Election years are always interesting, especially early in the primary season. It seems that each week we learn something new, and often unexpected, about the candidates. For instance, we now know Howard Dean can shriek and John Kerry can surprise. Then there's John Edwards who seems to be showing that a more positive approach can actually attract voters.

While that's politics, materials handling has its own share of the unexpected too. Just take three stories in this issue as prime examples – the Warehouse of the Month about Boscov's; the Information Management story about WMS, YMS and TMS, and; our Productivity Achievement Award winners.

As Senior Editor Dave Maloney writes in the Boscov's story (Out the door in seven minutes), "on paper, the end-of-the-line materials handling improvements at the Reading, Pa., facility may seem rather minor…but the dividends of the project have already been dramatic."

When Boscov's upgraded the facility, it added some sortation as well as scanning and control systems. Important moves certainly, but no stunners. Neither is the company's extended use of advanced shipment notices. But the combination resulted in a great outcome. Throughput has increased by a third, and 95% of products are crossdocked in just seven minutes. Not bad by any measure.

In Bob Trebilcock's Information Management story (WMS, TMS & YMS go on the clock), you'll see that warehouse, yard and transportation management systems are taking on new importance. And for the most unexpected of reasons – hours-of-service (HOS) rules that apply to over-the-road truck drivers.

HOS refers to the number of consecutive hours a driver can be on the clock before being required by a new federal regulation to end the day. Now, the time that drivers spend waiting to pick up loads is counted in their time. That requires these software packages to streamline operations and act as an integrated suite like never before.

Then there are our Productivity Achievement Award winners. This year, Corporate Express won in the Distribution category, McKesson in Warehousing and BMW in Manufacturing. While each is an outstanding example of getting the most from a materials handling system, it's always tough to anticipate which companies will be selected by our Editorial Advisory Board.

Both Corporate Express and McKesson won with new facilities that are fine-tuned for maximum performance. Meanwhile, BMW created order out of potential chaos with some well-chosen upgrades that support a new pull-manufacturing system.

All of these stories just go to show that in materials handling, much like politics, there's always room for the unexpected. And in these cases, the unexpected is a nice surprise.