
mmh.com MOdErn MatErIalS HandlInG / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 3
L i ft truck industry update
dawley named president of HysterHyster Company recently named Jonathan dawley president of Hyster distribution. dawley came to NACCo materials Handling Group (NmHG), manufacturer of Yale and Hyster brand lift trucks, in september of 2005 as a regional manager in the aftermarket business unit of Yale materials Handling. in his newly appointed role, dawley is responsible for the Hyster dealer network throughout the u.s. and Canada.
“my objective is to deliver maximum customer satisfaction by fielding the best dealer network in the industry,” said dawley. “strong dealers can
invest in product, tools and people who will deliver on customer expectations.”
toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg. recognized as Company of the Yeartoyota announced that its Columbus, ind., manufacturing plant, toyota industrial equipment mfg., (tiem), was recognized as “Company of the Year” by the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. tiem was presented the award at the chamber’s 103rd annual meeting last month.
“toyota is very honored by this recognition,” said toshiya Yamagishi, president of tiem. “As a company, we are committed to enhancing our associates’ quality of life and contrib-uting to the overall success of our community.”
Pfleger named president of YaleYale Materials Handling Corp. recently named William (Bill) Pfleger president of Yale distribution. With almost 20 years of experience with Yale and parent com-pany NACCo materials Handling Group (NmHG), Pfleger served as the managing director of NmHG Asia-Pacific for three and a half years; managing director of Yale europe, middle east and Africa for two years; and vice president of Yale dealer development for seven years.
“i look forward to continuing to position Yale as a full-line solutions provider for application needs while reinforcing the message that Yale prides itself on our warehous-ing products advantage and low cost of ownership,” said Pfleger.
Intelligrated breaks ground on headquarters expansion
Kiva Systems makes Fast Company list of innovative companies
KivA sYstems, a developer of mobile robotic solutions that automate e-commerce order fulfillment and ware-house operations, was ranked No. 23 in Fast Company magazine’s recent list of the World’s 50 most innovative Companies. Kiva was honored for “turning squat robots into e-commerce giants.”
Kiva’s approach to ware-house automation uses fleets of robotic drive units that bring inventory on mobile shelves directly to workers. elimination of operator walking and wait-ing enables worker productiv-ity that is two- to four-times higher than with other auto-mated systems.
Beiersdorf, one of the fastest-growing cosmetics manufacturers in the world, needed a flexible North American distribution strategy to keep up with the firm demand for its Nivea, Eucerin and La Prairie skin care products.
The fastest-growing companies are making distribution their FORTE.
SUPPLY CHAIN AND FACILITY OPTIMIZATION | DISTRIBUTION CENTER DESIGN AND BUILD | SYSTEMS INTEGRATION | SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE
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Productivity SolutionS for diStribution, WarehouSing and Manufacturing
VOL. 67, NO. 3
DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS 3/ Upfront 7/ This month in Modern12/ Lift Truck Tips: Ergonomics14/ Packaging Corner: Palletizing56/ Focus On: Software58/ 60 seconds with...
NEWS 8/ MHIA delares Modex a success10/ Automatic guided vehicle industry
reports strong sales in 201111/ St. Onge names John Hill new director
COVER STORYsysteM report
16 Bsn sports: in a league of its ownFollowing a retrofit of its DC, BSN Sports has achieved new levels of productivity and space utilization.
20 designing the playBSN Sports realizes solid improvements by reconfiguring the layout of a conventional warehouse with limited automation.
FEATUREStHe Big picture
22 physical internet initiative:pipedream or possibility?Some researchers are asking what the real world of distribution and logistics can learn from the digital world of the Internet.
special report: 2012 industry outlook
30 Momentum stalledModern’s 2012 outlook finds that overall market uncertainty has slowed materials handling spending and has increased facility consolidation and engineered process improvements. Cost containment has returned as the most important issue of the day.
equipMent report
36 robotics: take a hands-off approachRobotic materials handling solutions are great at handling repetitive tasks while cutting costs, increasing throughput, and lifting a heavy burden off workers.
Modex 2012 review
42 Modex makes a splash in atlantaShow sponsor the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) greeted more than 20,000 attendees and exhibitors to its newest materials handling expo last month.
productivity solution
54 lighting system cuts energy consumptionClover Hill Foods installs an intelligent LED system to reduce lighting energy use by 91% and overall energy use by 32%.
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MICHAEL LEVANSGROUP EdItORIAL
dIRECtOR
This monTh in modern
We’d like to congratulate the staff of the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) on the success
of its first Modex event (Feb. 6-9), a new expo and conference designed to pull ma-terials handling, logistics, and overall supply chain management education together under a single roof.
Modern’s editorial staff was there in full force producing the event’s official Show Daily, and everywhere we turned during the four days we were met by either optimistic exhibitors who were pleased with the en-ergy in the hall or by eager end users ready to finally dust off plans to purchase new equipment or upgrade tired systems. As we report in this month’s Modex wrap up (page 42), MHIA saw more than 20,000 visitors walking the 180,000 square feet of exhibit space and attending conference sessions.
But, what I found most impressive about the Modex event was the scheduling of more than 30 educational events that were sponsored by 17 diverse, co-located part-ners including CSCMP, WERC, AST&L, and MHEDA, among others. In fact, the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics co-locat-ed its annual Georgia Logistics Summit—a transportation, logistics and global trade event—just upstairs from the trade show of predominantly materials handling vendors.
As you walked the floor, you realized the juxtaposition makes sense if you broaden your vision of supply chain operations. In fact, the positioning of physical equipment alongside logistics, transportation and global trade education sessions validates a greater concept about warehouse and distribution center management that Dematic shared with us and have now trademarked: four walls, two windows.
The idea is simple. Materials handling solutions may happen inside the four walls of a facility, but they are affected by what happens outside of a facility. To be truly efficient, a system needs visibility—those two windows—into what’s happen-ing downstream and upstream. And the idea that the overall supply chain is a holistic entity that functions best when all of its elements are “healthy” and mov-ing in harmony is one that’s beginning to evolve.
In fact, Bob Trebilcock’s Big Picture (page 22) on Benoit Montreuil’s Physical Internet Initiative, or Pi, fully embraces this holistic view—but boldly takes it a few concep-tual steps into the future. After reading a piece in The Economist back in 2006 titled “The Physical Internet” on the state of global logistics, Montreuil, a professor in the department of operations and decision systems at the Universite Laval in Quebec, began pondering the possibility of applying the principles of the digital Internet to the physical supply chain.
Since that time, Montreuil has been joined by academics, superstar shippers like Wal-mart and Walgreens, along with lead-ing best-of-breed technology providers to examine what it would take to transform the way physical objects are handled, stored and shipped to improve global logistics ef-ficiency and sustainability.
Indeed, the era of collaboration is upon us, and you’ll see bits and pieces in action in many of our System Reports. However, it’s going to take open ears and open minds to get us closer to Montreuil’s utopian supply chain vision. A good first step will be read-ing Trebilcock’s Big Picture. But be warned: It will ruffle some feathers.
MHIA delares Modex a successALONG WITH HEALTHY TRAFFIC ON THE SHOW FLOOR, THE EVENT FEATURED AN EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE THAT INCLUDED THREE KEYNOTES, 75 ON-FLOOR SEMINARS AND 32 CO-LOCATED EVENTS.
NEARLY 20,000 KEY decision-makers in virtually all manufacturing, logis-tics, distribution and supply chain industries participated in Modex 2012. The expo, which was held Feb. 6 to 9 in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center, featured the solutions of 586 exhibitors covering 180,000 net square feet. Refl ecting the global nature of the expo, 96 countries and six continents were represented.
In the view of the Material Han-dling Industry of America (MHIA), sponsor of Modex and ProMat, the new venue was a success. “When the show opened, I sent out a text: The baby is born,” said George Prest, CEO of MHIA. “The excitement out there is fantastic.”
That sentiment was shared by exhibitors like Gregg Goodner, presi-dent of Hytrol. “For us, the show had the feel of the best day at ProMat,” Goodner said. “It was a great loca-
tion, and there was lots of energy and enthusiasm.”
Show highlightsThe show featured an educational conference that included three key-notes featuring Rick Blasgen, CEO of the Council of Supply Chain Manage-ment Professionals; Alberto Alemán Zubieta, CEO of the Panama Canal Authority; and Donald Ratliff, execu-tive director of The Supply Chain & Logistics Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The show also included 75 edu-cational seminars outlining leading trends, best practices and state-of-the-art equipment and technology solutions. In addition, Modex part-nered with 20 industry organizations that co-located 32 events including the Georgia Logistics Summit.
Classroom Day introduced high school and university students and educators to career opportunities in
materials handling, supply chain and logistics through hands-on learning and networking with industry profes-sionals. This year’s Classroom Day combined an interactive educational session with a dynamic guided tour.
The Modex Industry Night at the Georgia Aquarium networking event saw over 1,400 attendees and exhibi-tors in attendance. As a result of the event, MHIA donated $6,700 to the Material Handling Education Foun-dation. The donation will go toward the establishment of the Allan Howie Fund, which will provide grants to students from educational institu-tions supported by MHIA’s Technical Career Education Program (TCEP). The grants will pay travel expenses for selected students and teachers to ProMat and Modex.
Looking aheadPrest said MHIA has already planned for an improved Modex in 2014. The
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show, which was sold out in 2012, will be held in a larger hall in two years to accommodate more exhibitors. In addition, you can expect to see more representation from the logistics community, including rail and ports.
“Atlanta is a logistics center,” Prest
said. “We put our toe in the water with co-located logistics-related events, but we are already engaged and talking to logistics providers for the next show.”
Prest is also expecting a large turnout for ProMat 2013. (ProMat
2013 is scheduled for Jan. 21 to 24 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.) Pro-Mat sold 83% of the planned space in December at the space draw. And, as with the last ProMat event, the robotics industry will co-locate its Automate show in Chicago. In ad-dition, Prest added, MHIA intends to offer more educational and profes-sional development components to ProMat.
“Attendees are telling us that they may not buy material handling equip-ment every year,” Prest said. “But there is always a need for education, certifi cation and professional devel-opment. We’re going to expand that component of the shows.”
AUTOMATION
Automatic guided vehicle industry reports strong sales in 2011THE AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLESYSTEMS (AGVS) Industry Group of the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) reported at Modex that its member companies saw a 25% increase in sales of AGVs in 2011, totaling $108 million. Those numbers represent 925 vehicles and 130 sys-tems sold, said Sarah Carlson, chair of AGVS and marketing director at Jervis B. Webb Company.
“The combined numbers for 2010 and 2011 are especially strong,” Carl-son said. “Total sales exceeded $200 million for the two years combined.”
Although manufacturing operations continue to be the primary users of AGVs, 25% of systems now in use are found in warehouse and distribution center environments, she added.
“This has a lot to do with the fl ex-ibility and scalability of the systems, as well as the fact that the cost of the equipment has come down,” Carlson said. She cited in the group’s
m m h . c o m MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / M A R C H 2 0 1 2 11
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Additionally, Mats Herrstromer, global product manager of AGVS for Dematic, announced that the B56.5 AGV safety stan-dard is expected to be approved by mid-
2012. A cross-section of suppliers, customers, academia and govern-ment experts are working together to develop the standard, which can be reviewed online at the Indus-trial Truck Standards Development Foundation Web site (itsdf.org).
fi ndings there were no sales of wire-guided vehicles in 2010 or 2011; instead, more-fl exible guidance sys-tems—such as laser, magnetic tape and optical—have increased in use.
Sarah Carlson, chair of AGVS and marketing director at Jervis B. Webb Co.
ST. ONGE HAS ANNOUNCED that John M. Hill has joined the company as a director who will focus on manu-facturing, distribution and warehous-ing systems and operations.
Hill is a former COO/CEO and offi cer of automatic data collection and supply chain execution systems fi rms with more than 100 successful systems installations. He has also led consulting engagements includ-ing logistics strategy assessment, requirements analysis and devel-opment of specifi cations, supplier selection, training and coordination of materials handling, data collection and warehouse/transportation man-agement system implementations.
