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Modern's 60th Anniversary - The '50s

-- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/2006

Modern Materials Handling Turns 60

Modern Materials Handling - 60th Anniversary - The '50s


The golden age of mechanization

The mechanization that began in the 1940s took hold during the boom years of the 1950s, as factories rolled out consumer goods and retailers sped them to America's kitchens and living rooms.

During the decade, emphasis turned from simply increasing capacity to doing so efficiently and cost-effectively. By the late '50s, factories and warehouses included such ultramodern devices as driverless tractors, sorters with photoelectric eyes and electronic brains for tracking inventory.

 

   
Modern cartoons

1950's - Lift trucks get laughs

During the '50s, Modern included cartoons. Many of them revolved around novel uses for lift trucks.

   
Materials Handling hits $1 billion

1950 - Materials handling industry reaches $1 billion mark

Total equipment sales for 1950: $1.175 billion

   
Radio dispatcher

1950 to 1953 - Two-way radios become integral to warehouse operations

Outfitting fork trucks with radios saves time and manpower

   
Automation

1952 - "Automation" works its way into materials handling lexicon

A Ford Motor Co. executive tells Modern, "There's a new word in the MH man's vocabulary, with tremendous implications for the future."

   
Dockboards - Kelley Co.
1953 - First counterbalanced dock-levelers introduced
   
Materials Handling courses added at universities

1952 to 1955 - Universities add materials handling courses

  • 1952: Wayne University announces materials handling laboratory
  • 1954: Harvard offers summer program in materials handling
  • 1955: Michigan State offers Bachelor of Science in Packaging Technology
   
First AGVs - driver-less tractor

1955 - First AGVs are introduced:

"Driver-less tractor trains" are guided by wires strung below the ceiling or installed in the floor.

   
Palletizing

April 1955 - Pallet loading gets mechanized

Four different companies introduce automatic or semi-automatic palletizing machines.

   
Containerization

1956 - Containerization becomes a "fundamental handling principle"

Modern special report on large containers features:

  • Returnable metal shipping containers
  • Shipping vans and aircraft pods
  • Metal, plastic and fiber drums
   
Computers enter the warehouse

1955 to 1957 - Computers enter the warehouse

  • 1955: B.F. Goodrich installs "electronic brain" to track inventory
  • 1957: Stanford University develops computer program to find most efficient pallet patterns
  • 1957: "Computer-type" controls direct automatic handling systems
   
Cost-efficiency

1958 - Cost-efficiency becomes a common theme

Economic recession hits American industry. The August 1958 issue of Modern is devoted to cost-cutting.

   
Average Materials Handling Man

1959 - Modern describes average "materials handling man"

Average materials handling worker:

  • Is a 38-year old man
  • Earns $8,600 per year
  • Has 7 years experience in the field
  • Has taken a college-level course in materials handling or engineering subjects

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1940s  |  1950s  |  1960s  |  1970s  |  1980s  |  1990s  |  2000s

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