Historical Timeline for Material Handling

1850—Sir William Fairbairn patents the Fairbairn steam crane.

1908—Hymie Goddard patents the first roller conveyor, allowing for the smooth transport of goods by means of internal ball bearings.

1913—Henry Ford introduces the moving assembly line.

1919—The automotive industry begins using free and powered conveyor lines, introduced by Jervis B. Webb, to handle mass production in factories.

1920s—Conveyors become the primary means of handling mass‑produced goods.

1930s—Some of the earliest material handling associations are formed, including groups for monorail and caster manufacturers.

1940s—Budgit Hoist introduces small portable electric hoists.

1943—Norrman Cahners designs the first four‑way entry pallet.

1945—The Material Handling Institute is formed.

1947—The American Standards Association develops the first industry standards in conveyor safety.

1948—The Material Handling Institute holds the first National Material Handling Show.

1949—Non‑laser automatic identification starts.

1950—Malcom McLean develops the concept of the standard steel shipping container, first implemented in 1956 at the Port of New Jersey.

1952—U.S. Patent No. 2,612,994 is issued to Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver for a barcoding system.

1954—Mac Barrett designs the first guided vehicle for warehouse use, powered by an electrified trolley system.

1960s—Programmable controllers and minicomputers change the meaning of material handling.

1974—The first implementation of the Universal Product Code (UPC) takes place at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

1976—The Material Handling Education Foundation is founded with a challenge grant from Henry Harnischfeger.

1985—The National Material Handling Show is rebranded as ProMat.

1988—The first cross‑docking system is introduced. John Krafcik coins the term “lean manufacturing” in his article “Triumph of the Lean Production System” after studying the Toyota Production System.

1989—The Material Handling Institute is renamed the Material Handling Industry of America.

1990—The rise of personal computers and the internet accelerate digital transformation. The Gartner Group introduces enterprise resource planning (ERP), which came to represent a larger whole, reflecting the evolution of application integration beyond manufacturing.

1992—The first North American Material Handling Show and Conference is held.

1997—Gerard Cachon and Marshall Fisher demonstrate the concept of continuous replenishment through a case study of Campbell Soup’s supply chain.