“John is an expert in supply chain strategy, network and operations performance optimization, process and systems design, and the selec-tion and deployment of automatic data collection and warehouse tech-nology and systems,” said St. Onge VP and principal Bryan Jensen. “He is simply the best of the best, and we eagerly look forward to him making a signifi cant contribution to St. Onge.”
12 M a r c h 2 0 1 2 / Modern Materials Handling mmh.com
lift truck TIPS
By Josh Bond, Editor at Large
Improving operator ergonomicsTechnology has fueled the evolution of operator comfort, but the perfect fit remains elusive.
Any automobile driver could expect to be sore and stiff at the end of an eight-hour road trip. Operators of modern lift trucks enjoy an increasing
number of the same features they find in their cars, but improving comfort remains a critical challenge for many forklift manufacturers.
According to David McNeill, product manager of ware-house products for NAACO Materials Handling Group, “The biggest focus is on how to make an operator as productive in the last hour as he or she is in the first.”
Jeff Bowles, product line manager for Mitsubishi Cat-erpillar Forklift America, says ergonomic refinements can be divided into the seen and the unseen. Unseen features include improved suspension and replacement of manual hydraulic operations with electric systems. The visible fea-tures are so varied that they make cabins virtually unrec-ognizable from designs even a decade earlier.
Fingertip controls, adjustable contoured armrests, mast-mounted cameras to improve visibility, telescopic adjust-able steering columns with programmable tilt memory—each advance reduces operator fatigue while increasing productivity. But a full shift in a forklift remains a challeng-ing prospect, and the lower back remains a perennial culprit in reports of lift truck operator discomfort.
Ergonomics is a subset of safety, says McNeill. Because all forklift operators are taught to carry loads in reverse when possible for optimal visibility, this means that as much as 50% of the time spent on the forklift could be spent in a twisted position, he says. Manufacturers are developing seats that swivel or are mounted at a slight angle, which will complement handles to ease the strain of looking backwards.
Bowles adds that many more lift truck models are com-ing equipped with electric power steering, which greatly reduces operator fatigue, particularly in high-throughput areas. The expansion of automated technology on fork-
lifts even allows a truck to navigate between chosen pal-let positions at the push of a button, without any further operator input.
From cup holders to cruise control, more and more comforts of the family car are making their way to the warehouse floor. And, McNeill says things will only get better for the forklift operator.
“We’re all working toward the same goal, but there really is no end,” he says. “Operator comfort can always be improved.”
Josh Bond is an editor at large with Modern and can be reached at [email protected].
14 M a r c h 2 0 1 2 / Modern Materials Handling mmh.com
When it’s time to move from manually building a unit load to automation, more facilities are taking a closer look
at robotic palletizers, says Terry Zarnowski, sales and marketing director for Schneider Packaging Equipment.
“The flexibility of robotic palletizers makes them attractive,” he adds. “They can perform simple or complex case stacking patterns, build mixed pallets of different products and sizes, and palletize multiple SKUs simultaneously. Plus, the same robot can easily be adapted to handle a variety of different products: from small bags to 120-pound bags of concrete, to any case type, including trays, lidded trays, standard regular slotted cases or half slotted cases and bundles.”
Placing a single robotic palletizer in a central position (to be fed by two or more lines), says Zarnowski, saves space while increasing effi-ciency because it can build multiple pallet loads concurrently instead of only sequentially.
“Unlike traditional palletizing equipment that may need multiple mechanical change-overs for different unit load patterns, a robotic system can be ready to go with a simple con-trol menu change,” he explains.
Since a conventional palletizer can only pal-letize one type of case or product at a time, a long case accumulation conveyor is required prior to their release to the unit load, as are mechanical components—such as conveyor laners, stops, pushers, turners and sizing mechanisms—that sort, pre-orient and align the cases.
Not so with a robot, says Zarnowski, “The robot’s end-of-arm tool picks one or more cases and rotates, flips and/or stacks the cases flat, sideways or at any angle to orient them as required to build the unit load.”
Also, because robots palletize with fewer compo-nents than conventional counterparts, they typically offer greater reliability and uptime while using less
energy, says Zarnowski. “Robotic arms are rated for 80,000 hours. That’s an
extremely high mean time between failures and one that is far greater than any mechanical system consisting of cylinders, sensors, solenoids, air or hydraulic systems and discrete controls,” he says. Further, typical robot mainte-nance is an annual grease change and periodic cleaning and lubrication of the end-of-arm tool.
How robotic palletizers stack upAs the industry moves toward automation, many facilities consider robotic palletizers, but are they right for your packaging operation?
packaging corner
By Sara Pearson Specter, editor at Large
Sara Pearson Specter is an editor at large with Modern and can be reached at [email protected].
16 M A R C H 2 0 1 2 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com16 M A R C H 2 0 1 2 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com
MODERN system report
Following a retrofit of its DC, BSN Sports has achieved new levels of productivity and space utilization.
BSN SPORTS:
In a league of its own By Bob Trebilcock,
Executive Editor
WWhat do you do if you have run out of space in your existing dis-tribution center, but can’t quite justify the cost of a new DC?
That question confronted BSN Sports in June 2010. A manufacturer and distributor of sporting goods apparel and equipment to schools and institutions, BSN had outgrown its facilities in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch.
“Space was at a premium,” says Bobby Melton, BSN’s plant director. “We had brought in so many new products that we had 1,200 SKUs in makeshift pick faces in our reserve storage area.” What’s more, LTL orders waiting to be shipped often ended up in picking aisles.
Rather than build a new DC, BSN worked with a sys-tems integrator (TranSystems, transystems.com) to retrofit an existing 187,000-square-foot distribution center—one of two DCs located across the street from one another. The other, a 95,600-square-foot facility, supports manufacturing and fulfillment operations for large and bulky products such as bleachers, weight benches and soccer goals. After the retrofit, the facility features:
• 8,000 pick slots for some 8,000 SKUs;• very narrow aisle (VNA) storage with single-deep rack for
8,500 pallets;• a three-level pick module with 5,580 pick slots featuring
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 17mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 17
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at the heart of Bsn’s system are new pick modules that expanded Bsn’s order fulfullment processes (bottom left) and set the stage for future growth.
• a three-level carton flow rack pick module with 4,230 pick slots;
• a five-level pallet flow rack with 142 pick slots; and• a non-conveyable pick line with 1,008 pick slots.What the facility doesn’t include is a lot of automation.
Instead, it is an example of what solid improvements can be gained by reconfiguring the layout of a conventional ware-house with limited automation.
BSN Sports does have a warehouse management sys-tem (WMS) to manage inventory and create pick tickets. A conveyor line routes totes through picking modules and the
packing and shipping areas. However, orders are still picked from paper tickets. Gains of productivity and space came from adding levels to existing pick modules, expanding the existing conveyor line, relocating and reconfiguring pack sta-tions, and reconfiguring the shipping area, including:
• an increase in pick locations by 52%, with a 27% increase in one picking line and 110% in a second picking line, and
• an increase in throughput of 30% in the packing area. “We shipped 744,000 packages in 2010 before the retro-
fit,” says Melton. “In 2011, we shipped 855,000 packages. Our only increase in labor was related to some new prod-
ucts we added to the mix.” As a bonus, Melton says he still has 1,200 to 1,800 pick faces available for future growth.
Dealing with constraintsWhile BSN Sports may not be a household name, it is the nation’s largest sporting goods distributor to schools and sports leagues. Founded in 1972 as the Sport Supply Group, the company distributes more than 50,000 products to 125,000 institu-tional and team-sports enthusiasts through multiple sales channels, including a direct sales force, catalogs and the Internet.
The company boasts more than $300 million in sales and 900 employ-ees. BSN Sports manufactures its own line of bleachers, backstops and soccer goals; offers a suite of proprietary, fac-tory-direct brands such as MacGregor, Voit, Alumagoal, Champion Barbell and PORTaPiT track and field; and distributes branded equipment and team apparel from Nike, Rawlings, Wilson and Under Armour.
In the spring of 2010, order ful-fillment processes were slowing as the company wrestled with growth. Not only were 1,200 SKUs being picked from a makeshift pick zone in
the reserve storage area, those items weren’t being managed by the WMS. Instead, orders for those products were planned offline and picked manually. Since the orders weren’t being planned by the WMS, they didn’t go through the box-picking logic that packs the most number of items in the least number of shipping containers.
The result was orders were slow, cumbersome to pick, and expensive to ship. “Because it was taking too long to pick orders, we were delivering late to our customers,” says Melton.
Initially, BSN Sports investigated building a new DC in the Dallas area. However, that idea proved too expen-sive. “After talking to our consultant, we decided not to build a new facility and instead spend less money,” Melton says.
BSN Sports set out several goals for its new design:
• It should integrate the 1,200 SKUs that were located in the makeshift area into the existing pick zones so those products and any new SKUs could be managed by the WMS.
• It should increase pick, storage and throughput capacity to accommo-date present needs and future growth plans.
• It should use existing equipment to maximum potential.
• The project should be completed under a tight schedule of less than six months from concept design to go-live.
• Most importantly, it should be completed within a budget of $1 mil-lion to $1.5 million—far less than the cost of a new DC.
Re-imagining existing processes Since one of the goals was to use exist-ing equipment, many of the most impor-tant changes involved a re-imagination of existing processes, says Melton.
“We had an existing single-level pick module that we totally dismantled and
Once built, pallets are stretchwrapped and then staged for shipping.
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modern system report
environment because our packers are away from lift truck traffic,” says Melton. “We’re also able to stage all our orders in the shipping area, includ-ing LTL orders. In the past, we might have orders in aisles because we didn’t have room.”
Toward sustainable distribution Safety and efficiency were important. But, creating a more sustainable distri-bution center was also important. “We have a few customers who won’t do business with us unless we can demon-strate that we’re green in our business,”
rebuilt as a three-story module,” says Melton. “That gave us an additional 1,800 pick faces on each level.”
As part of the conversion, the first and second levels of the mezzanine were built immediately along with the support system for the third level. Shelving was installed on one side of the first level and carton flow rack on the other side.
The second level consisted of car-ton flow rack on one side and pallet flow rack on the other. Along with the existing floor-level conveyor, a sec-ond level powered center take-away conveyor was added. That conveyor system was connected to the original system.
Those changes absorbed the 1,200 SKUs in the makeshift area and pro-vided an additional 2,400 pick faces for future growth. In fact, during the first phase of the project, BSN only built out the second level, but within a few months decided to add the third level. “It’s now half full,” Melton says.
A second important reconfiguration took place in the packing area. Prior to the retrofit, there were 10 packing sta-tions, all on the floor. There was limited space for accumulation conveyor and staging for outbound orders. In addi-tion, after packing, associates had to pick up and place an outbound carton on a scale and then manually place it back onto the outbound conveyor line.
In the new configuration, BSN Sports installed another three-level mezzanine in the packing and shipping area. That relocated pack stations onto the mez-zanine. The top level receives incoming totes from the picking modules. The middle level receives cases, and empty totes are returned on the first floor.
Elevating the packing operations increased the room for additional accumulation conveyor and staging. In addition, cases slide from the packing area onto a scale and then are auto-matically conveyed to shipping. And, associates no longer have to pick up cases. “We’ve created a safer work
Designing the playBSN Sports realizes solid improvements by reconfiguring the layout of a conventional warehouse with limited automation.
After they have been picked, cartons and eaches are conveyed from a
mezzanine to the packing area where they are prepared for shipping.
says Melton. They focused on three key areas:
Lighting: BSN Sports replaced a 15-year-old lighting system with energy efficient fluorescent bulbs that are delivering more foot can-dles of lighting with fewer lights in the affected areas. “It has improved the working environment for associ-ates and has cut back on our utility costs,” says Melton.
Transport packaging: BSN Sports replaced paper packaging and peanuts with a machine that produces biode-gradable and recyclable air pillows. “The machine is located above the pack
station and the material is on rolls,” says Melton. “Our associates just have to reach up and grab what they need for void fill.” Better protection from the new packaging has resulted in fewer freight claims.
