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By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 12/1/2000

50 years ago

For materials handling to become a recognized profession, there must be common agreement on what it means and what it includes. A revised definition reads: Materials handling is the creation of time and place utility in a material, excluding movement by common carrier. How to refine this definition is a puzzling matter. Definition of the field ultimately will affect all materials handling men. From the editorial

One man lifts 15 tons with a new set of tongs devised for National Tube Company's brand new blooming mill in Lorain, Ohio. The crane operator doesn't even need a rigger to hook up to a load of rounds. The mechanical muscle works with an overhead crane to remove the manual element in handling these heavy rounds. From a feature on tongs

25 years ago

Storage capacity can be increased at least 25% over optimum narrow-aisle systems used today when you convert to two-deep pallet storage.

Even greater space savings was predicted by Raymond Corp.'s Jack Lyles through floor-operated equipment as turret trucks begin to replace today's extendable reach trucks. Easily computerized to require no operator, turret trucks will automate handling of full pallet loads, as opposed to order picking. From management newsletter

The first National Packaging Week Assembly combined the concerns of four packaging societies with a single, if unstated, theme: Change-how to make it work for our common good. The job now is to bring it all together, to create a system. From a feature on National Packaging Week

10 years ago

At dedicated ceremonies, Toyota unveiled its first American lift truck manufacturing plant. The plant in Columbus, Ind., will produce 2,000 to 6,000 lb. capacity internal combustion-engine powered counterbalanced trucks for the U.S. market.

The 280,000 sq. ft. plant represents a $60 billion investment by its joint owners, Toyota Motor Corp. and Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Ltd. From News & Trends

By most any measure, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are an original. The technology was probably the first type of industrial automation to score practical success on the shop and warehouse floor. And in the 30 years since, nearly $3 billion of AS/RS have been installed by the U.S. industry. AS/RS are perhaps the most broadly used type of automated materials handling technology. From a feature on AS/RS