Archive for the ‘Strategy’ Category:
Planning Enables Efficient Handling
By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer
In material handling operations, efficiency plays an extremely important role. Efficient performance of functions helps ensure the success of the manufacturing or distribution industry. One of the biggest challenges material handling companies face today is of ensuring quality service at the lowest cost possible. As customers become more market savvy, they demand more services and stiff competition means more and more cost cutting.
This means to survive, a company must be able to do a successful balancing act. Agreed, increasing services while decreasing costs may sound contradictory, but it can be done… and profitably at that. For instance, there are quite a few companies that use computer aided design and computer simulation in planning material handling operations. This helps to minimize the number of handlings, and reduce distances that materials need to be moved. It also facilitates movement to increase speed, prevent damage and reduce labor. To put it simply, CAD makes it feasible to design and view possibilities that would have been too time consuming to draw by hand, permitting more thorough analysis.
Subscribe to the comments for this postForklift Truck Logic To Material Handling
By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer
The material handling industry is no stranger to the fact that it is important to keep a close eye on dynamics such as customer demand, inventory supply, and customer satisfaction. These factors are very important in ensuring that operations remain strong.
One of the most effective ways for delivering operations savings is customized solutions. If you can customize an operational solution to your workflow, it improves efficiency, increases productivity, and makes your operations safer. This ultimately leads to more profits, which is what every business depends on.
By customized material handling, what we mean is that every machine you use in your operations is designed around the product and operations. So, for instance, if you use a forklift truck for your operations, it is not enough to have the right truck. You must also ensure that your truck is part of an overall customized solution. This means, you must have an idea of what you are handling and get a good grasp of your needs and potential problems.
Pros of Proper Material Handling
– By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer
Proper handling and management of materials in any organization can return more than the desired benefits:
- Maintaining proper inventory policies can help reduce costs associated with holding and wastage.
- A place for everything and everything in its place – this mantra works well for a safe and neat working area, especially when hazardous or expensive materials are handled.
- Training staff and employees to handle materials the right way enhances their efficiency and reduces time spent in hunting for things.
- A direct result of the above point is improved customer service and satisfaction.
- And from the previous point, it follows that the profitability of a company rises as does its corporate image.
Tips to keep away from infections
By Priya Venkatesh, Staff Writer
Are you afraid of getting infected by a contagious disease prevalent at your workplace? Are you afraid to interact with your siek neighbor? Here are a few tips that can assist you in terminating the spread of infectious disease when you are amidst the public!
- In addition to regular exercises, aerobics & dieting, it is always better to wash hands as often as you can! Use soap & lukewarm water to clean your hands and legs as soon as you reach home.
- Try not to touch your nose, mouth & eyes in public, stay away from infected persons. When you are with an infected person, try not to touch the belongings of that person.
- In case your workplace gets contaminated with a contagious disease, stop sharing spoons, dishes, plates & news magazines!
Click here to know more tips on how to safeguard yourself from being infected by invisible germs around!
MHIA reports released for this quarter
Material handling Industry of America (MHIA) studies and forecasts the future market of Material Handling Equipment Manufacturing. This report is up once in every quarter and contains detailed information on the market trends of the successive year.
The MHIA has also promulgated the release of MHEM Annual Rate of Change (ARoC) Workbook, which is a MS Excel based planning tool that works on the basis of the report from MHIA.
Click here to read more on the report from MHIA for this quarter. Read one of our previous post on ‘MHIA Takes Over MH1′ to know how MHIA has taken over the administration of MH1.
The beef supply chain at Excel grows more efficient!
Have you ever wondered as to how the beef distribution centers incorporate effective material handling?
The beef supply chain at Excel, a unit of Cargill foods has joined with Daifuku America to implement groundbreaking material handling methodologies in its distribution center at Plainview, Texas.
Automation of the existing order placement methods, incorporation of control system to manage bulk, individual and mixed orders keeping the available stocks fresh via appropriate refrigeration, introduction of Sorting Transfer Vehicle (STV) to sort out the packaged goods as per the orders placed, inventory update of stocks using bar codes are some of the innovative techniques incorporated by Excel in collaboration with Daifuku America to make their beef distribution center more efficient.
With these innovative material handling techniques at their beef distribution center, Excel assures you of high quality, timely delivery of beef irrespective of the quantity ordered.
