Just how good are your materials handling operations? If you don't know the answer, the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE) has just released an audit tool that can help. It evaluates effectiveness of materials handling functions and identifies the areas for improvement.

A series of questions is divided into two broad categories—materials handling functions and aspects of systems. The functions are: receiving, shipping, raw materials storage, finished goods storage and general process functions. The aspects evaluated are: equipment, space, materials, people and information.

The audit tool then asks a series of questions. An evaluation report indicating strengths and weaknesses is then generated.