Tag Archives: supply chain innovation

MHI Solutions Community BY CHRISTIAN DOW, EVP OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI Maybe your manufacturing plant or warehouse was an early adopter of automation, but that original material handling equipment is now showing signs of age. Or maybe your automated systems were built for the business‑to‑business selling model, before the shift to business‑to‑consumer e‑commerce. Or maybe robust order growth and SKU ...

Feature   Ingenious technologies honored with the 13th Annual MHI Innovation Awards across four categories during ProMat 2025. BY GREG BAER, VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES, MHI Among the thousands of supply chain and material handling technologies and products showcased throughout McCormick Place during ProMat 2025, four received MHI Innovation Awards. These solutions stood out amid 234 entries to MHI’s 13th ...

Feature   BY MARY LOU JAY   Wearable technologies for warehouse and distribution center operations have been around for more than a decade, but it’s only in the last five years, as the tech has matured, that their adoption has become more widespread and real‑world efficiencies are being seen. Wearables for picking and/or putting come in a variety of configurations. ...

Feature   Collaborative robots branching out from manufacturing applications   BY NICK FORTUNA   Today, you’re more likely to find collaborative robots (cobots) in manufacturing plants, but across industries, companies are increasingly turning to cobots as a solution for their warehouse and distribution center operations. Facing a stubborn labor shortage, safety issues, the need to boost throughput and SKU proliferation, ...

Industry Focus   BY TOM GRESHAM   A single automobile is the product of an intricately complicated supply chain with sometimes far‑flung sourcing and myriad suppliers. In fact, a typical car has more than 30,000 parts, underlining the complexity of the global supply chain network necessary to manufacture each vehicle, according to Nichole Allem, a customer communications manager with Maersk. ...

Feature The manufacturing and supply chain community came together for a record‑setting ProMat exhibition, according to show producer MHI. With an overall registration count of 52,223 and 1,160 exhibitors, ProMat included 659,000 net square feet of exhibit solutions and 215 educational sessions across three show halls at Chicago’s McCormick Place. This was the largest ProMat to date for MHI, with ...

Feature   BY JASON SCHENKER, PRESIDENT OF PRESTIGE ECONOMICS®, CHAIRMAN OF THE FUTURIST INSTITUTE®   Sustainability remains a major priority across industries, but in Cold War Two, the green energy transition is facing new geopolitical and economic headwinds. The push for renewable energy, decarbonization and electric vehicle adoption is continuing, but supply chain disruptions, rising costs and strategic decoupling from ...

Higher Education   BY KATE VITASEK, KARL MANRODT, PH.D. AND GERALD (JERRY) LEDLOW, PH.D.   In ways both big and small, we choose to trust every day. When we get into our cars for the commute to work, we trust the brakes will work. We trust the food set before us has been prepared correctly and is safe to eat. ...

BY JOANNA LEON, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CICMHE Last year, the College‑Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE) was buzzing with activity aimed at strengthening the bond between academia and the material handling industry. A standout event was the Material Handling Teachers Institute (MHTI), held at North Carolina State University in Raleigh last July and led by Lauren David, PhD, North Carolina ...

MHI Solutions Community BY CHRISTIAN DOW, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP AND INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI ISTOCK.COM/AKINTEVS By now, just about everyone who shops online has experienced overpackaging. You order a few small items and receive an oversized box packed with void fill. Sure, you enjoy getting fast delivery of the products you need, but it’s hard not to bristle at ...