Early last year, the Automation Solutions Group (ASG) of MHI was shaped out of the former Integrated Systems and Controls Council (ISC). ISC brought together companies that supplied automated material handling solutions as well as companies providing related products and services. As ISC, the leadership team realized that they could do more in the way of educating customers about automation ...

The power of MHI to bring product manufacturers, users and regulators together in a mutually beneficial and collaborative environment was recently demonstrated in an effort that halted changes to the fire code that could have had dire consequences for first responders. The Fire Code Action Committee (FCAC), which is a committee under the International Code Council (ICC) umbrella, had proposed ...

In July, MHI presented the eighth annual Career & Technical Education (CTE) Educators Summit, hosted for the second time by the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute (LCTI) of Schnecksville, PA. The location served as the site of the inaugural Summit in 2009, which was formerly called the “Train-The-Trainer” event. Designed to encourage networking and interaction, the Summit’s content is exclusively ...

Hold on to your hats, because 2017 is likely to be a bumpy ride because of slowing global growth, Brexit fallout, oil and gas credit risks and election cyclicality! Lower global growth expectations Back in July, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global 2016 and 2017 growth forecasts in response to Brexit concerns, which also sent the dollar higher ...

There is a trend in the manual materials handling (MMH) industry to utilize towable industrial carts rather than fork trucks as a solution for moving materials within a facility. Let’s examine the advantages of towable carts for moving materials in some industrial environments. Better visibility and improved ergonomics When a forklift operator moves a load of materials, they are seated behind ...

Dynamic product valuation; are B2B and B2C ready to value their products like commodities—where accessibility, deliverability, location and availability are considered on parity with the intrinsic value of the product produced? Or—SHOULD they value their products as commodities? It depends, says Shana Relle, marketing director, global marketing—logistics and material handling team at MHI member Intralox LLC. “As the importance of ...

In virtually every major manufacturing and distribution sector, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are employed. Equipment and controls that handle, store and retrieve materials under a defined degree of automation continue to grow in demand. To better understand what companies are looking for when it comes to selecting an AS/RS solution from the relatively simple manually controlled order-picked machines ...

As we brace ourselves for the 2016 elections and the onslaught of negative political advertising that will inevitably ensue, I think it is worthwhile to discuss a “good news” story in legislative history. In 1970, the Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Act was signed into law. Within the OSH Act is the General Duty Clause, which states, in part, “each ...

Global trade patterns are expected to dramatically shift due to the recently expanded Panama Canal. The new set of locks, which opened in June, nearly triple the capacity of ships transiting the canal, from those able to carry 5,000 containers to up to 14,000 containers. Traditionally, West Coast ports have handled about two-thirds of container cargo, which is then moved ...

“Today’s 3PL is not your grandfather’s 3PL,” said J. Paul Dittman, executive director, Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee. “3PLs have expanded dramatically within the fundamentals of transportation and warehousing, but they’ve gone much beyond that. It’s no longer a guy who operates the warehouse for you; it’s a whole range of services that many companies are ...