Recycling: BSN Sports has been recycling trash since the facility origi-
nally opened in 1995. “A pallet management com-pany takes our pallets and our waste management company takes our trash, corrugated and plastics,” says Melton. “At this point, we are no longer paying to have our trash hauled away, and on occa-sion, we even get money back.”
Two years since the new project went live, Melton declares it a success. “Since the proj-ect ended, we have increased our revenue while reducing warehous-ing as a percentage of revenue,” he says. “We’re getting more productiv-ity, throughput and storage out of the facility with room to grow.” M
1 Receiving
6 Conveyor
8Shipping
2Receiving/
staging area
3
Very narrow aislereserve storage
4 Pallet flowpicking area
7 Packingmezzanine
5 Shelving and casepicking mezzanine
5 Shelving and casepicking mezzanine
BSN Sports’ new layout stream-lined order fulfillment processes, allowing the sporting goods
manufacturer and distributor to expand business within an existing facility with conventional warehousing processes.
Receiving: BSN Sports receives (1) imported and domestically manufac-tured product.
For imported products, the ware-house management system (WMS) receives an ASN and generates a
packing slip for each container of imported product. Items are
manually unloaded in the receiving area (2) to a pallet.
Once a pallet is verified against the packing slip,
the WMS generates a pallet ticket that includes the prod-
uct code, the quantity on the pallet, the time it
was received and a putaway location in the storage area. Pallets are staged (2) for putaway.
be floor-loaded or palletized deliveries, which will determine whether the product is manually unloaded or unloaded by a lift truck. As with an imported receipt, the shipment is veri-fied against a packing slip before the WMS generates a pallet ticket. Pallets are staged (2) for putaway.
Putaway: Staged pallets are delivered by lift truck or pal-let jack to a drop off location for the very narrow aisle (VNA) reserve storage area (3). They are put away into storage by an operator on a VNA lift truck.
Replenishment: In addition to dropping off pallets for putaway, lift truck operators will pick up pallets from reserve storage (2) to restock picking areas (4, 5) before a wave of orders.
Picking: Orders are picked from one of several picking areas. Pallet flow racks (4) are used for high moving items; gravity flow rack and shelving are is used for other pick areas (5). Pick tickets are distributed to order selectors on each level of the picking mezzanine (5). To initiate an order, a label from the pick ticket is placed on a tote. The order selector picks the items in that zone, places the ticket in the tote and then pushes it onto a takeaway conveyor. If that completes the order, the tote goes directly to a quality control area. Otherwise, it is con-veyed to the next picking zone on that level or one of the other mezzanine levels until the order is complete. At that point, it will be pushed onto the takeaway conveyor (6) and delivered to the quality control area, where it is inspected for completeness.
Packing: Once an order has been inspected, it is conveyed to the packing mezzanine (7). The packer chooses a shipping container based on information located on the pick ticket. Once items are packed in the shipping container, the packer places a bar code label on the container along with a label that includes customer service information in case there is an issue when the shipment arrives.
Shipping: Packed containers are placed back on the con-veyor and delivered to an inline scale in the shipping area (8). There, the carton is automatically weighed and the bar code label is scanned. The parcel shipping system uses that information to create a shipping label that is applied to the container. Containers for parcel shipment are conveyed to a shipping area for UPS or the postal service. The remaining containers will be palletized and loaded into trailers for LTL shipments. M
modern system report
System suppliersSyStem integration: tranSystems, transystems.com
WmS: SaP, sap.com
Parcel ShiPPing SoftWare: Kewill clippership,
kewill.com/il/kewill-clippership
conveyor: tgW Systems, tgw-group.com
lift trucKS: raymond, raymondcorp.com
Pallet racK and mezzanine: unarco, unarcorack.com
Stretch WraP: fox Packaging Services, foxpkg.com
ShiPPing dunnage: fP international, fpint.com
SOME THINKDELIVERYERRORS AREINEVITABLE.WE THINK DIFFERENTRunning an e� cient warehouse centre makes a big di� er-ence to profi tability and customer satisfaction. That’s why many leading brands put sortation systems from BEUMER and Crisplant at the heart of their supply chain. Through operational insight and analysis, BEUMER Group is able to deliver complete automated material handling systems that fi t seamlessly into your process. O� ering exceptional speed, capacity and accuracy, our technology makes a di� erence to your customers, your brand and your bottom line.For more information, visit www.beumergroup.com
22 M a r c h 2 0 1 2 / Modern Materials Handling mmh.com
IBy Bob trebilcock, Executive Editor
some researchers are asking what the real world of distribution and logistics can learn from the digital world of the internet.
Physical Internet Initiative:Pipedream or possibility?
sn’t there a better way to do this? That simple question has been the starting point for any number of
innovations in the materials handling world. It was also the starting point for the Physical Internet Initiative, a major supply chain project that has the potential of changing the way we handle, store, package and transport goods across the supply chain.
Pi, as it’s also known, was the brainchild of Benoit Montreuil, a profes-sor in the department of operations and decision systems at the Universite Laval in Quebec and a member of the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE). Back in 2006, Montreuil began wondering how distribution and logistics would be improved if we applied some of the principles of the digital Internet to the physical movement of goods. Since then, he has been joined by other researchers in the U.S. and abroad to explore that possibility.
So, just what is Pi? The short explanation is that the Physical Internet would mimic the way information is packaged, distributed and stored in the virtual world to improve processes.
The group has a manifesto: Transforming the way physical objects are handled, moved, stored, realized, supplied and used, aiming towards global logistics efficiency and sustainability.
That description, however, only goes so far in explaining how a Physical Internet might operate. The PowerPoint on Montreuil’s Web site (physicalinternetinitiative.org) runs 72 slides.
While at first it sounds a little far-fetched —or a little like an aca-demic exercise—the academics have been joined in their research by retailers Wal-mart and Walgreens; solution providers like RedPrairie and the American Truckers Institute; and the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA). The project currently has funding from the National Science Foundation as well as nearly $60,000 in contributions from MHIA
the big picture Where Business Meets Materials Handling
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mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 23
and CICMHE. Yes, it’s a big idea, but talk to Montreuil for a little while and it all sounds very possible.
Isn’t there a better way? The idea for a Physical Internet took shape in June 2006, when Montreuil picked up a copy of The Economist magazine. The issue included a series of articles about contemporary logistics titled “The Physical Internet.”
“After that first reading, I lost sleep thinking about the idea of a Physical Internet,” Montreuil says. “I wondered what would it do that we can’t do now and why would we even need it?”
As he thought about the develop-ment of the Internet, a concept for logistics took shape. “If you think about
the early days of computers, people loved using them, but they had no way to connect their computers to a com-munity,” he says. “To get connectivity, we looked to transportation for a model and the information superhighway became the metaphor for the Internet.”
Montreuil wondered whether sup-ply chain professionals could use the Internet as a metaphor for a new way to move physical objects through the sup-ply chain.
“The Internet and the physical world are different,” he says. “Data moves at light speed. If you lose data, you can often retrieve it and there is no great incremental cost to ship more data.” In the physical world, on the other hand, “the equipment can only move so fast,
it’s terrible if I lose a carton, and there’s an additional cost every time someone touches an object.”
The big pictureDespite those differences, Montreuil concluded there had to be an alterna-tive to how things are done today. “The way we handle physical objects is no longer efficient or sustainable economi-cally, environmentally or socially,” he says. To justify the need for a Physical Internet, he focused on a few key areas.
Economically, logistics accounts for 10% to 15% of the GDP for most countries in the world and it’s growing faster than the overall growth of world trade. “The cost to ship something from China is too high and it’s getting
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higher,” Montreuil says. Environmentally, logistics and trans-
portation are among the largest consum-ers of energy in the world. “Greenhouse gas emissions from logistics are climb-ing year after year at a time when the target of most countries in the world is to reduce them,” Montreuil says.
Socially, most companies are strug-gling to recruit and retain employees in their distribution and transportation operations. “Truck drivers don’t want to be away from their families for weeks at a time and in many distribution centers, employees speak languages other than English, which discourages Americans from working in those facilities,” says Montreuil. “Those are just facts the industry is dealing with.”
Last, but certainly not least, logistics and transportation as they are currently practiced are inefficient and waste-ful. “Even with routing and scheduling software, there is a lot of empty travel,”
Montreuil says. “Most storage and pro-duction facilities are underutilized most of the year and products are unneces-sarily crisscrossing the world as part of the production process.” Norwegian salmon, for instance, is often shipped to China where it’s packed before it’s shipped to a border country like Finland for consumption.
There’s got to be a better way.
Enter the Physical Internet After identifying the inefficiencies associated with distribution and logis-tics, Montreuil decided several lessons could be learned from the way digital information is packaged and moved across the Internet.
“We wanted an open, global logistics system that contrasts with the proprie-tary or closed systems that are common today,” he says. “It’s founded on the idea of physical, digital and operational interconnectivity enabled by encapsula-
tion, protocols and smart interfaces for increased efficiency and sustainability.”
That sounds complex, but it can be boiled down to a few simple principles.
Interconnectivity: In the world of logistics today, many countries have unique standards. The 48 x 40-inch pallet may be ubiquitous in the U.S., but there are different standards in Europe or Asia. Similarly, one supplier’s conveyor may not connect with another supplier’s conveyor. “We’re aiming for universal connectivity,” Montreuil explains. “We think this container should click with that container, no matter what product is inside. It should go easily on the conveyor and easily on the lift. Handoffs throughout the sup-ply chain should be easy.”
Encapsulation: The Physical Internet won’t deal with freight. It will only deal with packages of goods, much like ports only deal with containers. “When you get outside of the ports, distribution centers
the big picture Where Business Meets Materials Handling
in the Physical internet, goods will move through warehouses and distribution centers much like the product moves through ports today, with shared transportation carriers and shared space.
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and logistics providers are deal-ing with hundreds of different kinds of boxes and they’re not easy to handle,” Montreuil says. “The Internet, on the other hand, only deals with packets of information that are formatted very precisely.”
Montreuil envisions a portfolio of standard size containers that will be used around the globe. They would begin with standards for mar-itime containers and truck trailers. Shipping containers and cartons would be sized to maximize the space inside those standard containers and trailers. Regardless of the size, they would be environ-mentally sustainable, track-able by bar codes or RFID, and modular. “We’ll talk with the rack and conveyor people to come up with containers that are easy to handle and designed for logistics,” says Montreuil.
Secure: Whatever their size and design, containers in the Physical Internet will be sealable for security in the same way as a shipping container is sealed today.
Say so long to pallets: In Montreuil’s vision, pallets as we know them would no longer exist. Nor would it be necessary to stretch or shrink wrap a load. The shipping platform would be the container. It may have wheels, which would make it easy to load and unload. Or, it may work with a clamp truck.
Forget about storage as we know it: Eliminate the pallet, and Montreuil believes that you could also eliminate a lot of storage rack by stacking con-tainers in a DC the way containers are stacked in the port. Or, they might snap onto a grid. “We could reinvent materi-als handling technologies so they could be adapted to a world standard con-tainer,” he says.
Nodes on the supply chain: In the Physical Internet, the role of the DC will change. A facility may have a por-
tion of the warehouse that is off-line and used for reserve storage or order fulfillment. But the portion of the facil-ity set aside for shipping and receiving would no longer be dedicated to just one customer. Instead, it would serve as a hub, transit point or gateway to deal with containers moving through the supply chain.
“A DC will be open to receive and crossdock containers from other com-panies just like a port,” says Montreuil. “Our goal is that freight will no longer be stuck in a yard for a few days or weeks. Within an hour or so of arrival, a container will be on another truck and moving in another direction.”
Keep it moving Keeping product in motion is one of the biggest benefits of the Physical Internet. To illustrate his point, Montreuil describes the way a truck-load of product moves from Quebec City to Los Angeles.
