Innovation is back in style

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/1/2004

"Innovation rather than mere survival is back in style."

With those words, John Splude, CEO of HK Systems (www.hksystems.com), summarized what he sees as a major shift in manufacturing and distribution. He made the comment opening the company's materials handling conference recently.

Splude went on to say that materials handling practitioners are beginning to take a longer term view when looking at capital expenditures. Nevertheless, he did say expectations for return on investment are still high as many in industry are still skeptical of the economy.

In an interview with Modern, Splude went on to comment about two arenas in particular—automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) and best-of-breed warehouse management systems (WMS).

AGVs, in particular, he noted, have had a strong 2004. He attributes the technology's revival to improved reliability and flexibility, making AGVs better suited to today's operating requirements.

Splude, does however, see challenges ahead for best-of-breed WMS. The expansion of functionality here by Oracle and SAP is making it difficult, he says, for suppliers of stand-alone WMS. Meanwhile, IT managers are using the scare tactic of integration problems to steer companies toward broad-based software suppliers, he adds.

Overall, Splude sees continued strength in materials handling expenditures through 2005.