First

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 7/1/2000

PSC and Hand Held Products merge

In a merger that brings together several data capture and management technologies, PSC has agreed to be acquired by Hand Held Products, an affiliate of privately held Welch Allyn Data Collection. PSC is a leader in laser-based scanners and Hand Held is a pioneer in image-based data capture.

"With PSC's innovative wireless systems for small- to mid-size warehouses, acquired earlier this year from Percon, and Hand Held Products' best-in-class portable data terminals for mobile workers, we have a solid base for growth in this exploding market," said Robert Strandberg, PSC's president and executive officer and the new chief executive officer of the combined company.

Conveyor safety is in your hands

In keeping with their commitment to conveyor safety, Rapistan Systems has created a safety kit to assist in establishing safe practices that meet OSHA guidelines.

A 12 min video, "Safety is in Your Hands," highlights important precautions to be taken, identifies hazardous areas, and explains safety techniques step-by-step. The kit also includes a 20-page bilingual manual, "Conveyor Safety Guidelines and Principles ," and bilingual safety posters. It is available for $30 by calling Rapistan at 616-913-6667.

B2B trading exchange for retail, CPG debuts

Catalyst International, Inc. has launched Catalyst-Exchange.com to deliver a true business-to-business (B2B) product and service offering for the retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries.

As one of the first-of-its kind online trading exchanges, the portal creates a common platform for placing, receiving, and fulfilling orders electronically.

Keep current with Web newsletter

e-Mhove, the Material Handling Industry of America's (MHIA) new online newsletter, covers the latest news and industry trends and issues in an interactive, graphically enhanced format.

Click on www.mhia.org/e-mhove to access that information plus trade show news, education and professional development, and professional societies.

Order accuracy expectations rise-again

A survey conducted by the Warehouse Education and Research Council (WERC) of its members, reports that it's no longer good enough to be just 95% or 98% accurate with orders. Instead, the new target that the companies surveyed is closing in on 100%.

These and other survey results are reported in the WERCwatch report, "Order Accuracy: How High is the Hurdle?" For a copy, call 630-990-0001 or visit www.werc.org .