In today’s world, it takes about 120 hours for a driver to pick up and deliver a load by truck. Like a marathon run-ner, the driver probably completes the trip alone. Meanwhile, the driver will
be away from home for a week or more and may return empty for at least a por-tion of the trip back from Los Angeles.
In the Physical Internet, the deliv-ery process would resemble a relay race. Each driver would hand off a load at a transit hub every 250 miles. There, another driver would pick up the load within an hour or so and move it another 250 miles on its journey. Meanwhile, the original driver would pick up a back haul and return home in time for dinner. Or, the load may get shuttled onto and off of a multi-modal rail car. Instead of 120 hours, Montreuil calculates the delivery could be made in 60 hours.
Similarly, LTL shipments could be reconfigured with other shipments at transit hubs to maximize trailer loads. Since all of the containers would be the same size, just like maritime containers in a port, the contents of a container would be irrelevant.
Making this model work would rely on all of those components described earlier along with open and connected data collection and software systems. “Everything from the warehouse man-agement system (WMS) to the rout-
the big picture Where Business Meets Materials Handling
While Montreuil and his colleagues are still designing the platforms to package and ship product in the Physical internet, they imagine a supply chain without pallets.
MMH1203_BP_BigPic_PhysicalInternet.indd 26 3/7/12 8:26 AM
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28 M a r c h 2 0 1 2 / Modern Materials Handling mmh.com
ing, slotting and asset tracking sys-tems will be open and connected, like the Internet,” says Montreuil. It also requires more collaboration than hap-pens in the supply chain today. Pipedream or possibility?
As the Physical Internet began to take shape, Montreuil shared the idea with colleagues at other institutions. “Ben had this epiphany that he’d talk about over dinner at CICHME meetings,” says Russell Meller, a professor at the
the big picture Where Business Meets Materials Handling
University of Arkansas and the direc-tor of the Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) at the university. “He was the inspira-tional leader, but he also realized that he’d need other people and ideas to make it happen.” CELDi is a consor-tium of nine universities and 30 organi-zations funded by the National Science Foundation focused on research in logistics and distribution.
Along with Meller, Montreuil recruited several other researchers here and abroad, including Kimberly Ellis, an associate professor and the site director for CELDi at Virginia Tech.
To get the project off the ground, Meller says, they realized they would need grants. Meller and another researcher already had a nearly $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a virtual organi-zation using digital Internet technology that would allow engineers to work col-laboratively on a big project. The catch: They needed a big project. The Physical Internet Initiative seemed to fit the bill.
In addition, Meller and Ellis received a $197,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to use CELDi as a resource to take real world numbers from leading shippers like Wal-mart and Walgreens to establish the potential of the Physical Internet.
That project is now underway. The CELDi team is taking real-world facili-ties, and network and shipping data to model how the supply chain is working now and how it might work in a Physical Internet with standardized contain-ers and a sharing of trailers and other resources across a network of facili-ties. “We have weekly teleconferences with the participating organizations and they’re guiding us with the scenarios they want us to model and the questions they want to answer,” says Meller.
Those include questions such as how much fuller would trailers be—how much air would be removed—using the Physical Internet model? Is there a negative impact from using standardized modular containers?
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 29
to get a global Physical Internet up and running, Montreuil believes that a con-sortium of companies, or even an entire industry, could do it now.
“I think the biggest hurdle is the reluctance of companies to do this until
everything is in place to operate on a global scale,” he says. “I see it as some-thing that can be phased in now and grow incrementally.”
That could be the industry that is asking the question: Isn’t there a better way? M
Would the number of times a product is handled change as it moves through the system? If your shipments resemble a relay race, how quickly do you need to crossdock a container through a facility so that you don’t increase the amount of time for a shipment?
While CELDi is answering those questions, Virginia Tech’s Ellis says the next step is to define what type of containers and materials handling systems are required for the Physical Internet. “What it might look like is an open question,” she says. “Ben certainly has ideas. We have submitted another research proposal that would allow us to work on the design of containers.”
So, is the Physical Internet a pipe-dream or is it a possibility? According to Montreuil, the technology is “a piece of cake. There’s no science fiction and noth-ing to invent in terms of software and data collection.” He believes the compa-nies within MHIA could come up with the handling innovations to make this happen very quickly. In Montreuil’s defi-nition, quickly is about a decade.
The real challenge, he says, is overcoming the reservation of busi-nesses to collaborate with one another to make the Physical Internet work. “Companies will need to come up with new business models,” he says.
The other challenge is convincing a group of shippers to do it now, rather than later. While it may take a decade
to learn more about the Physical internet initiative, visit the following Web sites:
“Special Report: Logistics, The Physical Internet,” The Economist, www.economist.com/node/7032165
The Physical Internet Initiative, physicalInternetinitiative.org
The Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution, www.celdi.ineg.uark.edu
“Towards A Physical Internet: Meeting The Global Logistics Sustainability Grand Challenges,” by Benoit Montreuil, www.cirrelt.ca/DocumentsTravail/CIRRELT-2011-03.pdf
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WWhat a difference a year makes. Our 2011 industry outlook results showed that the materials handling industry was finally turning the corner, with bud-gets for equipment spending increasing from an average of $395,000 in 2010 to $451,000 in 2011. However, our 2012 State of Warehouse/DC Equipment and Technology Survey conducted for Modern Materials Handling by Peerless Research Group (PRG) shows forward momentum has stalled a bit.
To get a complete outlook of the
By lorie King rogers, Associate Editor
Modern’s 2012 outlook finds that overall market uncertainty has slowed materials handling spending and has increased facility consolidation and engineered process improvements. Cost containment has returned as the most important issue of the day.
2012 Industry Outlook
Momentum stalled
modern special report
respondent demographicsQuestionnaires were e-mailed in January to Modern Materials Handling
and Logistics Management readers by Peerless Research Group (PRG)
yielding 314 total respondents from manufacturing (30%), warehousing
(30%), corporate (29%) and other aligned professionals (11%). Revenues of
responding companies range from large—24% have sales of $500 million
or more—to small—45%are under $50 million). Only those responses from
management and personnel involved in the purchase decision process of
material handling solutions were considered.
materials handling market, in addi-tion to gathering feedback from read-ers, Modern reached out to industry experts for automatic identification and data collection, lift trucks, soft-ware and conveyor equipment. And, they’re seeing much of what our read-ers are reporting.
For example, our survey results tell us that companies are proceeding very cau-tiously and deliberately with their deci-sions to invest in materials handling solu-tions. In fact, 46% say they are taking a “wait and see” approach and making only mission-critical purchases. And, 40% of respondents say the economy has had little or no impact on materials handling spending and they are proceeding with investments. Average anticipated spend-ing over the next 18 months has barely budged at $451,700. And, 92% of the respondents have rated cost containment as their No. 1 most important issue.
“What I hear from our members is that there is money out there, and there’s a lot of quote activity, however, people are
MMH1203_SpecRptIndryOutlookEquipSurvey.indd 30 3/8/12 8:53 AM
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 31
Daniel G
uidera
2012 State of Warehouse/DC Equipment and Technology Survey
Join the research team as they dig into all of the findings in detail Wednesday, March 28 @ 2:00 p.m. EST
www.mmh.com/2012_WDC_survey
Source: Peerless Research Group (PRG)
Level of spending In total, over the next 18 months, approximately how much do you expectto spend on materials handling equipment and information systems solutions?
$395,000
2010
$451,000
2011
$2.5 million or more
$1 million-$2.49 million
$500,000-$999,999
$250,000-$499,999
$100,000-$249,999
$50,000-$99,999
$25,000-$49,999
Less than $25,000
$451,700
2012
Spending level is
statisticallyunchangedfrom last year.
For 2012, 70%plan to spend
less than $250Kon materials handling equipment and information systems.
23%
16%
15%
16%
9%
6%
7%
8%
being cautious with regard to when they are releasing orders,” says George Prest, CEO of the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA). When they do release orders, Prest says, they are looking for increased productivity and throughput in various products and processes, espe-cially in the warehousing and distribution segment.
With the economy in flux, the materi-als handling equipment industry’s short-term future is simply not as rosy as hoped. In the next two to three years, fewer respondents (55%, down from 62%) are planning to increase their spending.
Over the next few pages we’ll dig deeper into the data gleaned from the sur-vey while tracking changes in the materials handling market over the past year.
Modern’s survey resultsAccording to the respondents who say they are proceeding with investments,
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their dollars are going to such things as information systems, RF devices, picking and inventory systems, automation, stor-age and racking, and conveyors and lifts.
This year, 47% report spending the same amount on materials handling solu-tions as they did last year, while 35% report an increase. In 2011, the aver-age spending increase was 25% and the median increase was 19%, compared to 17% and 12% in 2010, respectively.
Moving forward into 2012, 45% expect their company’s spending on materials handling solutions to stay the same, while 45% expect an increase and 15% anticipate a decrease.
“One of the reasons our industry has seen growth is that there is money out there,” Prest adds. “However, compa-nies are cautious about hiring people so they are investing in existing facilities and making their people more produc-tive. That’s the sweet spot of our indus-try; that’s what we do.”
What do these numbers mean in
terms of dollars? Over the next 18 months, 15% of respondents say they expect to spend more than $1 million, with 8% of those expecting to spend more than $2.5 million. In the meantime, 23% expect to spend less than $25,000, with the remaining 62% ranging in between. While the average, $450,000, was flat between 2011 and 2012, the median anticipated spend is up slightly from $77,000 to $85,000.
AIDC technologyInvesting in automatic identification and data capture technology is one way for operations to make people more productive. And, according to our sur-vey results, 51% plan to do just that: invest in information technology hard-ware and software solutions, or auto-matic identification and data capture (AIDC) technology.
“What I saw in the survey results lines up perfectly with what I see in the small-to-medium business (SMB) market,”
says Drew Nathanson, vice president of AutoID for the VDC Research Group. “The bigger guys have more money and are willing to be first and take more risk with their investments. The SMB market follows their lead and invests in well-established solutions. They don’t have the resources to risk,” explains Nathanson. So, whatever the solution, it has to be proven before they can adopt it. Nathanson adds that he sees that sce-nario as an underlying theme in this year’s survey results.
“Within the warehouse, distribu-tion center and yard, we’re seeing growth overall in the AIDC market, about 5% to 6% in bar code, RTLS, RFID, as well as other AIDC solu-tions,” Nathanson says, adding that this growth supports the continuing trend of end users using multi-modal data capture in their operations.
Lift trucks reaching upLift trucks and accessories top the list for specific equipment that com-panies plan to evaluate or consider in the next 12 months. And, the North American lift truck market, which was up about 20% over 2010, is expecting another good year in 2012, says Jim Moran, chair of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) and senior vice presi-dent at Crown.
Whether a company is growing or maintaining its fleet, Moran says the focus is on maximizing productivity within their businesses. “The market is seeing tremen-dous growth in products that involve fleet management,” says Moran. Customers are interested in products outside of the lift truck itself—anything that manages the fleet and reduces costs, like data col-lection devices that gather information about the truck and the operator so they can turn that data into useful information that drives improvements.”
In regard to the trucks themselves, customers are investing in electric trucks, particularly narrow aisle, turret and high-level stock pickers that can lift higher than before. That said, there’s no doubt that people are being very cautious when it
modern special report
Source: Peerless Research Group (PRG)
The economy’s impact on spending onmaterials handling equipment and technologiesHow is the present state of the economy impacting your spending onmaterials handling equipment technologies, services and solutions?
46% We are taking a “wait and see” approach, by making only those purchases and investments that are critical to sustaining our ongoing business
16% The economy is havinglittle or no impacton our materials handling spending
24% We are proceedingwith our investments
• Automation• Picking and inventory systems• Storage and racking• AGVs/robotics• Conveyors and lifts• RF devices• Warehousing and facilities• Information systems (WMS, ERP, etc.)
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 33
comes to spending. According to Moran, most end users are still making their pur-chases on an ad hoc basis, which has been the norm for the last couple of years.