Click here to read the details of Supply Chain Management techniques incorporated by Excel.
Sedlak gears up with business development
In order to face the challenge of the growing global market, Sedlak picks one of the best for its business development job. It recently opened its doors to Daniel J. Klenkar who joined Sedlak as director of business development. Sedlak feels that with his immense with supply chain technology and previous relationships with many of its clients, current and past, Klenkar is sure to broaden and add strength to our client services.
Sedlak started in 1958 with its primary focus on providing best solutions in material management. Whether it is about selecting a product or service or about comprehensive implementation assistance, the company offers extensive knowledge of the market and thereby offers its clients in their operations. To carry forward that motto, Klenkar is going to help in identifying new businesses with existing clients, identifying new clients for developing business in newer markets, and also represent Sedlak at industry conferences. That is indeed a big challenge for him and the industry is keen to watch him do so. Newer avenues are always a hurdle and need quick recovery to gain ground. Klenkar has to manage those terrains fast and the topic is enough to keep industry skeptics busy.
Through his 20 years experience in sales, management and consulting experience with organizations (such as The Revere Group, SupplierInsight and Ingersoll-Rand) Klenkar brings a ray of hope for Sedlak in auguring its performance. Having master’s degrees in organization development and business administration from the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University is something Klenkar is proud of and now onwards, Sedlak will boast his brand equity that he brings along with him for the company.
Quatech to Benefit From Digi-Key’s Global Distribution Appeal
Quatech , which is a wholly owned subsidiary of DPAC Technologies Corp (OTCBB: DPAC) and a leader in 802.11 wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity solutions took a global step by joining hands with Digi-Key Corporation for global distribution. Going by the agreement Digi-Key’s distribution lineup certainly going to put Quatech products in the global platform but how the Digi-Key would promote both products remains to be seen. It is always a touch ask juggling two domains.
Digi-Key being one of the world’s fastest growing electronic component distributors and currently ships products to more than 140 countries around the globe will be a benefit to Quatech. Quatech is the first company to market with the wireless modules in 2003, its Airborne series of products offer industrial grade features including extended operating temperature ranges and extended shock and vibration tolerance. Its device networking and connectivity products are used by major OEMs in the transportation, instrumentation and industrial control, homeland security, medical diagnostics, logistics and supply chain markets. Hence, this agreement appears a hit for the starters. Now Quatech’s Among Quatech products offered by Digi-Key are its wireless modules and external device servers. These modules afford designers the opportunity to use finished RF designs in their own projects, which results in rapid design turnaround time and frequently, reduced costs.
Quatech products are featured in Digi-Key’s print and online catalogs with this new distribution agreement will enable Digi-Key to meet both the design and production needs of its diverse customer base. Digi-Key is excited to add Quatech in its growing list of manufacturers and are oozing with confindence as far its ease of use and quick time-to-market features of its products that is going to be of great interest and appeal to its customers.
Is Warehouse Management System Necessary for All?
Not every warehouse needs a warehouse management system. However, there is no doubt that any warehouse could benefit from some of the functionalities. Warehouse management systems are generally big, complex, data intensive applications. They require a lot of initial setup for better functioning. The implementation of warehouse management system along with automated data collection will likely to improve the accuracy and reduce labor costs. It also provides excellent customer service, which is the topmost priority of most companies.
While increased accuracy and efficiencies in the receiving process may reduce the level of safety. A warehouse management system certainly provides the tools for more organized storage that may result in increased storage capacity. While the warehouse management system is not mandatory for the warehouses, its deployment will definitely provide an extra advantage to the warehouses.
Robots to Perform Material Handling Jobs
This is an interesting piece of news for material handling industry that is witnessing revolutionary changes. Until recently, a strong work force was needed to perform the machinery work. Now robots are being used to do such jobs and improve the efficiency as well as save time and cost. Minco Manufacturing Inc. refurbishes drum units and Teflon-coated fuser rollers for copiers. When the company struggled to keep costs under control, it began using robots to load and unload some of its automated lathe cells. Recently, it has purchased 16 additional robots from Staubli Corp.
Assembly Magazine reports that -
At one cell, three separate RX130 robots work in concert, with two of the robots feeding parts to four end-finishing lathes, while a middle robot services a fifth finishing lathe. All that remains for the cell’s human operator is to stage the raw material, remove full transfer totes of finished parts and perform quality checks.