I was tempted to blow off Stephen M. R. Covey’s talk on “The Speed of Trust” at this week’s Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) Annual Conference in Chicago. How mushy can you get? But this was a luncheon talk and I was hungry. 

Turns out, there was more nourishment in Covey’s message than I expected. In fact, what he said resonated through every session I attended—even the ones preceding it, upon reflection.

There’s a mythology about trust that causes you to ignore it, he said. Many write it off as a soft social issue. Not Warren Buffet, whom Forbes magazine calls the world’s richest man. Covey tol...Read More

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We’ve all seen those old science fiction movies where the mad scientist vows that his creation “will change the world!” Well, changing the world was the topic of a webcast I just moderated and is now available for viewing on Modern’s website. The theme was “Trends that will change materials handling and the world.”

Our panelists weren’t mad scientists (unless it’s a weekend hobby). However, all of them recognized that materials handling is changing and so are the people who will manage it. The panel was a diverse group, but they had one thing in common: all are members of Modern’s Editori...Read More

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Any time a writer receives reader input, whether critical or complimentary, it’s a cause for celebration. First, it proves people are reading your stuff. Second, it gives you a topic for another blog. Consultant and trainer Bill Smalley made my day when I received his recent e-mail. It was in response to a recent blog I posted on fellow trainer Jim Shephard’s story about re-counterweighting lift trucks to handle heavier shipments at the dock. Here’s what Mr. Smalley wrote:

“If he is supposed to be an exponent of forklift safety, he should have at least removed the manufacturers’ specification plate, then sent the plate to the manufacturer and told the engineers w...Read More

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The NA2008 Material Handling Show is over, but its memory lingers on. Good ones too. In fact I shared a few with someone whose e-mail I found in my overloaded inbox when I logged back onto my computer. It was from someone researching the supply chain management software market. They wanted my thoughts on the market in general as well as the impact a recession might have on it.

The question was timely, because I might have ignored it without having some of the ready answers I picked up from working the show floor. Here’s how I responded:

With a struggling economy, companies naturally try to make best use of their assets, including facilities and inventory. Tho...Read More

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I’m finishing off my recent series of OSHA blog entries with a wrap-up of what Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., the agency’s assistant secretary of labor, told members of the Industrial Truck Association at ITA’s recent spring meeting. His visit was part of a renewal of the Alliance agreement these two organizations first signed in January 2004 and renewed two years ago in April 2006. As part of this alliance, ITA offers seminars to OSHA staff showing how different types of industrial vehicles handle under different conditions. This helps OSHA inspectors be more judicious about what they see on job sites.

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A few days after posting my blog about OSHA’s “voluntary compliance” programs, a spokesperson from OSHA contacted me and gave me a gentle lecture, using his best “Good Cop” manners .

 “Voluntary compliance” is how OSHA’s critics (many of them politicians) describe such things as its On-Site Consultation Program. I think they feel this program is modeled after the Otis system. You remember Otis, the town drunk in the old Andy Griffith Show? He would lock himself up in the sheriff’s jail cell. My OSHA contact says the notion of voluntary compliance is e...Read More

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Last week I told you of the Industrial Truck Association’s efforts to spread the word about OSHA’s Onsite Consultation Program, a free and confidential way to get help in solving safety problems. Companies can request a facility safety assessment addressing a single concern or a variety of them. Small employers can also go for SHARP certification, OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).

The day after I got home...Read More

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You know the old joke: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you"? It's a punchline that carries a little extra irony at tax time—WHICH IS NOW!

When it comes to paying your dues from a safety perspective, some companies have paid dearly in lost days, lost faith, and (worst of all) lost lives. I’m in the heart of "here to help you" town this week—Washington, DC—for the Industrial Truck Association's spring meeting. ITA President Stan Simpson, will introduce Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Edwin Foulke, Jr., head of OSHA, at a breakfast on the last day of the meeting. His presence at the meeting symboli...Read More

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Partnership isn’t always all it’s cracked-up to be. In fact cracked-up is an appropriate term for many famous partnerships in history: Henry VIII & Ann Boleyn; Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde; Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis; Elizabeth Taylor & husbands 1 through 8; The Beatles; I could go on, but you’d stop reading—and I don’t want us to break up like that. I’ll make my point.

Partnership in a supply chain is no warmer or fuzzier than any of those. But in today’s economy, there’s an extra incentive to make it work. While researching an article on materials handling best practices in the retail sector for Modern’s May issue, it was apparent that many companies—retailers, s...Read More

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I hosted a webcast on Distribution Center Survival strategies this week. It didn’t require much work on my part. Ian Hobkirk, senior analyst for Aberdeen Research, did all the heavy lifting—talking, I should say.

His presentation on the economy and advanced picking strategies really made the connection between this country’s economic health and what you do for a living. In fact, during the Q/A period toward the end of the program, the audience and I peppered Ian with questions that elicited insights that I'm sure made our audience glad they sat in on this webcast.

Here are some soundbites, in case you weren’t in on th...Read More

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Having written for a magazine that serves the paperboard packaging industry, I try to stay up on how trends in that market will affect its customers—most of whom are Modern Materials Handling readers. One thing I came to appreciate in covering the world of brown boxes is how important becoming a more active part of your supply chain is to their competitive edge. Physical proximity is a big part of that.

That was one of the reasons International Paper just signed an agreement with Weyerhaeuser to purchase its Containerboard, Packaging and Recycling (CBPR) business for $6 billion in cash. IP identified profit improvement...Read More

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Lots of scary things happen around inventory. There’s carnage in the warehouse trying to store it and there’s carnage on the roads trying to deliver it.

I heard some interesting things in the last couple days about both those occupations, so allow me to connect the dots.

First the warehouse. Many cope with the high cost of square footage by storing in narrow aisles. That requires narrow-aisle lift trucks, and those require an extra measure of operator training.

I just interviewed Jim Shephard, president of Shephard’s Industrial Training Systems, for Modern’s May Lift Truck Tips column. He told me he’s seen his share of ugly aftermaths where operators of narrow aisle trucks misjudged distances within those tight aisles and actually pinned an arm or a leg between their vehicl...Read More

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