This tracks with survey results that indicated that 43% of respondents are currently concerned about the avail-ability of labor, and 49% express con-cern over this issue in the coming years. In the warehousing and distribution sector, 52% of respondents rate labor productivity and management among the most important best practices, and that number spikes to 70% two years from now.
“It’s always been a challenge to keep up with training and manpower,” says Moran. Today’s lift truck prod-ucts are more sophisticated, but sup-pliers are making them easier to ser-vice because of shortage of people to service them. Lift trucks can perform more complex tasks, but at the same time, it’s easier to diagnose and ser-vice problems.”
A solid software marketWarehouse management systems (WMS) and enterprise resource planning systems
(ERP) top the list for information man-agement systems for specific materials handling equipment that companies plan
Source: Peerless Research Group (PRG)
Areas of investmentIn which areas will you be investing over the next 18 months?
New equipment/equipment upgrades68%
73%
Information technology hardware/software47%
51%
Staffing/labor37%
40%
Maintenance services25%
37%
12%23%Enterprise applications
(ERP, CRM, WMS, WCM, etc.)
9%13%Outsourcing/3PL services
13%12%Outside services (3PL)
5%5%Other
2012
2011
modern special report
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to evaluate or consider in the next 12 months.
In the supply chain man-agement software market, spending is on the rise and likely the result of pent up demand after the economic downturn, says Clint Reiser, enterprise software analyst at ARC Advisory Group.
“Capital spending tends to be more volatile than the econ-omy in general, but it’s rebound-ing and we have taken part in the rebound,” says Reiser. “The rate for supply chain planning applications is above trend.”
Other factors keeping the market going well, he says, are the rise of sales and operations planning solu-
tions, tools that analyze supply in con-junction with demand, and tools that enable scenario planning on the fly. According to Reiser, companies have other IT systems in place, but they are using these planning tools to gather data from disparate systems and bring it together for better overall planning.
Steve Banker, service director of sup-ply chain management at ARC agrees. The recession interrupted a positive trend, but, he says, “I think we’re back on an historical trend line of growth that is forecasted to be slightly higher than rate of inflation.”
According to the survey results, 23% say they will be investing in enterprise applications over next 18 months. But Banker says end users tend to be overly optimistic and he doesn’t expect that number to be quite that high. “Our experience is that these numbers are higher than when we get the real data from suppliers.”
Conveyor on the riseOnce again, caution seems to be the watchword when it comes to future investments in conveyor and sortation systems. Survey results indicated that 24% of respondents are proceeding with
modern special report
Source: Peerless Research Group (PRG)
The economy and materials handling operations trendsHow does your company’s spending on materials handling solutions this yearcompare with last year? And by what percentage?
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / M A R C H 2 0 1 2 35
MODERN system report
investments in equipment that includes conveyor, but CEMA reports an antici-pated growth of 10% in the industry for 2012.
According to Bob Reinfried, execu-tive vice president of the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA), it’s safe to say that every single category that CEMA tracks all had dou-ble digit increases over 2010, which he also attributes to pent up demand.
According to Reinfried, unit-handling equipment was the driv-ing force. In unit handling, meaning equipment that handles light-to-medium loads of 500 pounds or less, 2011 was a record year for conveyor shipments, with about 30% growth that translated into about $8.5 bil-lion. With orders taking about six to nine months to result in a shipment, that means there’s more money in the pipeline for suppliers. �
Source: Peerless Research Group (PRG)
Important issues today and in two yearsHow important are each of these issues today? Two years from now, howimportant do you expect these issues to be?
Cost containment 89%92%
Safety 81%80%
Company growth 73%73%
Throughput 68%67%
Capital availability 55%51%
Cycle times 49%48%
Training 51%47%
Labor availability 49%43%
Having a presencein global markets 48%
38%
Ergonomics 41%33%
Hours of service 34%30%
Environmental sustainability 43%28%
Trading partner collaboration 29%25%
Smaller, more frequent orders 29%24%
Facility consolidation 29%21%
Outsourcing 18%12%
92% ofrespondentsconsider costcontainmentas the mostimportantissue today.
Current
In two years
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Robotic materials handling solutions are great at handling repetitive tasks while cutting costs, increasing throughput, and lifting a heavy burden off workers.
Robotics: Take a hands-off approach
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modern equipment report
MMH1203_EquipRpt_Robotics.indd 36 3/7/12 8:28 AM
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AAlmost 100 years ago, the word “robot” and the concept of machines working for people was introduced in the play “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” While the play doesn’t end well for people because the robots rise up and wipe out the human race, some say it set the stage for modern robotic solutions.
Today, robots are certainly changing the way we move materials. “When we look at how product moves, we see that robots can play a part in helping the flow of product through the entire supply chain,” says Tim DeRosett, director of marketing for the Motoman Robotics division of Yaskawa America.
Robotic solutions embody a variety of components, configurations and capabilities. And, they can be programmed to perform predict-ably, accurately and rapidly. “A robot is something that can perform a task without human intervention,” explains Mark Longacre, market-ing manager for JBT Corp. “And if maintained and applied properly, a robot of any design can run around the clock.”
Since people cannot easily run around the clock, the need for efficiency is driving companies to look toward automation, says Ken Ruehrdanz, warehousing and distribution market manager for Dematic. And, since labor has a dramatic impact on an operation’s bottom line, automating certain tasks is one way to reduce cost while keeping an operation running efficiently.
The push toward efficiency is reflected, in part, by the increase in robotic applications in the materials handling sector. According to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), robotic applications in the materials handling sector grew 28% in 2011. This increase included a combination of autonomous mobile robotic solutions and fixed robots used for loading and unloading product.
Here’s a look at how autonomous, piece picking, and palletiz-ing robotic solutions are picking up the pace for end users inside the four walls.
Autonomous mobile robotic solutionsAutonomous mobile robotic solutions are enhancing lean manufactur-ing processes by shuttling work-in-process and finished goods between
autonomous, piece picking, and palletizing robotic solutions are picking up the pace for end users inside the four walls.
MMH1203_EquipRpt_Robotics.indd 37 3/7/12 8:28 AM
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locations. “Robots have played a major role in leaning manufacturing processes in production facilities, feeding product to the lines,” says John Dulchinos, presi-dent and CEO at Adept Technology and chair of the RIA’s Statistics Committee.
While these autonomous mobile robotic solutions have taken extra steps out the manufacturing process, the newest intelligent autonomous mobile robotic solutions are able to move goods independently, randomly and dynami-cally, and are starting to play a bigger role in warehouses and DCs.
Compared to mobile solutions that are guided by wires or follow magnetic tape paths, the newest incarnation of
autonomous mobile robots move inde-pendently, making decisions on the fly. “It’s like the city bus versus the taxi cab. The bus moves around using a pre-defined route and doesn’t deviate from the path. The taxi, however, figures out on its own the best way to reach the final destination. You tell the robot where to go and it will go there because it knows the lay of the land,” says Dulchinos.
It knows the lay of the land because the information about the work area is gained by walking the robot around and mapping the facility or by programming the information into its computer sys-tem. Odometers, lasers and other tech-nology allow it to know where it is at all times and avoid impact with people and pallet rack.
Each robot is connected to the operation’s network, so like the dis-patcher, the system knows where every robot is, what it’s doing and where product is at all times. This informa-tion provides the flexibility to reallo-cate a unit at any time.
Robotic piece pickingWhile mobile robotic solutions deliver product in a goods-to-person operation, stationary robots are able to receive product for piece picking operations.
In one example of a “goods-to-robot” solution, a spider style robot can perform extremely rapid pick and place function, sometimes as fast as 2,400 pieces per hour. According to Ross Halket, Schaefer Systems’ direc-tor of automated systems, this tech-nology has been around for years, but the difference now is the advanced
software that controls the sequencing and the vision technology that enables accuracy in the pick.
“The first critical part of the process is to drive the SKU in the right speed and the right sequence to the robot cell so it has what it needs when it needs it,” says Halket. “The second critical step is for the robot to see that it’s pick-ing the right SKU.”
In this case, product is delivered to the robotic picking system in totes from an automated storage system. A laser identifier recognizes the product, its position in the tray, and the optimal cen-ter of gravity for picking. Then, the vision technology confirms and processes the information, then makes a picking deci-sion. The robot’s end effector lifts the product from the tray and drops into an order tote or picking buffer.
This is a good e-commerce solution, says Halket, especially for retailers that faced challenges getting into that end of the business because their original sys-tems weren’t designed for small orders. For these robots, shapes and sizes don’t matter; it’s the weight that determines what’s pick-able. If an end user is handling products at both ends of the scale, another picking cell can be added to lift heavier items with a different end effector.
In a different approach to picking, an articulated arm robot, which is pro-grammed to know the cubic character-istics of each item, directs its robotic arm to grip the selected product, lift it and strategically place it into the order container or shipping carton. These types of robots are able to perform about 450 picks and defined place-
Where does the United States rank when it comes to our use of robotic solutions? Third. According to John Dulchinos, chair of RIA’s Statistics Committee and president and CEO at Adept Technology, Japan and European countries have been aggres-sive in implementing robots because
both regions are trying to maintain existing manufacturing bases.
Japan: 300 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers
germany: 200 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers
United states: 100 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers
Robots in American manufacturing
in a “goods-to-robot” solution, a spider style robot can perform as many as 2,400 pick and place functions per hour.
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ments in an hour.In this application, product is “smartly”
placed into the shipping container so it doesn’t have to be manually adjusted fur-ther down in the picking process, explains Bill Ostermeyer, vice president of sales for viastore. Because the system is pro-grammed with sizes and dimensions of product and containers, the robot can strategically place an item into a container, making the best use of the available space.
While these spider and articulated arm robotic picking solutions vary in application and speed, they have com-mon features. Both robots are fully auto-mated solutions that are integrated with automated storage systems that provide a constant supply of product. Additionally, both approaches can support a multi-order process, which means they can pick different orders from one container.
Another common denominator is end-of-arm tooling, also known as end effectors. These devices have sensors that enable the robot to locate prod-ucts—and hardware like vacuums or gripping clamps to lift it.
Like a power drill with changeable bits, similarly you can take off one end effector type and attach another, says Dematic’s Ruehrdanz, depend-ing on the product being handled and the gripping strength needed. For example, cartons of lightweight, fragile light bulbs require a different gripping strength than books. Or, end effectors that handle rigid cartons would be dif-ferent than those handling products packaged in bags.
Robotic palletizingOnce orders are filled and product is packed into shipping containers, they have to be palletized for shipping out to customers—and robots can also have a hand in the palletizing process.
Simply building a pallet isn’t enough. “The basis of everything is building a pallet as close to store ready as pos-sible,” says Brian Duncan, executive account manager at Schaefer Systems.
The challenge in building store-ready pallets is that robot solutions have to recognize the various sizes and dimensions of multiple SKUs and understand the various customer stack-ing rules, says Brian Keiger, logistics account manager for Kuka Systems.
One way to build a store-ready pallet that addresses the customer’s staking rules is with a pack pattern generator software tool that builds a virtual pallet before the robot touches or moves any-thing. The system plans the sequencing of product upfront using a number of regulators like weight and crushability, for example. When the optimal pallet is planned, then product is sequenced to the robotic palletizer.
Gantry robots are one type of solu-tion being used in the warehouse for palletizing. A gantry robot is a bridge-like structure that moves horizontally on overhead tracks that can span large areas. The gantry’s end effector lifts and transports product to its target conveyor for palletizing.
Overall, robotic case and layer pick-ing applications are gaining traction
across many industries, says Derek Rickard, distribution systems manager at RMT Robotics. “It doesn’t matter to the equipment what the SKU is, what matters is the size, weight and shape of the product. Pallet building is all about geometry. The commonality of packages lets you build pallets, and the combination of clamping tools and vac-uum technology lets us pick up virtually anything.”
In addition to picking up and pallet-izing all types of items, robotic palletiz-ers can do it faster and more efficiently than people. Not only can robots build about 700 pallets per hour, they build them 35% denser than manually built pallets, which packs out trucks better, saves on freight and results in less dam-age, loss and worker injury.
