Purchasing directors tend to focus on price. Logistics managers think mostly about uptime, efficiency and responsiveness. Those two polar opposite priorities can often lead to operational inefficiencies and reduced productive capability, according to a new report issued this month by a materials handling watchdog group. The report, entitled “Bending the Chain: The Surprising Challenge of … Read more
Here’s a special sneak preview of just some of what you will find this week on the Bahrns blog: Canals, rivers and offshore sea routes could soon replace interstate highways and railroads as the leading way to transport cargo if one federal agency has its way. We’ll tell you why maritime highways have been put … Read more
The Manufacturing Skills Standard Council has worked for many years to develop programs aimed at promoting a new generation of manufacturing workers. Now it has been awarded the “Best US National Program” for workforce development by the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council. The GLMC chose MSSC for it’s innovative approach to developing core competencies of high … Read more
Steven Greenawalt, the ambitious chief executive officer of Alta Equipment Company, has been named the 2014 “Entrepreneur of the Year”by the international consulting firm of Ernst & Young. Greenawalt was recognized as the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Michigan and northwest Ohio for his aggressive pattern of acquiring competing and complementary equipment businesses and … Read more
TVH Parts Company announced last week that it has purchased Equipment Parts Wholesale, a supplier of parts and supplies for aerial lift equipment. TVH, which is based in Olathe, Kanas, already is recognized as the world’s largest distributor and manufacturer of forklift replacements parts. Its acquisition of Equipment Parts Wholesale gives a higher profile in … Read more
The idea the manufacturing can return to the US isn’t just a patriot’s pipe dream. There are many reasons why it makes sense-and it is due to the fact that it can make plenty of dollars. The fact is that the laws of economics are on the USA’s side, just like time, says the 50-year-old … Read more
Advanced, state-of-the-art robotic forklifts that can “see” obstacles and use memory and sensory information to find their way around a warehouse floor unaided by humans will be installed at several East Coast distribution centers and factories. Seegrid Corporation — the Pittsburgh-based manufacturer of automated guided vehicles — announced that it had struck a deal to … Read more
Orders for new conveyors fell an astounding 19.5% in April compared to the same period last year, according to statistics released this month by the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association. But the group’s executive director, Bob Reinfried, said it wasn’t time to hit the panic button quite yet because the figures were simply “a blip”: and … Read more
Summer of 2014 could show growth of between 5% and 15% for the automation and controls industries, according to a study released earlier this month by JP Morgan and the Control System Integrators Association. The study, which was based on a survey of automation industry professionals, showed a “steady lift” in second quarter with food … Read more
Logistics jobs today are like warehouse racks. Positions are repeatedly vacated and then filled again. This is a trend that was observed last fall and that seems to be continuing, according to a report released by Logistics Magazine on its Logistics and Material Handling website in October of 2013. This employment trend isn’t one that … Read more
