Growth in Natural Gas Usage in the Transportation Sector Expected to Increase in Coming Years By Sheryl S. Jackson When crude oil prices began rising in 2006, natural gas was seen as a cost-effective fuel alternative for members of the supply chain. The subsequent drop in oil-based fuel prices slowed the purchase of transportation that relies on compressed natural gas, ...

A Closer Relationship is Developing Between Auto Manufacturers and Suppliers—with Material Handling Playing a Key Role By Sandy Smith The U.S. automotive industry has been written off before. But today, technology, consumer demands and outdated business models are driving significant shifts—to the point where tomorrow’s car manufacturers might not look anything like they do today. As the automotive industry goes ...

MHI Member Panther Industries Partners with Neighboring STEM High School to Develop Next Generation Supply Chain Workforce By Angela Jenkins, MHI Director of Career & Technical Education (CTE) In addition to developing curriculum, MHI’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) program provides both resources and support to—as well as facilitates connections between—industry and academia at all levels: including students and instructors ...

Holes in Supply Chain Talent Recruiting Process Cause Missed Opportunities for Some College Grads and Companies in Our Industry By Jack Crumbly, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Tuskegee University, Andrew F. Brimmer College of Business and Information Science The demand for supply chain management talent continues to be an issue for many organizations, including consumer products and goods, transportation, manufacturing, logistics and ...

U.S. and Global Outlook Remain Positive for Material Handling and the Overall Economy By Jason Schenker, CMT, CFP, ERP, CVA, Prestige Economics, LLC The outlook for material handling remains positive, as long as the outlook for the U.S. economy remains positive. In a recent analysis, we found that nominal U.S. GDP is over 90 percent correlated with material handling. This ...

Turntables Reduce Worker Strain and Increase Productivity By Jean Feingold The constant moving required of workers engaged in manual material handling (MMH) can cause injury. One particularly stressful movement is reaching out or forward from the body while lifting. In fact, the likelihood of injury when reaching out is greater than when bending forward, noted Jim Galante of MHI member ...

The Industry 4.0 ‘Horse Is Out of the Barn’ By Katie Kuehner-Hebert Industry 4.0—incorporating the Internet of Things (IoT) into intelligent industrial machines—is set to transform the fulfillment process, greatly boosting visibility, efficiency and accuracy of shipments, and in turn, customer satisfaction and everyone’s bottom line. IoT is “a fait accompli,” says Kevin Reader, director of business development and marketing ...

The Importance of Hoist Safety By Stephen Murdoch The safe use and application of a hoist will go a long way to reducing workplace injuries. All too often, hoist-related accidents could have been prevented by providing comprehensive training to the operators and through proper hoist inspection and maintenance. In recognition of this, the Hoist Manufacturing Institute (HMI) is working diligently ...

Catching up with an MHEFI Scholarship Recipient Juan Ma, Oklahoma State University The next time you DVR a television show on CNN, TBS or TNT, think twice about fast-forwarding through the commercials. Instead, watch the ads and appreciate the handiwork of Juan Ma, who is using data analytics to ensure that the right commercials end up in just the right ...

New and Improved: Solutions Community Aims to Be Resource for MHI Members, User Community By Brian Reaves, MHI Executive Vice President Come together, right now, for efficiency. Well, that’s not exactly how the famous Beatles lyric goes, but in the case of the MHI’s three solutions groups, it makes perfect sense. When the MHI Solutions Community was created this past ...