Robots down the roadOnce operations had a choice between people and fixed materials handling solutions to move product; today, new robotic technology is giving end users more flexible options.
“People are good at working through problems, but not as good at highly repet-itive tasks; robotics are good at repetitive tasks, but not as good at solving prob-lems,” says Motoman’s DeRosett.
As a result, he envisions a future in which people and robots work side by side. “It’s exciting to look at a robot as an assistant to a person. We’re not there yet, but given enough time and resources we’ll get there—as long as we have real problems that need to be solved.” M
Making an operation more efficient, robotic solutions can save time and wasted steps by bringing goods to workers.
Companies mentioned in this articleadept tecHnology: adept.comdeMatic: dematic.comJBt corp.: jbtc-agv.comKuKa systeMs: kuka-robotics.comMotoMan roBotics division of yasKawa aMerica: motoman.comrMt roBotics: rmtrobotics.comscHaefer systeMs: ssi-schaefer.usviastore: viastore.com
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show sponsor the Material Handling industry of america (MHia) greeted more than 20,000 attendees and exhibitors to its newest materials handling expo last month. Here’s a look at some of the products and services that were on display as well as some of the news that Modern covered during the show.
Modex makes a splash in Atlanta
Dematic introduces extended piece picking functionalityDematic introduced extended picking functionality of its goods-to-person order fulfillment solution for piece picking, or RapidPick.
“Last year at ProMat we introduced a one-to-one solution that allows an order selector to pick from one SKU position into one order position,” said John Baysore, president and CEO of Dematic North America. “Our extended functionality allows an order selector to pick to multiple order positions.” A typical configuration, Baysore added, might be one SKU position to 6, 12 or 24 order positions. However, the modular design of the solution allows the end user to configure the pick station with the quantity of order positions that is most productive for their application.
In addition, the system now includes the ability to handle cartons of vary-ing sizes in addition to totes.
This configuration creates more options for operational flexibility and less steps in the process; complete orders can travel directly to the case seal-ing and shipping area. In addition, the inventory-staging engine that sup-ports the RapidPick station with inventory can accommodate a variety of load types.
Dematic’s order fulfillment system is typically supplied with SKU totes from
From left: Ken ruehrdanz, distribution market manager; Mike Khodl, vice president of solution development; and John Baysore, president and Ceo.
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 43
a multishuttle or RapidStore sub-system. Both the Multishuttle and RapidStore staging buffer can accommodate a vari-ety of load sizes and types. Both staging
buffers can be configured with a load handling device that will automatically flex to accept various load widths.
Baysore added that the system can
handle 1,000 totes an hour with two aisles of multishuttle storage and is tar-geted at operations with picks of greater than 300 lines per hour.
Noting an increase in customers who prefer short-term leases, Hyster released a line of more cost-effective IC trucks. The product lineup of versatile lift trucks reinforces the company’s range of appli-cation-specific flexibility and industry-leading ship-to-shelf capabilities.
“We’re trying to get the right truck to the right customer,” Jonathan Dawley,
president of Hyster Distribution, told Modern during a booth visit. “We are known for premium products, and now we’re providing a commercial grade truck that meets the customer’s needs without being over-built.”
Hyster showcased new four-wheeled trucks with the exact same performance and turning profiles of a three-wheeled
truck. The addition of the fourth wheel disperses bumps on the travel surface for improved operator comfort.
Intelligrated and SDI announce joint operation in BrazilIn a joint press conference, Intelligrated and SDI Group announced the launch of a new, co-owned and managed opera-tion in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The two com-panies will combine their sales, engi-neering, project management, customer service and spare parts capabilities under one Brazilian company to provide in-country materials handling system solutions.
“Intelligrated is pleased to join forces with SDI Group to bring our mate-rial handling services and solutions to Brazilian customers. We see a void in the local marketplace for companies providing advanced sortation and pal-letizing systems, and we aim to fill that void,” said Stephen Ackerman, execu-tive VP of Intelligrated.
“SDI Group has been operating in Brazil for more than five years, and part-nering with a supplier like Intelligrated adds strength to our regional offering,” added Krish Nathan, president of SDI Group USA.
Ackerman and Nathan noted that Brazil has one of the most advanced industrial sectors in Latin America, with exports having nearly doubled and imports more than doubled over the last decade.
Hyster touts ergonomic advances on new cost-effective trucks
Yale Materials Handling Corp. show-cased its next generation of agile, productive and ultra reliable electric lift trucks. William Pfleger, president of Yale Distribution, said the addition of the fourth wheel disperses bumps on the travel surface for improved operator comfort.
Leading the way in ergonom-ics and performance, the ERC-VA series is among the most produc-tive and highly durable electric lift trucks on the market. New features and updates include: newly designed,
industry-leading operator compart-ments and comfort; 16% more floor space; relocated multifunction dis-plays that ensure enhanced visibility and precise pallet control; improved brake pedal layout; auto Deceleration Systems to reduce operator fatigue; and steel hoods that provide for maxi-mum battery service access.
“This is a really comfortable truck,” said Pfleger, who empha-sized features such as best-in-class foot room and redesigned dash for improved fork visibility.
Yale shows next generation of agile, productive and reliable electric lift trucks
Kardex Remstar offers automated storage choicesTo round out its line of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), Kardex Remstar showcased the Element vertical lift module and the Megamat RS vertical carousel.
“With the addition of the Element VLM and the newly redesigned Megamat RS vertical carousel, we now offer a complete line of storage solu-tions,” said Christina Dube, market-ing manager at Kardex Remstar. From small, independently operated units to
large, fully integrated systems, we have a solution for every application.”
Offered for those just stepping into automated storage, the Element VLM
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increases storage density at an afford-able cost. The unit features vertically arranged storage trays that are delivered by extractor platform to the operator at an ergonomic access opening. “The Element VLM is a great product for companies looking to start dynamic storage without making a major capital investment,” said Dube.
The Megamat RS vertical carou-
sel combines reliability and security with an improved structure, inter-changeable carriers and multiple con-trol options. In addition to using less energy, the system saves time, space and money. “When compared to man-ual storage systems, the Megamat RS increases productivity by two-thirds and reduces floor space requirements by 75%,” Dube added.
Hytrol and Beumer Group launch allianceHytrol Conveyor Co. announced a stra-tegic alliance with the Beumer Group to provide sortation solutions in North and South America. This alliance brings together two best-in-breed tech-nologies in conveying and high-speed unit sortation.
The alliance is appealing, accord-ing to Gregg Goodner, Hytrol’s presi-dent, because Beumer offers unit-level sortation systems with its Beumer and Crisplant brands, while Hytrol offers conveying and other types of sortation, but had lacked unit-level sortation. Through the strategic alliance, Beumer also gains access to Hytrol’s integration partner network.
“When you have the opportunity to create an alliance between companies like Hytrol and Beumer, you can offer customers the widest range of sortation technology, supported at the highest level, resulting in unmatched value,” Goodner told Modern.
Thomas Dalstein, president and CEO of Beumer Group, agreed that the beauty of the alliance is that there is no product overlap. “I see only opportunity with this alliance, both for the compa-nies involved and for customers,” he said.
Hytrol president gregg goodner (left) and thomas dalstein, president and Ceo of Beumer group.
Raymond unveils automated lift truck prototypeThe Raymond Corp. unveiled a proto-type of an upcoming line of automated lift trucks that will be available for sale this summer.
According to Frank Devlin, market-ing manager for advanced technologies at Raymond, automated pallet trucks will be available with fork lengths up to 96 inches. The next automated release will be a 10,000-pound tow tractor.
“These products are geared toward flexibility for customers with operator-optional applications,” said Devlin.
Guided by technology from Seegrid, the automated trucks do not use lasers, magnetic tape or other fixed path tech-nologies, and can learn up to 15 miles of routes in unlimited configurations.
Jim Hess, national accounts manager
for Raymond, emphasized that the new lift trucks would share the efficiency of existing Raymond products. According to third-party tests, said Hess, Raymond trucks are 17% to 40% more efficient than competitors, and enable 6% to 9% better productivity.
Customers always knew Psion’s rugge-dized products would hold up for seven to eight years, said Mike Wills, VP of North America sales for Psion, but they worried the technology would become obsolete long before that.
As a result, Wills said Psion’s mobile data terminals have transi-tioned to a modular design that allows customers to tailor the device to their needs while facilitating updates and upgrades throughout the life of the product. For instance, said Wills, the
new XT15 is compatible with about 40 different application-specific key-boards.
“As biometrics, RFID and other new technologies emerge, it will be fast and easy to switch modules with-out replacing an entire device,” said Wills. “Not to mention the benefits on the service side.”
Wills said the entire Psion family of products is transitioning to the modular philosophy, including their line of full-size, forklift-mounted terminals.
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 45
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Intermec introduced two new vehicle-mount computers designed to integrate with any lift truck. These new offerings represent the first vehicle-mount com-puters certified to offer Vocollect voice-directed work.
“These new vehicle-mount comput-ers are built to withstand our customers’ most challenging environments and to deliver fast, reliable and secure connec-tion to warehouse management systems,” said Earl Thompson, Intermec senior VP for the mobile solutions business unit.
The CV41 vehicle-mount computer features an 8.4-inch LED backlit display that reduces visual obstruction during forklift operations, simplifies installation compared to full-screen devices, and supports an optional brighter outdoor
display. It is the only Vocollect voice-enabled, vehicle-mount computer run-ning Microsoft Windows CE 6.0.
The CV61 features a larger 12.1-inch LED backlit touchscreen display that is easy to read in dimly lit or out-door environments. Like the CV41, the CV61 features the same optional Vocollect voice capability.
Both computers include a CANBUS interface to support forklift fleet man-agement applications.
Hidde Hanenburg, intermec product manager for vehicle-mount computers, with the CV41.
Swisslog introduces new products, announces new projectsIn a press conference, Swisslog unveiled the SmartCarrier automated goods-to-person picking system with carriers that are not restricted to only one per storage array level. Ideal for high-throughput, small items, the unit can travel outside of the system to provide direct delivery to picking stations and sequencing buf-fers. Up to four carriers can simulta-neously store or retrieve goods on any level and the system can be expanded at any time.
The company also presented its AGVPick product, which safely applies automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) to manual case picking. By automating the vehicle’s movement, the system removes non-productive tasks from the
Vehicle-mount computers deliver next generation technology
VoxPilot, a new software suite from Voxware, gives logistics executives unprecedented visibility into work as it progresses, and immediate access to corrective tools when action must be taken. VoxPilot enables enterprises to improve customer service commit-ments by closing the gap between static dashboard reporting and active
46 M a r c h 2 0 1 2 / Modern Materials Handling mmh.com
Voxware introduces new voice management suite
picking process to increase order picker productivity.
The company also announced two new U.S. projects: a new automated frozen food storage and distribution center for Publix Super Markets, and an installation of the AutoStore inven-tory storage system with integrated robotic, goods-to-person picking for Medline Industries.
Additionally, the company announced that Hama, a European supplier of elec-tronic accessories, will upgrade its central DC in Germany with the SmartCarrier, according to Markus Schmidt, senior VP of Swisslog North America.
orBis director of marketing and sustainability Bob Klimko (left) hosted office depot’s Charles rehm, territory development manager, who was on hand to share his company’s success with the orBis solution for its sustainability initiatives.
To help companies quantify the envi-ronmental sustainability benefits that can be achieved through reusable pack-aging, ORBIS Corp. announced a life cycle assessment-based initiative in a press conference at the show.
The service will examine a company’s environmental impact based on a com-parison of possible packaging scenarios. The assessment compares user packag-ing data using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and suggests potential opportunities for better envi-ronmental sustainability. By comparing past practices with either planned or newly implemented practices, the study aims to measure the environmental impact of adopting reusable packaging.
The ORBIS sales and engineer-ing teams will work with customers to complete a worksheet with data inputs about current practices. ORBIS will
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ORBIS is one of the first to bring such a process to the reusable packag-ing market, said Samantha Goetz, the company’s manager of marketing com-munications.
