First

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/1/2000

Dot coms in jeopardy of extinction?

Some days now it's tough not to hear of some dot com that is failing, pulling back on its offerings, or laying off people. According to AMR Research, there are a number of reasons for these failures. Prominent on the list is the inability to meet or exceed customer expectations in order fulfillment, value, and service.

Dot coms as they exist today cannot survive, says the Boston-based research firm. The most likely e-commerce model for avoiding dot com extinction is a blend of Web and retail store sales. And the best chance for survival is for dot coms to partner with stores and names recognized over the past century.

For more information, visit www.amrresearch.com .

Nissan, Mitsubishi to partner globally

Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have agreed to a worldwide partnership of their forklift businesses. The companies say the alliance will include elements from product development to marketing. Developing and distributing new 2,000 lb. to 6,000 lb. internal combustion lift trucks will be a major emphasis. Benefits of the arrangement include a cross supply of products and additional facility capacity.

The alliance will not be a business transfer, merger, or acquisition. Current brand names and dealer networks will remain unchanged. Nissan and Mitsubishi hope to gain synergies from the linkup, which will help them compete better and grow in a tough business worldwide.

How good is your warehouse?

To get the answer to that question, log on to www.isye.gatech.edu/ideas. There you'll find a self-assessment tool that lets you benchmark your warehouse and distribution operations. It will also give you an evaluation of how your use of available resources match others who have used the tool.

Best of all, information is held confidential. The site is managed by Georgia Tech and sponsored by the Logistics Execution Systems Association and the Order Selection, Storage, & Staging Council of Material Handling Industry of America.

Wireless LAN systems poised for explosive growth

Venture Development Corp. forecasts explosive growth for the North American wireless LAN (WLAN) market. The market is expected to grow from $280.3 million in 1999 to $1.715 billion in 2004, an annual growth rate of just over 40%.

Three factors point to strong growth in use of WLANs: Availability of higher throughput systems; mobility requirements in enterprise environments and demand for wireless Internet connections; and file and peripheral sharing in the home.

While adoption of WLAN systems has been concentrated in warehousing, manufacturing, and retail settings, future market growth is expected to be driven by other market segments-enterprise, small office/home office, telecommunications/ISP, and public access.