Blockchain is starting to make its way into the food industry, and it is making a big impact. * By Sandy Smith * In recent years, fruits, vegetables and meat products have all been susceptible to some sort of scare. And for good reason. Each year, one in 10 Americans is sickened by food, and 400,000 die. Tracking down the ...

Material handling and supply chain systems are becoming markedly vulnerable to cyberattacks. * By MD Sarder and Matthew Haschak * Cybersecurity is the ability to prevent, defend against and recover from disruptions caused by cyberattacks from adversaries. Cyberattacks have been classified as passive attacks and active attacks. Passive attacks are difficult to detect and are mainly used on confidential data. ...

The theme of this year’s event was “People, Programs and Partnerships,” and also debuted the new MHI Career & Technical Education growth model focused on program growth and sustainability. * By Viché Thomas * Every summer, MHI’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) program presents the CTE Educators Summit. This event brings together educators from the universities, community colleges, technical schools, ...

Get a preview of the largest manufacturing and supply chain event of 2019—ProMat—coming to Chicago’s McCormick Place April 8-11. Read More…

* By Jason Schenker, Prestige Economics * The U.S. economy and most material handling equipment manufacturers enjoyed solid growth in 2018. But the outlook for 2019 and 2020 is not as strong. The prospects of tighter monetary policy in the United States, rising levels of U.S. debt, and risks associated with the U.S.-China trade war present downside risks to U.S. ...

* By Jean Feingold * In the current tight labor market, facilities are seeking ways to streamline manual material handling (MMH) to increase productivity, reduce turnover and decrease injuries by adding equipment designed to improve ergonomics. To select the right equipment, it is necessary to view tasks holistically, examining the full series of movements needed to get the job done. ...

* By Katie Kuehner-Hebert * Innovation and evolution don’t just happen. They are a result of continually challenging the boundaries and testing the unknown. That is where MHI’s Automated Storage/Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) Industry Group comes in—as far as automated solutions are concerned. The companies in this group are repeatedly questioning and challenging the limits in order to come up with ...

* By Stephen Murdoch * The Overhead Alliance—a marketing arm for the Monorail Manufacturers Association, the Hoist Manufacturers Institute and the Crane Manufacturers Association of America—has been busy. “The Overhead Alliance has concentrated on numerous initiatives since its inception a decade ago,” explained Rob Beightol, director of marketing for MHI member Gorbel. “Most recently, we have been promoting items ranging ...

* By John Paxton, COO, MHI * With e-commerce continuing to grow, customers increasingly expecting orders to be delivered yesterday and a shortage of talented labor, it’s no secret that supply chains are being pushed to the max. Adding new automation technologies to warehouses and distribution centers is essential to streamline processes and increase capacity. But it also is a ...

Keeping Those Red Pallets Moving Across the Country Eric Sobanski enjoys a good round of golf but fully expects his clubs to be collecting dust for a while. In addition to his job as senior vice president of operations for MHI member PECO Pallet Inc., he teaches courses in material handling and supply chain logistics to graduate students, helps deliver ...