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / M A R C H 2 0 1 2 47
Welcome back CrisplantThe Crisplant tilt tray sortation sys-tem was a sight for sore eyes for end users who visited the Beumer Group at Modex 2012.
Crisplant, which was acquired by Beumer in 2009 and re-launched last year, supplies a line of tilt tray sorters that complements the company’s exist-ing line of materials handling equip-ment to provide a comprehensive line of solutions.
According to Lance Anderson, Beumer’s director of sales for sortation and distribution, the line of Crisplant tilt tray sorters is supported by a team of technicians and spare parts from
Accu-Sort expands accessibility and accuracyAccu-Sort Systems announced four new products. The first adds iPhone and iPad functionality to the Web-based software already integrated into the AccuLazr line of laser bar code scanners.
“We’ve heard customers want to reduce the total cost of ownership in terms of servicing this product,” said Jon Stiles, product marketing special-ist for Accu-Sort. “By enabling remote access through a Web browser or iPhone, technicians no longer have to crawl over or under moving conveyors to plug in and run diagnostics.”
The AL 7010 is a new long-range scanner, and the AL 5010 features a new adjustable raster that improves accuracy even when scanning poor
its New Jersey headquarters location. This enables a rapid response to cus-tomer needs in the form of technical support or overnight parts delivery.
With the software, technical support and steel components provided locally, there is roughly a 50/50 split of respon-sibility between Europe and the United States, which lets the experts be the experts, says Anderson.
correction of bottlenecks. “This new software provides the
ability to make immediate, real-time adjustments to distribution operations across multiple facilities,” said Stephen Gerrard, VP of marketing. “This capa-bility will allow an organization to react to changing customer priorities throughout the day.”
The new suite is a role-based, action-oriented and scalable workforce management tool for voice-directed operations. Each user creates a tailored view of real-time operations data spe-cific to his or her role, yielding action-able information. VoxPilot has a unique “one-click” bridge from display to action, enabling instant intervention in ongoing work. VoxPilot is also the first workforce management tool to scale across multiple facilities, giving man-agement visibility to every operation simultaneously from a single console.
“Enterprises with high customer service commitments know that distri-bution operations are integral to their value proposition, and they are increas-ingly demanding real time tools,” Gerrard said. “Management not only has instant visibility into ongoing work, but also the power to immediately shift priorities and correct problems.”
Crisplant tilt tray sorter makes a comeback.
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the perfect fi t
quality or poorly placed bar codes.In addition, the new Accuvision
Basic Dimensioning tool is a cost-effective alternative to more accurate,
certified solutions, said Stiles. The range finder is accurate to 0.6 inches instead of 0.2 inches, depending on conveyor speed.
Motorola announces range of newer, smaller tech solutions
Motorola Solutions announced its first warehouse-ready tablet offering, the ET 1, which features a 7-inch multi-touchscreen, Android operating sys-tem, 8-megapixel camera and full-shift battery.
“This is a tool with value across the warehouse,” said Mark Wheeler, direc-tor of industry solutions for Motorola Solutions. “It can serve as a mobile manager’s assistant, and it can improve visibility, productivity, documentation and inventory control.”
Wheeler also showcased the
DS3500, a Bluetooth-ready extended range scanner capable of registering an inkjet-printed 2D bar code from a dis-tance of 40 feet or a few inches.
Another all-new offering from Motorola is a dash-mounted lift truck data terminal that is 75% smaller and lighter than its predecessor.
“Customers asked for a size-opti-mized solution,” said Wheeler. “The 6.5-inch screen on the VC6090 allows full-sized terminals to be attached even to smaller counterbalanced trucks with a minimal impact on driver visibility.”
Seegrid showcases its GC4 and ViewSeegrid held a press conference intro-ducing two new solutions to Modex and the marketplace—the GC4, a vision-guided robotic standup forklift; and View, an automated data collection tool.
Seegrid’s director of sales and mar-keting David Noble said the market is demanding robotic trucks and autono-mous vehicles, and the manned or unmanned GC4 vehicle responds to that demand with flexibility and price.
The View solution answers the age-old question: How can we do better? “Our technology, which is built into the brand of lift trucks that end users rely on most, captures important informa-tion that can be used to optimize effi-ciencies. View puts vital data in the hands of management, and that data is power to improve the operation’s pro-cesses,” explained Noble.
TGW Systems has installed more than 300 of its Stingray automated storage and retrieval shuttles over several facili-ties since its introduction in 2011, said John Clark, director of marketing, in an interview. “It’s a solution for ergonomic piece picking, where it brings the order to the picker in the right sequence and in the right order,” said Clark.
Ideal for highly dynamic storage and buffer applications, the shuttle
even works in applications with vary-ing ceiling heights for maximum storage density. The system enhances picking processes, including each picking and small case box picking, by delivering highly accurate storage.
“Because of its flexibility, the shuttle can work in facilities with low and high walls. With more facilities becoming landlocked, particularly in the metro areas, the system helps companies get
more storage out of the space that they currently have,” Clark said. “And it increases density in areas where pick-ers don’t have to travel into; instead the product comes out to them.”
Additionally, as TGW expands glob-ally to support its customers around the world, the company has opened three new offices in China, Switzerland and Brazil. “We recognize the importance of having a local office staffed by people who understand the unique needs of that particular region,” he said.
300+ shuttles installed by TGW
New features in Sapient’s Viper VLM increase storage density by 50%In a press conference, Sapient Automation unveiled a new automatic tray height scanning system and redesigned tray con-figuration in the Viper vertical lift module (VLM). The enhancements provide 50% more storage density, said Ed Romaine, chief marketing officer for Sapient.
“The automatic tray height scan-ning system automatically determines each tray’s exact storage height require-ment—down to a 1-inch increment—every time a tray is retrieved,” Romaine said. “That scan interfaces with the VLM’s control system to determine the
best storage position in the unit, based on optimal space and retrieval time.”
The new trays feature thinner side walls for more storage space; flat bottoms for use without tray liners; and unobstructed open storage areas with no dividers or support cross members. Trays come in 2-, 3- and 4-meter widths, making more parts avail-able for picking on each tray to increase productivity while reducing labor costs.
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Akro-Mils Battery Watering Technologies
Visitors to Akro-Mils’ MODEX booths had the opportunity to see two major prod-uct groups dis-played—plastic prod-ucts, and steel and wood products. Highlighted in the Akro-Mils plastic products booth were Super-Size AkroBins, Indicator Two-Toned Bins, and InSight Ultra-Clear Bins. Featured in the steel and wood products booth were Platform Trucks, Steel Dollies, Specialty Carts, and Hand Trucks. Whether used separately or together, Akro-Mils plastic products, and steel and wood products, are the solution to a variety of material handling and storage needs.
The patented hydrometer port valve from Battery Watering Technologies simplifies battery maintenance by making access to specific gravity easier than ever! The valve doesn’t have to be removed to take the reading. Just slide the red slider port open, insert the hydrometer tube, and take the reading! No more valve lids to lose or break, and because the valve doesn’t have to be removed, there is no fear of damage to floors, equipment—or of health hazards to people. Our clean, streamlined system prevents harmful corrosion build-up on batteries, prolonging battery life. See how efficient, easy and cost-effective battery maintenance can be!
Akro-Mils1293 S. Main St.Akron, OH 44301Phone: 800-253-2467www.akro-mils.com
Buckhorn BN4845 Extra-Duty Bulk BoxBuckhorn offers an unmatched selection of reusable packaging solutions designed to protect your products and increase your profit-ability. Our latest inno-vation, the BN4845 extra-duty bulk box has proven that you don’t have to sacrifice quality for a lighter weight design. In fact, it’s the only all-plastic bulk box on the market with a load capacity of 2,500 lbs. It features the proven sturdy, structural foam panels and drop-down doors you expect from Buckhorn and combines that technology with a high strength, injection-molded, two-piece welded base. Buckhorn—You Perfect It. We’ll Protect It.
Big Ass Fans designs and builds highly engineered 6- to 24-foot diameter fans for industrial, agricul-tural and commercial settings. Every Big Ass Fan uses an energy-efficient motor to generate massive air movement in large spaces, providing occupant comfort and energy savings year-round. More than 60,000 Big Ass Fans have been installed worldwide in applications such as industrial plants, dairy barns, hangars, schools, lofts and health clubs.
Big Ass Fans877-BIG FANS (244-3267)www.BigAssFans.com
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 51
Dematic
Hyster Company
Dematic proudly introduces RapidStore, an innovative, modular Automated Storage and Retrieval Solution that is engineered to increase opera-tional performance. It is rede-fining the way inventory is stored, sequenced and buffered. RapidStore delivers a high perfor-mance, cost effective storage solu-tion with the following benefits: • Fast: Dramatically increases
throughput• Flexible: Handles loads of varying weights,
sizes and shapes • Configurable: Small footprint requirement
Hyster Company H50CT Pneumatic Lift TruckBudget-friendly trucks won’t break the bankHyster Company is preparing to release its newest version of the internal combustion H50CT pneumatic tire lift truck designed to be budget friendly and provide the right balance of efficiency, productivity, dependability and durability for a wide variety of materials handling applications. The H50CT is intelligently built with smart design and solid construction, retaining the legendary durability, toughness and reliability of a Hyster® lift truck. From sealed electrical connectors to O-ring face seal fittings to durable transmissions, the H50CT provides users with a fuel efficient, performance lift truck that can work in a variety of applications. The H50CT models, with a lift capacity of 5,000 lbs., strike the perfect bal-ance between the number of loads moved compared with the amount of fuel used—utilizing up to 12 per-cent less than the major competitor’s average.
The Thor vehicle-mount com-puter features three innova-tions that can create immedi-ate time savings and produc-tivity gains. A field-replaceable front panel empowers users to repair the most common breaking point of VMCs in minutes. The Thor’s Quick Mount Smart Dock separates the computer from the power supply, letting a user undock the unit from one forklift and redock it on a second vehicle, without missing a transaction. And the Thor’s ignition control feature allows the user to set power management preferences to extend vehicle battery life.
Honeywell Scanning & Mobility9680 Old Bailes RoadFort Mill, SC 297071-800-582-4263www.honeywellaidc.com
ID Label Inc.
Warehouse beams need a facelift? Instill new life with Beam Renew TM and relabel your locations for a fresh new look.• Metalized adhesive backside for 100% cover-up. • Over lamination for added protective durability against abrasion, water and general purpose clean-ing solvents. • Four colors to choose from: orange, yellow, blue or green. • Aggressive permanent adhesive for secure application over old labels or damaged beams. • More cost effective than other beam cover-up solutions.
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Intelligrated KenwoodIntelligrated’s InControlWare is a suite of warehouse control software products that man-ages everything from material flow and machine control to order and wave execution for automated material handling systems. InControlWare effi-ciently manages both machine and operational resources, while increasing facility capacity and lowering distribution costs. Intelligrated’s software solutions are designed to expand and enhance the capabilities of enterprise and warehouse systems by optimizing workflows, equipment usage and order fulfillment; scaling to meet the needs of today’s high volume ecommerce, retail, wholesale and automated distribution operations.
For sales and marketing information, please contact Emily Smith, senior marketing coordinator.
New NEXEDGE® portables from Kenwood offer an ultra-compact, full-featured digital 5W portable with your choice of non-display, 4-key/LCD models and full key-board/LCD. The affordably priced NX-220 VHF and NX-320 UHF radios meet the same MILSTD 810 and IP54/55 standards for durability as other Kenwood NEXEDGE portables and allow a mix of portables in your system, based on the needs of individual staff members or for the use of contractors, vendors or temporary workers. The radios include the latest enhancements including OTAP over-the-air programming, audio refinements and a motion sensor option.
Kenwood USA, Communications Sector1-800-950-5005www.nexedge.kenwood.com
KNAPP Logistics Automation, Inc.
