May 6, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

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

May 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

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

April 28, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

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

April 24, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

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

April 18, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

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.