KNAPP, the market pioneer for Shuttle Systems, recently celebrated an order including the 10,000th shuttle soon to be put into operation. The OSR Shuttle System offers unmatched avail-ability and reliability along with optimal flexibility for storage, goods-to-person picking, sorting and buffering. The new generation of OSR Shuttle is even more powerful, cost efficient and flexible. Additional features and advantages include: ability to store containers and cartons of different dimen-sions in same system; four deep storage; handles broad product size range; and height and aisle length restrictions removed.
KNAPP Logistics Automation, Inc.2124 Barrett Park DriveKennesaw, GA 30144888.606.0695www.knapp.com/us
Matthews Marking ProductsMatthews introduces the latest in industrial inkjet technology: Viacode. A high-resolution printer for case coding that is a cost-effective alternative to adhesive labels and pre-printed cartons.• Up to 25 times lower cost than adhesive labels • 4-inch print height with a single printhead• Bold, crisp images with minimal bleeding, ideal for barcoding• Precision stitching of printheads enables large marking area• New control platform for easy command of multiple printers• Brand on Demand—Print what you want, when you want
Matthews Marking Products6515 Penn AvenuePittsburgh, PA 15206Tel: 800-775-7775www.matthewsmarking.com
mmh.com Modern Materials Handling / M a r c h 2 0 1 2 53
Yale Materials Handling
Yale Materials Handling Corp. Launches Order Selector Series
AC-powered units offer Smart-Glide technologyYale Materials Handling Corporation has launched a series of AC-powered order selectors with lifting capaci-ties of 1,500 to 3,000 lbs. The series includes a heavy duty counterbal-anced OS030BF, standard duty counterbalanced OS030EF, straddle selector SS030BF and furniture selector FS030BF, to meet your customers’ demand-ing applications. The spacious, ergonomically designed operator’s compartment maximizes produc-tivity and minimizes fatigue while the mast offers excellent visibility. The compartment has a low step height, wide-cushioned floor, and a foot switch posi-tion that promotes a natural stance. The pallet clamp automatically centers and grips pallets enabling fast, easy order picking that saves you time.
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modern productivity solution
Lighting system cuts
Clover Hill Foods installs an intelligent LED system to reduce lighting energy use by 91% and overall energy use by 32%.
Clover Hill Foods is a food distribution business with an appetite for high quality and customer
service. Started in 1973 as an egg and dairy dis-tributor, today the company supports 1,200 super-markets, bakeries, grocery stores and other food service operations in nine states on the East Coast. Its 73,000-square-foot headquarters in Bridgeville, Pa., stores a broad selection of meats, cheeses, dairy products and other items to fill customer orders.
One of the company’s ongoing challenges has been managing energy costs. So, it began an in-depth analysis of opportunities to control energy use. They identified lighting, which represented 35% of the company’s annual energy bill, as an area that could provide significant savings.
Upgrading to energy-efficient LED light-ing could reduce lighting energy use, while also improving light levels for operators. The team compared the performance, expected lifetimes, warranties and total cost of ownership of LED alternatives and selected a new intelligent LED lighting solution (Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting System, www.digitallumens.com) as a
replacement for all of their legacy lighting fixtures. “The lighting upgrade has reduced our lighting
energy use by 91% and also improved light lev-els,” says Gerry Hickly, CFO of Clover Hill Foods. “Because the system reports on all lighting perfor-mance metrics—kWh use and occupancy—we have complete visibility into how and where lighting is being used and exactly how much it costs.”
Unlike traditional lights, which have only on/off settings, the new system has integrated motion sen-sors that react when an operator is in the area and provide light only when needed. When no one is in the area, the lights automatically turn off, or down, to minimize energy use. As a result, now each light at Clover Hill’s facility is on about 25% of the time, saving a significant amount of energy. The new 160W fixtures also minimize the amount of heat generated, which reduces the burden on the facil-ity’s chiller system.
Pleased with the performance and new levels of control that the new lighting system offers, Hickly says, “We can now modify settings over time to max-imize operator safety, while reducing energy use.” M
By lorie King rogers, Associate editor
energy consumption
MMH1203_ProductivitySolutions.indd 54 3/7/12 8:38 AM
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Cabinet for lean manufacturingFor better workspace organization and management, the 5S cabinet offers clear acrylic doors for instant visibility and at-a-glance accounting of tools and parts at point of use to support lean manufacturing philosophies. The durable cabinet case fea-tures metal pegboard inserts. Alternately, solid hinged doors with additional peg-board storage may be specified. Stanley Vidmar, 800-523-9462, www.stanleyvidmar.com, Booth 2532.
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Abuse Resistant Belts work where others fail.Super Strong Joints are virtually unbreakable.High Tension Belts move heavier loads.Super Red Belts double conveyor capacity.
New Split Line-shaft SpoolsHigh precision. Reasonable price.Easy to install. Zero downtime. Can be locked to shaft. Eliminatesneed for keyed spools and shafts.
MAKE ROOM MAKE ROOM
Maximize storage space with ProHANGER™ … the perfect solution for storing and organizing long parts and supplies.
U.S. Patent Pending
Software directs, analyzes paperless picking activityExecutives, managers and supervisors can easily view pick rate productivity, accuracy and throughput with the version 6.0 release of LP dash-board. The software displays real-time, updated key performance indicators with drill-down granularity for facility, area, zone and employee-level views. Featuring a rich graphi-cal interface with drag-and-drop widgets for custom template views of performance data, the system offers an automatic slide-show style display of multiple, user-configured templates. Lightning Pick Technologies, 262-250-2143, www.lightningpick.com, Booth 1543.
NA 2010 Cleveland
Vertical storage systemFeaturing a stabilized shelf system with high storage density at an afford-able price, the motorized vertical pan carousel offers storage and retrieval of inventory with push-button control. The system delivers inventory to the opera-tor, yielding retrieval time savings up to 90%. Included standard are lifetime sealed bearings, shielded motors, secu-rity keypad, one-touch forward/reverse, wire mesh guarding and obstruction detectors. Vidir Machine, 800-210-0141, www.vidir.com, Booth 3018.
Treatment prevents mold growth on palletsE-fusion mold and mildew resistant coating and treat-ment system for wood pallets inhibits the growth of mold, preventing product recalls and refused ship-ments. The treatment bonds with wood during an elec-trostatic application process, making it ideal for pallets used in food and beverage handling, consumer prod-ucts, pharmaceuticals and paper products. X-Mold, 866-581-6653, www.xmold.net, Booth 625.
Connect social networking to supply chain for increased employee engagementTo provide comprehensive workforce engagement as a means to unite employees around common goals, SCOPE Social framework connects social networking capabilities to supply chain solutions. The software integrates actionable operational data with public and/or enterprise social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Yammer, Moxie, Rypple and others to engage the work-force in achieving superior operational results. Launched with the supplier’s labor management solution, the module enables collaboration between supervisors and associates, including two-way feedback, recognition, praise and sharing of information. Manhattan associates, 877-596-9208, www.manh.com.
With extended functionality for enhanced operation of put walls and order packing work cells, PickDirector 3.6 is an extended order fulfillment software ver-sion for distribution and ware-housing operations. Acting as a warehouse control system, the software manages order fulfill-ment activities in piece or case pick applications using RF, light displays or voice technologies. The system drives hybrid fulfill-
ment operations (such as indexing or constant pace conveyor systems), while providing expanded performance for store-friendly pick sequence applications, direct store delivery, and route delivery order assembly. Other functions include support for order tracking, zone balancing, golden zone analysis, qual-ity control, label printing, layer picking, and SKU descriptions for voice applications. It also manages out of stock, replen-ishment and cycle counting. dematic, 877-725-7500, www.dematic.com.
WMs, apps in the cloud lower cost of ownershipBy offering a warehouse management system in a cloud deploy-ment model, the cost and administration time previously required for software installation is eliminated. The software application and all system infrastructure is based in an off-site, secure data center. Providing a means to add to a deployed WMS at any time, the App Station collection of supply chain workflows can be browsed online for quick and easy addition of enhanced supply chain functionality. Only needed features can be installed without code expansion and support expense. HighJump software, 800-328-3271, www.highjump.com.
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COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE SINCE 1962LITCO INTERNATIONAL INC.855-296-2891 www.litco.com
Manage materials, order and wave picking, and automation
The InControlWare suite of warehouse control software products manages material flow control, order and wave execution, and machine control of automated materials handling sys-tems. Capable of efficiently managing machine and operational resources, the software increases facility capac-ity while lowering distribution costs.
Modules include order manager to direct facility execution; route manager to direct material flow for efficiency; pick man-ager for on-time order fulfillment of case and piece picking with pick-to-light and cart technologies; carousel manager to com-mand storage and retrieval in manual and automated storage units; and crane manager to optimize automated storage and retrieval systems. A feature-rich user interface provides visibility into operations, orders, inventory, fulfillment and machine per-formance, along with extensive reporting. intelligrated, 513-881-5239, www.intelligrated.com.
tMs application manages complex global freight movement
Version 8.0 of the supplier’s transportation management appli-cation has been released, with expanded logistics and fulfill-ment management capabilities. The software takes into account real-world constraints, costs and penalties to improve customer service, reduce logistics costs and better manage complex-ity and compliance in moving global freight across the supply chain. It orchestrates worldwide networks of shippers and logis-tics service providers—and their movement of raw materials, parts and finished goods—through global supply chains. The application creates an environment that simplifies, automates and interconnects transportation processes to improve order management through planning, consolidation and optimiza-tion of inbound and outbound shipments. saP, 800-872-1727, www.sap.com.
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Allan Howie
Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA)title: Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development
location: Charlotte, N.C.
experience: 14 years at MHIA
Focus: Developing materials and support for high schools, technical and community colleges, military, governmental agencies and cor-rections education in the area of warehousing and distribution, and the role it plays in logistics and the supply chain.
that this is just manual labor. We had a group of 10 students from five high schools assisting us at the Modex show in Atlanta. When they toured the show, they were excited by the level of technology they saw. They were especially interested in the programmable equipment, like robotics and inventory management technology using tablets and other tools that they’re familiar with. Now, we make sure they realize that generally they’re going to get an entry-level position where they will have to prove themselves to progress up the ladder of employment.
Modern: are they bringing other skills to the job?
Howie: Yes. The programs we’re working with are also teaching the soft skills, like showing up on time,
working in teams, and bringing the right attitude to work. The students who worked with us at Modex had those skills. They were knowledgeable and presented themselves well. They were highly employable.
Modern: Modex was your last trade event with MHia. What impressed you the most?
Howie: As an educator, I was most impressed by Walgreens’ presentation on their diversity program. The teachers who came to Modex learned that regardless of the physical or learning limitations a student may have, there’s a place in this industry for them with the appropriate training and education. That opens the door for a lot of students in a lot of schools. M
Modern: You’re retiring from MHia, but how important is education today for our industry?
Howie: It’s very important. As you know, our country is in need of people with gainful employment, and there are many opportunities in warehousing and distribution. At the same time, the cost of training a new employee is very high. Our industry needs trained and capable employees, be it through our efforts, the education systems or ideally a combination effort between our industry and those systems working together. We want people to think in terms of careers and long-term employment with these companies. Anything we can do to advance that idea is a win-win for everyone.
Modern: You work with students. are they looking at our industry differently than in the past?
Howie: Absolutely. The technology used in warehouses and distribution centers has removed the stigma
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Matthews Marking Products, Holjeron, IPTI and Lightning Pick Technologies are each market leaders in their respective industry segments.
As a group they deliver best-in-class technologies that increase quality, customer service, cost effi ciency and traceability within the supply chain, from production through order fulfi llment. Matthews International’s new division offers Pick-to-Light, Put-to-Light, Voice, RF, a full order fulfi llment execution software suite including advanced Dashboard tools and other paperless picking systems; 24V Brushless DC Motor-Driven Rollers (MDR) and intelligent conveyor controls; batch picking carts, A-frames, the unique Virtual Data Tag system and other distribution center automation; product identifi cation and coding plus other innovative products engineered to help manufacturers and distributors ‘Move It. Mark It. Track It.’
